Hi did you manage to get insurance

We took our 9 month old Corgi to the vet today, and I mentioned that he bit me while trying to put medicine they gave me in his ears. So they thought that he would bite them while trying to cut his nails. He gets his nails cut there monthly and has never bitten anyone. So, they TRIED to put a muzzle on him and he went crazy!! The male vet held him down SO HARD that only made things worse. They wouldn’t cut his nails without putting him under. We said no, and left. Our dog goes nuts when we try to put a harness on him. To this day we can’t put one on him. I’m changing vets . But I don’t know what to do!! I’m afraid this will make him HATE going to the vet.

Hi Bronwyn. It’s great that your vet feels they can manage what is obviously a very difficult situation, but I would enlist all the support I can. I can’t see how a fear-free behaviourist could do any harm and so I would seek one out. You just want to make sure they don’t use any punishment or use words like ‘dominance’ or ‘alpha dog’! I think you’ll find it to be incredibly worthwhile.
As for muzzles, I certainly do not think they increase the stress as long as they can be slipped on easily, which is often best done by the owner at home in practice and then in the car before entering the vet clinic. With care, dogs can learn to tolerate them just like any other garment. I feel that their main benefit is that everyone around the dog shows much more relaxed body posture in the absence of risk, and this feeds back to the dog themself.

Thanks for the helpful read.

Our two-year-old rescue shows severe fear aggression at the vet stemming from a very abusive, traumatic history with his previous owners.

Generally, he’s very wary of people and likes to keep his distance.

He loves all dogs..

Taking him to the vet is awful for everyone involved.. fortunately, the vet knows him well and manages him…

Resulting from his terrible past, his foot was broken, which needed to be healed with a metal rod. This means he needs to visit to the vet to check that his body isn’t rejecting the rod.. this means he will have to repeat this traumatic experience often.

We were told that putting on a muzzle would only elevate his anxiety. Would you disagree? I get so anxious that one day he bites someone.

We’ve tried sedation but his anxiety and fear are so bad that the medication barely works until he’s out of the environment.

I’ve spoken to the vet about a behaviorist to help rectify this but I was told that the fear is to deeply ingrained that nothing can be done.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Valerie, our dog is he EXACT SAME WAY. He is TERRIFIED OF ANYTHING NEW, AND WILL REACT. Sweet, but very anxious. Got him at 12 weeks old, from a shelter, now he is 4 years old, and extremely aggressive, due to fear. I am also trying to find a way to calm him down.

Hi John. If you go to fearfreepets.com you’ll find a directory of practitioners throughout the world. They should all be happy to supply drugs to reduce stress and anxiety. However, it’s worth noting that you won’t find our practice there nor many others who are good with anxious dogs. Therefore, it’s a good idea to also call or email your local vets and see how they would approach a dog like yours.

I have a dog who has very bad fear based aggression. I was very honest with my last vet about it and in my opinion they handled the situation very poorly, they were never willing to give us a sedative for our dog ahead of time, and by the time he got to the vet he was always so worked up nothing there would work. My main issue is now I am having issues finding a vet that will treat him. Do you have any advice on how to find a new vet for him?