Vet Appointment Tomorrow

So I have finally saved up enough money to get Tucker into the vet and his appointment is tomorrow morning (yay employment!). He hasn't been to the vet since he got neutered at 7 months old and when they gave him back to us they said he tried to bite people. I know he's going to be terrified and probably very, very aggressive. I'm afraid he's going to end up screaming or soiling himself and then I'll start crying. SO not looking forward to it. I've bought him special treats (assuming he'll be willing to eat them at the office) and have been working with him and the Baskerville muzzle since I got it and he's doing really well with that.

I'm just so nervous about it, about how terrified he'll be, that maybe they'll need to sedate him, and I'm afraid it will cause him to regress in his human aggression or trust me less. ALL of his progress (and there has been a good amount of progress since his aggression started) with his human aggression has been on the basis that I will not allow anyone to touch him, but now I'm just going to stand there and let people man handle him and hurt him. But we will be asking the vet about behavioral/psychiatric medication, that's one of the main reasons we want him to go. I just really hope my vet has some experience with these meds and knows what's he's talking about. I've done some research of course so have an idea of what meds I'd prefer we try, but don't know THAT much.


So we could just use some good thoughts for tomorrow, that Tucker isn't too traumatized and that we can get him meds that help. If anyone has some tips for taking a dog like him to the vet it would be much appreciated.

Can you get sedation meds ahead of time?? Since they've already said he's a bite risk, maybe they'd consider it, especially since you're already planning to muzzle.

Sedation+anxiety meds would be way better than going in cold, though I know it may impede their ability to assess for anxiety meds in other aspects of his life.

I'd definitely ask for sedation meds. I discovered (when Mu chewed out her stitches, then her staples, and regressed to massive panic at the vet) that having her cone on helps a TON. She can't see who's touching her and she seems to assume that it's me - thus keeping her from completely freaking out and doing more damage to our "the vet is not evil" progress. I don't know if this is an option, I'm just throwing it out there.

I hope Tucker does okay and you guys get some meds that will help.

What is the appointment for? Hopefully the vet can be as hands-off as possible and have you do most of the handling. Skip anything that isn't necessary and make sure you tell the vet that you want to be as non-invasive as possible.

Sedation would be good but most vets just give acepromazine which can actually increase aggression and does more harm than good in my experience. Any other drugs that have a sedating effect are seldom sent home unfortunately.

If there isn't the option of being non-invasive, I attended a seminar with Julie Shaw in which she said that, in cases like this, the best thing to do is to use an IV sedative so that they are completely sedated if you feel the visit is going to be traumatizing.

This is exactly what I was thinking, too. If this vet won't work with you on this and wants to manhandle your boy, just walk out. It's not worth it after all the work you've put in.

So sorry about this difficult situation. This must be very hard for you. Make sure to take care of yourself as well. Its great that Tucker is doing better.

Unfortunately I don't have much experience/advice for you. You probably already know to use high value treats.

Do you think taking him early and walking him on the premises help ease his worry or prolong the stress?

Have you informed the vet and staff of his issues? Maybe you could ask all staff not immediately involved to just ignore him, or treat him per your plan. If you are worried about confrontation with other dogs or humans (or just want to avoid unneeded stimuli) you could ask if there is a back entrance you could use (my vet has one for DA and HA dogs).

Best of luck.

I'd sit out in the car with him until they are ready to take you into the back, and the doctor is ready to see you right then.

Agree with being the least invasive that you can be. Don't be afraid to say no, they cannot do that, or you won't be doing this or that, or whatever. Remember, you can always walk out if they aren't willing to work with you.

Also, definitely make sure they know you have a HA dog coming in ahead of time.

We did make them aware when we made the appointment, hopefully the receptionist passed it on to the vet. I'm going to be as forward as possible with them, without being down right rude Tell them not to try and make friends but to just ignore him and let him sniff them and to let me do as much of the handling as possible (I'm not sure how much they allow because of liability but when I had my cat in she had me do all of the restraint). The cone idea is a good one, I think it could work if we put it on before the vet touches him for the first time and if I'm doing the restraint.

It is just his check up but we are asking about meds. So he'll need a couple of shots and maybe they'll want blood work done for the meds. Of course today his eye is messed up so I don't know what they'll want to do with that (looks like cherry eye, happened once before when he got scratched by a cat in the eye).

My mom is also going so she'll go in, tell them we're here and remind them he's aggressive (dog and human now), then come get me when it's time. I too thought about going in early and letting him get used to the place, because tha might indeed help, but then I thought he might see a dog if we are there for a while and then his stress level will shoot up, so maybe not. The appointment is at 8:30 in the morning so I hope that's maybe a less busy time.

In my experience, most vets don't offer full sedation for several reasons-- they feel the client does not want the hassle of having to wait until they're recovered, the extra cost involved or because its time consuming for the staff when they can just pin the dog and get it over with. More and more vets are becoming aware of the importance of low stress restraint but many are still in the dark ages. Just be polite but firm. Like Jess said, don't be afraid to walk out if its too much.

Well the vet appointment went shockingly well. I mean he was terrified but was too scared to move, so no aggression. The vet ignored him and just walked in, asked us to put him on the table and just went straight up to him and put his hands on him, didn't talk to him or anything first so he didn't anticipate it and was probably just shocked that the vet was touching him. Either him or the tech had hands on him the whole time he was on the table and I think that kept him scared enough to not react. After the blood and shots were over he did seem to relax a bit while the tech pet him (he looked like he was breathing again and was seeking me and mom out). When it was all done and he was put on the floor it looked like he thought about charging the vet but just sniffed his leg fast and ran behind me.

The vet is going to give us Prozac but really wants us to see a behaviorist (which I think I might have enough money for now, I just have to choose someone which is driving me nuts). The vet tech said her dog is dog aggressive and gave us the name of a lady she used. Not my cup of tea (and in NH not MA), but it was nice to have a Vet Tech who sympathized with us. So Tucker had blood drawn from his jugular to check his kidney and liver function, had a rabies shot, and a distemper shot. He didn't yelp or anything. He also gave us drops for his eye. He said he has cherry eye and conjunctivitis, no scratches. But this has happened before (the cherry eye) and gone away on its own, so perhaps the conjunctivitis just causes it to pop out. I thought real cherry eye was permanent. He also thinks Tucker has a little luxating patella going on, which I sort of figured (he has never been a fan of having his knees touched). So we'll wait for the results of his blood work, heart worm test, and fecal, then move forward.

So all in all I'm happy with how it went. I'm sure it was still very upsetting for Tucker, but not as bad as if they'd had to really restrain him (the tech barely had to hold his head) and certainly less traumatizing for me. I just hope once he's on prozac there aren't any side effects and it helps. Now to find a trainer...

Great news! A behaviorist can really make a difference and at least give you a plan going forward. I personally find it's easier when you can have someone who knows that they're talking about look at what's going on from an objective viewpoint.

I'm happy it went well. Or at least better than you thought.

I know what it's like to be stressed about going to the vet though. Jackson's never been aggressive for anything, but he absolutely terrified at the vets. Kind of like Tucker, just freezes up, or tries to climb up me. He allows them to do whatever but he's horribly miserable. He also always expresses his anal glands the minute someone touches him, ugh, so I always know he needs at least a butt wash when we get home.

I try to plan my whole day around a vet visit, like I won't make plans for that night, and I'll often take off work or get off early, so I can be sure to do something positive before and after, lol. I know it seems excessive but he's very weird and he would be mad for days, but if I do a walk, or a pet store visit, or whatever right after he seems to be fine and totally forget about it. If I were to just bring him home after a vet visit and leave to go out or back to work, he would be very upset.