So today kind of sucked… both dogs ended up at the vet on an emergency basis. To make this negative into a positive, both of my dogs behaved beautifully despite neither feeling well (Athena – stomach bug. Tango – swollen face). We promote calm, a lot, in our household between place and box and changing the way we pet our dogs by doing slow deep massages. By continually promoting calm as the answer, my dogs can take that from our house to the car to the vet’s office.
The other thing I’ve made sure to do from very early on is to have my hands all over my dog’s body. Constantly touching their feet, rubbing down their legs, checking their ears and mouth and applying pressure through massage over their entire body. Why does this make vet visits easier? This is stuff they will have to endure during a regular exam when they are feeling good, but they will also have to go through this at the vet during a time of higher stress because of an injury or illness. Tango was very clearly not feeling well and was in quite a bit of pain but he sat through a full exam and while a stranger stuck their hands all in his mouth without a growl or any indication that he was about to snap. How? Because of the above. This is nothing new for him. It doesn’t matter if you get your dog as a puppy or an adult, this is something you should make an effort to do. Help take some of the stress of a vet visit out of the equation.
Lady & The Leash K9 Training 