How To Make Your Dog’s First Visit to the Vet More Pleasant

Your dog or puppy’s first encounter with the vet will determine how he will handle future visits to the vet’s office so it is important that you make that initial visit as pleasant an experience as possible. Handled properly your pup’s first vet visit shouldn’t be traumatic. Most puppies will have visited the vet at least once for their first vaccinations by the time they are six to ten weeks old. Some breeders carry out their own vaccinations but the majority of puppies are exposed to a veterinarian at an early age.
Avoiding stress and trauma is crucial if you are to make your dog’s visit to the vet as pleasant and painless as possible. Here are a few things you can do to this end:

• Take your dog or puppy for a long walk before going to the vet’s. The walk will you’re your dog relax and work off any excess energy. This is also a good time to collect any stool samples you need if you want the vet to examine your dog for internal parasites. Take a zip lock bag with you on the walk and collect a small amount of stool for your vet to examine.
• If your dog is crate trained it’s a good idea to keep him in his pet carrier on the trip to the vet’s as well as at the vet’s office.
• If your dog isn’t crate trained or is too large to be crated, keep him on a leash. Even if your dog is highly trained, stress and panic can cause even the most well behaved dogs to act irrationally. Unleashed dogs can become aggressive with other animals in the waiting room so make sure your dog is kept on a leash at all times.
• Remain with your dog while he is being examined and talk to him calmly and gently.
• Take some treats with you and give some to the vet to give to your dog. Some vets even have healthy treats of their own that help them reassure their canine patients, this makes the whole experience infinitely more pleasant for the dog.
During a routine checkup your vet will check the dog’s rectal temperature, his eyes, ears and skin and weigh the dog. The vet will also palpate the dog’s abdomen and check his heart and lungs with the help of a stethoscope. If mites are an issue the vet may decide to take skin cell samples. The vet may also draw some blood to check for any health issues he may suspect.
Routine checkups and examinations are painless and you should try to make this first visit as positive and enjoyable for your dog as possible. Even if your pup is getting his first vaccinations, the needle prick is relatively harmless and you should make a big fuss of your dog and praise him profusely after his checkup. Consider taking him for a walk on your way home from the vet’s as a reward for his good behavior and to further enforce the pleasant experience and memories he will have of his first visit to the vet.