Adolescent Preventative Behavior visit
What is this visit and why is it important?
Great Question! This visit we will answer your questions and address any behavior concerns you are seeing. This is from mild manners to serious behavioral concerns. You get to talk to a puppy behavior expert, and they will teach you some life skills for the vet and home.
This is also building positive associations with the vet. After all there aren’t many places, your dog must go but we are one of them. We will be putting some good vibes in the relationship bank account.
If you have behavioral concerns or are interested in private training, we can have our nationally accredited dog trainer and behavior consultant call you and discuss your concerns and interests.
What life skills are we teaching?
We are teaching 3 skills that help with confidence, vet care and optimism. These skills are great for the vet but can be used in many different areas of the dog’s life.
Skill 1: Middle
- This game teaches your dog to stand between your legs while you’re standing. Yes, even little dogs can do this. You may need to kneel or it’s the first step to being picked up for the tiny dogs. This game is to help center them while the veterinarian is performing an exam or giving an injection. This game is great for nervous dogs so they can’t get anxious and anticipate the vet coming towards them. This also helps at home if you need to do some grooming, clean a wound, give insulin, etc.
Skill 2: Paws Up
- Some dogs get nervous or excited with just the anticipation of something happening. This game brings their brain back in the moment. Gets them focused on you and their task. This is also an indicator if they’re over their emotional threshold and we need to stop. This game is great for also getting them focused while we perform an exam or give an injection.
Skill 3: Stillness
- Most confidence training is through movement, and we forget to teach them how to be still. This is where most dogs struggle. So, we want to teach them the value of stillness. This helps with injections, nail trims, grooming, bathing, wound care, ear cleaning, physical exam and many other things.
Can this be done at home? Do they have to come for this last visit?
While a lot of this training will be done at home, we want them to have at least one great visit of no needle pokes or nail trims. The veterinary hospital can be stressful. It has weird sounds, smells and sights. So, it’s crucial to build that positive association with our hospital. When dogs are terrified at the vet it can make it a little difficult to give the best care. Dogs who are stressed and have those stress hormones in high gear tend to mask any issues. Which is why a dog who is lethargic at home or limping at home seem fine when you get to the vet. Those fight or flight instincts come into play. We need them to be comfortable, so they get the best care. This can also help prevent needing sedation for basic procedures in the future.
Victory Visits
What is a victory visit and why is it important?
Excellent question! Victory Visits are a tool we use to assist patients who have experienced an extended stay at the vet (example: having to have surgery) to renew our trust and build up confidence while coming into the hospital.
This visit is also an opportunity to teach your pet to be active participants in their own husbandry and medical care. During this visit, veterinary team members may use techniques such as desensitization, or classic counterconditioning to teach your pet how to participate in veterinary care. This is an opportunity to help build a positive association with the vet. After all there are not many places your pet MUST go but the veterinarian is one of them.
We will be building resilience and putting money back in the bank that may have been recently lost. Victory Visits are an investment in long-term patient comfort and medical care.
In addition if you have any behavioral concerns or are interested in private training, we can talk about your goals and have our nationally accredited dog trainer and behavior consultant call you to discuss your concerns and interests.
Inviting pets to enjoy the veterinary experience
Pets under 2 years of age could be experiencing a fear period during their stay at the veterinary hospital making this visit essential to their lifetime medical needs.