Living with a fearful/reactive dog is extremely challenging, and we celebrate every small step we take forward, and every time we find a solution to any issue. We have two good (or mostly good) things to report on recently!
The Dreaded Vet Visit
Luke had his yearly veterinarian appointment yesterday. I recently mentioned how I’ve been working with him and a basket muzzle to get him ready for this. I wanted him to be comfortable with the muzzle when going into the vet’s office, and not have to have one of theirs put on when we got there.
I’ll say that the visit went “as well as expected” (I was not very optimistic), but maybe even a little better than that. First of all, Luke did so great with the muzzle! At first he balked at having it put on in the car, but ultimately he let me do it. In addition, he never tried to paw it off the whole time we were there.
However, our vet was unable to perform any type of exam on him. He completely freaked out when she tried to approach him. He wasn’t due for any vaccines this time, but he needed a blood test in order to stay on his heartworm medication. That wasn’t going to happen.
This was another situation which reminded me why we love our vets so much, and everyone in the office. They were all so understanding, they all gave Luke his space and ignored him as needed. Ultimately, my hubby just walked Luke around the office so she could observe him and see how he looked.
On the good news side, she thinks Luke looks great and is at a perfect weight, and we talked extensively and she feels good about everything we’re doing with him. On the bad news side, it looks like we’ll have to have him sedated in order to do that blood test and a thorough exam. We decided to put it off until spring, since it should be OK for him to be off the heartworm meds for the winter (we normally do year round on our vet’s advice).
It’s not our preference to do it that way, but we must balance keeping him healthy with everything else. If they put him under they can also trim his nails which he needs. We will continue to work with him through the winter in the hopes things might get better, but we need to be realistic. I’m reassured by the fact that Luke has been sedated on two other occasions (neutering and having his knees checked) and he did fine.
The other good news is that Luke calmed down a lot while we stood there talking, with several other people in the room. He even approached our vet to sniff her, and though he wouldn’t take treats at first, he did later. A man came in to buy food and he barked and growled briefly but that was it. Now that we know he’ll do well with the muzzle, it’s a tool we can use to help work on his issues with strangers. I’m planning to write a whole post on the muzzle issue at some point. I think it’s a valuable too that has a stigma attached that it shouldn’t.
More Good News
I wrote back in August that Luke had developed fear issues with large trucks coming into our yard. I got some valuable suggestions from readers, and our friend at 2 Brown Dawgs even wrote a post on the subject: Don’t Turn a Little Thing into a Big Thing.
I want to thank her and Forest Poodles for suggesting that letting Luke see these trucks and not to make a big deal about it might make things better. We had a couple occasions to work on this over the rest of the summer and fall.
Our town did work on our road a couple of times. The first time a large piece of equipment moved slowly down the road I saw Luke start shaking so knew he was scared. Instead of taking him away from it, I just went up to the fence where we could see it. I talked in a normal voice, patted him just a little bit, and he stayed there watching with me. Then we just continued playing ball and I let him choose where to be. Luckily this truck went up and down the road a few times so I continued to do the same, and when we were back in the house I did the same thing going up to the window. I praised him lightly for being a brave boy when he joined me.
I am so thrilled to report that the next time this happened a few weeks later, Luke only looked a little nervous! He shook a little bit but soon stopped and as we went through the same exercise he got better and better.
We have so much more to work on with Luke, but every time we have a success I allow myself to just focus on that for a while and let it give me hope. Knowing that progress can be made will keep us going forward no matter how challenging each step might be.
What successes have you celebrated with your dogs?
Your hard work and patience is certainly paying off, mom has no ability for that at all. Taffy was at the vet again Saturday morning, with a long wait. Her and mom were the only ones in the waiting room when a HUGE Great Dane came in, which Taffy immediately decided she had to take on. They were moved to an office (for the other dog’s safety I bet). Time to get moving on the muzzle. Silly mom also didn’t even think about Taffy wearing her calming coat, or giving her the calming treats she has, she shook and whimpered the whole time. Love Dolly
I always have a tough time remembering calming coats or collars too. I did think this time to give Luke a couple of calming treats, but I’m not sure how much they helped.
Our vet’s office has a side door which we have used more than once! We also did not bring Luke inside until it was time for him to go straight to the office.
Another trick I have – make the last appointment of the day! Then you don’t have to worry as much about other dogs. Of course, I don’t know how busy your vet’s office is, it works for us because we are at a quiet small town vet.
Luke is doing better with the muzzle than Ducky was before I stopped working on it with her. He will get there. And the tips from Linda are great! I need to keep them in mind with Ducky!
You know what though? I haven’t had the muzzle out since that appointment. That’s my problem – not keeping up on these things until I absolutely need them!
Excellent that you had success. I also think if this is the first time Luke has gone to the vet with that muzzle on, that may be part of the reason he was on edge. I am not sure how far you are from your vet but you could try taking him there and just walking him trough the lobby every now and again so he knows it is OK. Might help and in line with not turning a little thing into a big thing. 🙂
We do not heart worm our dogs Jan/Feb/March because even if there are mosquitoes, they are not alive long enough to be able to pass on heart worm during those months. Also, heart worm meds go backward (I think three months) so hopefully that helps ease your concern.
Yes, that does help ease my concern, thank you, Linda!
I agree about the muzzle. I just didn’t have enough time to work more with Luke on it, because he was already way overdue for his yearly exam and we had run out of heartworm (which turned out not to matter anyway!). So I really only worked with it at home. I need to have him wearing it at more different times and we will continue to work on it.
That’s a good idea about taking him to the vet’s office too, I will try to do that.
I’m glad he did well with the muzzle on, I’m sorry he wouldn’t allow the exam or blood test. Maybe before going into full sedation you could ask your vet about trying a tranquilizer, we will send home acepromazine tablets to have the owners give and then it takes the edge off enough we can do what we need to do. Some dogs do counter act the medication and it doesn’t help them at all, no way of knowing until you try it.
I will ask the vet about tranquilizers, thank you for the tip!
I am thrilled to read of your successes. I’m new to your blog so I don’t know the whole back story. I have a formerly extremely fearful dog, Shyla. We play the “What’s that?” game a lot when we’re out of our rural area. If she looks at the scary or unusual thing, I give her a treat. It makes new stuff almost fun. You may have noticed the words “formerly fearful” – that’s almost true, as long as we stay in Shyla’s comfort zone(s). It wasn’t a straight line to get here in 4 years but a very bumpy road. It sounds as if you are well into the journey with Luke. He’s so lucky to have you!
It is so helpful to hear other success stories, because that gives me hope. I feel like we have such a long way to go with Luke, and so much to work on, that it can be discouraging at times. As I’m sure you know.
We adopted Luke as a puppy from a rescue, so he has no reason for his fears other than bad genetics I’d say.
I don’t think Luke will ever be a “normal” dog per se….but like Shyla, I’d at least like him to have a comfort zone that’s larger than what it is now!
Decades ago when we lived in Central America we had a Golden Retriever. He was terrified of the vet, bit a few folks too. I can so relate to Luke. Poor baby….
Thank you for your understanding, that really does help me to feel a bit better! It is heartbreaking to see him like that. It just made me feel bad for having to put him in that position. 🙁
Hooray for Luke! Ziva loves the vets office, though this last time she was shaking because I think she knew it was a recheck for her toenail – and she hates having her feet messed with. But she let them handle her without too much fuss, and she calmed down when she realized she mostly was just asked to sit and let them look at it.
Successes though have been mostly Ziva, she is a bit leash reactive towards certain dogs particularly young dogs she doesn’t like much. We’ve worked on this for the last two years and at this point its pretty good and I know her triggers.
We’re glad Luke is making some progress. We purr that it continues. It has to be frustrating to see him react the way he does.
It is, because it’s so hard to understand. He has no reason to be this way; it’s purely genetic with him. 🙁
Such a bummer he is so fearful of people and trucks. Hopefully he will get better with time and lots of patience.
We will never stop working with him, and I really hope things like the nose works will continue to build his confidence. I’m kicking myself now – I wish I’d thought to have him show some of his tricks when we were there and just talking afterwards. That might have helped him even more.
Keep making progress Luke, you can do it and we know you will!
I’m glad that he is doing better. It hurts our heart to see our babies upset, doesn’t it?
Yes, it certainly does. The fear – terror really – in his eyes when the vet tried to approach him was heartbreaking. 🙁
So glad to hear this excellent progress!
Yay, Luke! One step at a time … before long, it really adds up and you won’t believe how far you’ve come 🙂
My friend had a fearful dog who showed aggression. She worked with a behaviorist. After three sessions Annie was a completely different dog. She would make a pack of aggressive dogs meet at a neutral location. They would all walk together. It was amazing how they bonded after 3 weekly walks
Lily & Edward
Luke you are a little like a wonder dog… there are so much good things what happened to you since you found your furever home… I think the love and the patience are a reason that so much things changed :o) btw: my grampy had a rottweiler once who hated the vet like the plague. unfortunately our vet mostly did horses and farm animals, because he had a dog-o-phobia. but he was a very good vet anyway. if the rottweiler needed a shot and examination they always did it outside through a fence… it looked odd, but it worked :o)