... but there certainly is such a thing as a stupid idea, or at least one that is misinformed.
We have been working recently on bringing our girl for random appointments where she comes in, gets treats and love from staff, and settles on her mat. We always try to keep our visits short and light, and we always try to end on a positive note. I cannot tell you the world of difference this has made to Abby. She gets excited to enter the vet and see the friends she has made.
On our last visit, we pulled in and shortly after two cars pulled in. In one vehicle appeared an owner and her mixed breed dog. In another vehicle was someone who advertised themselves as an animal behaviorist and described that they helped to modify and correct some canine behavior. It was at this point that I noticed that the self-described "behaviorist" got out to greet the other woman and her dog. I could not see what was going on from the other side of the caravan, but I did notice what sounded like multiple dogs barking from the business van the behaviorist drove. As the women were talking, I heard the behaviorist tell her dogs to "settle" quite often, and I heard her dogs completely ignore her. I allowed them a few minutes to get inside our veterinarian's office before I took Abby out of the car.
We do a great deal of mat work with Abby, and this truly has been one of the keys to her success. Abby has a safe place that she can go to and settle, and she knows that the only expectation for her when she is there is that she relax. Certainly getting her to understand that was its own challenge, but now it is her default. So when we came inside, I put her mat down near a half wall in the waiting area and gave her the cue to go to her mat. Abby laid down very easily and put her chin down while we waited for them to finish at the scale. When they were done, I brought Abby over to the scale so she could practice getting on it and then we returned to our mat. This is when the dog who was on the other side of the wall put his paws on the half wall to peer over. Abby took interest and popped up off her mat and tried to look around the wall. I cued Abby back to her mat, and as she was returning the "behaviorist" said to me, "Do you think they can say hi so they both can settle?"
What? "Do you think they can say hi so they both can settle?"
Allow me to rephrase this in the way I heard it. "Can my anxious dog get in the face of your reactive dog and hope that chaos doesn't ensue and they get it out of their system?"
I do not believe in the idea that a reactive dog can go face-to-face with another dog and find anything calm in the interaction. Many non-reactive dogs would likely feel some level of excitement after such an interaction. For a reactive dog, they learn that they worked themselves up about this big scary thing, and thankfully this time nothing happened. And while I am not a fan of clearly reactive dogs greeting other dogs, more importantly I am thoroughly against introducing dogs in stressful situations. Abby is a smart girl. As much as we have a new place, and a new MO, she knows what she's there for. We're working on counter conditioning this experience for her. And so while your dog is clearly amped up for this appointment, and my dog is clearly amped to be in the door, this is the time that you as a self-described professional think is a good opportunity to greet?
My answer as as polite as I could make it. "No, she will settle on her own because we have worked on that. Face-to-face greetings will cause a reaction from her."
While I can respect that she at least asked instead of allowing her dog to barrel around the wall, I was absolutely astounded by the "solution" this person came up with. It was a day that made me truly grateful that everything aligned the way it needed to be so that Abby could find us, and we could find the trainer that we have. She was meant to find us, and we were meant to be her voice.
And at the end of all of this, Abby just continued to be a rock star. She came to work, got good love from her favorite receptionist, and left on a high note. I could not have asked for more.
Showing posts with label veterinarian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label veterinarian. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
It shouldn't be this hard
It shouldn't be this hard to find a vet that meshes with our beliefs and commitment to the physical, mental, and emotional care of our dog. Yet somehow this seems to be a challenge. We switched practices last year and while the new veterinarians are fantastic, the staff is less than pleasant and it has become a real challenge as of late.
More often than not our vet ran at least 20-40 minutes late for every appointment. While I don't care about a wait if someone tells me, I also have to keep Abby's best interests in mind. That timing of an extra 20-40 minutes waiting in the lobby is the difference between Abby being able to tolerate her appointments and the services the staff will provide, and her becoming a pacing and panting wreck who looks to bolt at every opportunity.
Most recently we have tried to take a proactive approach to her appointments. I came to the realization that it is my job in life to try to alleviate Abby's fears, and if I cannot do that I must do everything I can to limit her exposure to those fears and give her coping strategies that set her up for success. We do that presently with a whole host of things. We ask Abby to wait at a door while we open it and look outside to make sure the coast is clear and we avoid an ambush. We limit her exposure to other dogs, and only when she expresses genuine interest and calm posturing do we briefly allow contact. Why is the vet different? The answer is that it shouldn't be.
I don't know about you, but every dog I have ever owned has been afraid of the vet and displayed this in a wide variety of behaviors. Some have paced or panted, some have whined, and some have even growled at anyone appearing in scrubs or a lab coat. And when you really think about it, is it any wonder they're scared? Think of how you would feel if you were brought someplace where people spoke in a language you didn't understand, and tried to touch you right away? Maybe you liked being pet on the head, or maybe you didn't, but either way it quickly becomes a process of doing strange things to you. Sounds terrible, right? And then imagine how you would feel the next time you went back and it was exactly the same. No wonder dogs are scared of the vet!
Throughout Abby's entire GI issues of last year, I grew convinced that I needed to be an advocate in her health. But most recently I've realized I need to be her voice in advocating for emotional and mental well being. There are several components to that. The first thing I tried to do was to go to the vet for things other than appointments where she would just go and get treats. I realized the first time I went to do this that I had an uphill battle with this one. The vet is sandwiched between landscaping and construction companies, and at any point in the day there are a wide variety of sounds that are deeply unsettling to her. Clearly treating her even for just getting to the parking lot was going to be the way to go and it would go very slowly from there.
The second thing comes with respect to the waiting times in the lobby. Although we do a lot of mat work where Abby has a mat we throw down and she knows she can relax there, that only goes so far in stressful situations. In light of the delays of our vet, I spoke with the office staff about taking a proactive approach to this wait time. I could not rely on them to adequately communicate any delays the office experienced, and even if they had communicated those delays I had limited ways to deal with this. I decided that if I had any hope of helping Abby not to become distressed waiting for her appointment, I needed to check in without her present. Sometimes this is realistic if my husband comes to an appointment with us, and one person remains in the car while the other person goes in. But sometimes he can't be at every appointment and I am by myself. I typically try to avoid leaving my dog in the car even for something as quick as this. So I spoke with someone in the office about being able to call from the parking lot and check in for our appointment. If the staff had her exam room ready I would head right in. If not they could either wave to me from the window or call me back on my cell phone when her exam room was ready and I would head right in. I tried this approach on a couple of occasions and it worked fairly well depending on who was on staff that day. That is until my husband tried to bring our girl for a vaccine.
Now admittedly, Abby is sometimes vaccine reactive. Not only is she missing fur where her Rabies vaccine was administered, but she once got violently ill after receiving her Lepto and Lyme vaccines. Now we break these vaccines up, and we also administer a Benadryl injection before she receives these vaccines. After massive confusion regarding checking in from the parking lot, and waiting to be seen for the injection, my poor husband and Abby had to wait a long time for the vaccine, and wait to check out. It was that appointment that hubby said he was done with this vet.
The more I thought about the requests we've made of our current vet, the more I realized that I wasn't asking for a lot. I was asking for my vet to become a partner with me in making sure that my dog's anxiety over her visit was lessened. Can you imagine if you were a parent with a child who was afraid of the dentist, and your dentist insisted on strapping down your child in a chair each time they went in? No parent would tolerate that, and no owner should allow their veterinarian to contribute to their pet's fears.
Your vet and their staff should be approachable. They should not only value the relationship they have with you, but the relationship that they build with your pet. Not only should these offices be willing to work with you on some of these requests, they should encourage you and empower you to do these things if for no other reason than selfishly wanting these appointments go smoothly and quickly for them.
It is quite apparent that the current staff is not on board with some of these requests, and unfortunately our ability to be patient and work through some of these growing pains is rather limited given how much Abby's fears paralyze her when they occur. Given some of these problems and limitations, we have chosen to seek out another veterinarian. Although we asked for some recommendations from people, read feedback on Yelp and even emailed users privately to ask questions, inevitably we had a recommendation that we just couldn't pass up.
One of Abby's favorite things about going to the first veterinarian was the staff. Unfortunately during her time there the majority of them left. However, her favorite Vet Tech is working at a hospital that is about half an hour from the house. At first I was concerned with it being out of the way, but then I realized that closer and convenient for me doesn't always mean that it is the best choice for Abby. I called and spoke with the Office Manager, who gave me a tour of the facility, and I was so impressed by her warmth. She answered all of the questions I had, was excited to help us give Abby a fresh start, and truly made an effort to let me know that if we went there they would want to get to know our pet. During the tour of the hospital I could see that the setup was great. The exam rooms had a window on the door so you could see out before leaving to make sure the coast was clear and you wouldn't be faced with a dog immediately upon exiting. The waiting area was huge and had a center divider that allowed for some privacy while you were waiting in case you need separation.
We brought Abby for the first time on Saturday and she was so excited to be able to sniff the entire place, and even more excited to see her old friend. We are really excited for this next chapter in Abby's care, and we truly feel that we have found people who not only understand our commitment to our pet, but want to work with us to make sure that we can make her appointments as stress-free as possible.
More often than not our vet ran at least 20-40 minutes late for every appointment. While I don't care about a wait if someone tells me, I also have to keep Abby's best interests in mind. That timing of an extra 20-40 minutes waiting in the lobby is the difference between Abby being able to tolerate her appointments and the services the staff will provide, and her becoming a pacing and panting wreck who looks to bolt at every opportunity.
Most recently we have tried to take a proactive approach to her appointments. I came to the realization that it is my job in life to try to alleviate Abby's fears, and if I cannot do that I must do everything I can to limit her exposure to those fears and give her coping strategies that set her up for success. We do that presently with a whole host of things. We ask Abby to wait at a door while we open it and look outside to make sure the coast is clear and we avoid an ambush. We limit her exposure to other dogs, and only when she expresses genuine interest and calm posturing do we briefly allow contact. Why is the vet different? The answer is that it shouldn't be.
I don't know about you, but every dog I have ever owned has been afraid of the vet and displayed this in a wide variety of behaviors. Some have paced or panted, some have whined, and some have even growled at anyone appearing in scrubs or a lab coat. And when you really think about it, is it any wonder they're scared? Think of how you would feel if you were brought someplace where people spoke in a language you didn't understand, and tried to touch you right away? Maybe you liked being pet on the head, or maybe you didn't, but either way it quickly becomes a process of doing strange things to you. Sounds terrible, right? And then imagine how you would feel the next time you went back and it was exactly the same. No wonder dogs are scared of the vet!
Throughout Abby's entire GI issues of last year, I grew convinced that I needed to be an advocate in her health. But most recently I've realized I need to be her voice in advocating for emotional and mental well being. There are several components to that. The first thing I tried to do was to go to the vet for things other than appointments where she would just go and get treats. I realized the first time I went to do this that I had an uphill battle with this one. The vet is sandwiched between landscaping and construction companies, and at any point in the day there are a wide variety of sounds that are deeply unsettling to her. Clearly treating her even for just getting to the parking lot was going to be the way to go and it would go very slowly from there.
The second thing comes with respect to the waiting times in the lobby. Although we do a lot of mat work where Abby has a mat we throw down and she knows she can relax there, that only goes so far in stressful situations. In light of the delays of our vet, I spoke with the office staff about taking a proactive approach to this wait time. I could not rely on them to adequately communicate any delays the office experienced, and even if they had communicated those delays I had limited ways to deal with this. I decided that if I had any hope of helping Abby not to become distressed waiting for her appointment, I needed to check in without her present. Sometimes this is realistic if my husband comes to an appointment with us, and one person remains in the car while the other person goes in. But sometimes he can't be at every appointment and I am by myself. I typically try to avoid leaving my dog in the car even for something as quick as this. So I spoke with someone in the office about being able to call from the parking lot and check in for our appointment. If the staff had her exam room ready I would head right in. If not they could either wave to me from the window or call me back on my cell phone when her exam room was ready and I would head right in. I tried this approach on a couple of occasions and it worked fairly well depending on who was on staff that day. That is until my husband tried to bring our girl for a vaccine.
Now admittedly, Abby is sometimes vaccine reactive. Not only is she missing fur where her Rabies vaccine was administered, but she once got violently ill after receiving her Lepto and Lyme vaccines. Now we break these vaccines up, and we also administer a Benadryl injection before she receives these vaccines. After massive confusion regarding checking in from the parking lot, and waiting to be seen for the injection, my poor husband and Abby had to wait a long time for the vaccine, and wait to check out. It was that appointment that hubby said he was done with this vet.
The more I thought about the requests we've made of our current vet, the more I realized that I wasn't asking for a lot. I was asking for my vet to become a partner with me in making sure that my dog's anxiety over her visit was lessened. Can you imagine if you were a parent with a child who was afraid of the dentist, and your dentist insisted on strapping down your child in a chair each time they went in? No parent would tolerate that, and no owner should allow their veterinarian to contribute to their pet's fears.
Your vet and their staff should be approachable. They should not only value the relationship they have with you, but the relationship that they build with your pet. Not only should these offices be willing to work with you on some of these requests, they should encourage you and empower you to do these things if for no other reason than selfishly wanting these appointments go smoothly and quickly for them.
It is quite apparent that the current staff is not on board with some of these requests, and unfortunately our ability to be patient and work through some of these growing pains is rather limited given how much Abby's fears paralyze her when they occur. Given some of these problems and limitations, we have chosen to seek out another veterinarian. Although we asked for some recommendations from people, read feedback on Yelp and even emailed users privately to ask questions, inevitably we had a recommendation that we just couldn't pass up.
One of Abby's favorite things about going to the first veterinarian was the staff. Unfortunately during her time there the majority of them left. However, her favorite Vet Tech is working at a hospital that is about half an hour from the house. At first I was concerned with it being out of the way, but then I realized that closer and convenient for me doesn't always mean that it is the best choice for Abby. I called and spoke with the Office Manager, who gave me a tour of the facility, and I was so impressed by her warmth. She answered all of the questions I had, was excited to help us give Abby a fresh start, and truly made an effort to let me know that if we went there they would want to get to know our pet. During the tour of the hospital I could see that the setup was great. The exam rooms had a window on the door so you could see out before leaving to make sure the coast was clear and you wouldn't be faced with a dog immediately upon exiting. The waiting area was huge and had a center divider that allowed for some privacy while you were waiting in case you need separation.
We brought Abby for the first time on Saturday and she was so excited to be able to sniff the entire place, and even more excited to see her old friend. We are really excited for this next chapter in Abby's care, and we truly feel that we have found people who not only understand our commitment to our pet, but want to work with us to make sure that we can make her appointments as stress-free as possible.
Friday, May 25, 2012
There's a reason I train my dog
People are often surprised to hear that we still work regularly on training with Abby. While I typically refer to the weekly class we take Abby to as puppy school, we regularly work with her on a wide variety of concepts aimed to shape various behaviors with her. Most people will typically joke that at this rate Abby should have a PhD.
But there's a reason I train my dog: I don't want to be that person.
You know the person I'm talking about. The person that in any situation shows complete disregard for either their dog, those around them, or both. They are the person who often utters such phrases as "Don't worry, they're friendly," or "They're a good dog but they don't listen," or they simply don't say anything at all while their dog is the poster child for continued education. I'll give you an example.
Today I needed to bring Abby to the vet. A few months ago she had a problem with an interdigital cyst between the toes on her back paw, and sure enough one flared up between the toes on her front paw. I am trying to take a proactive approach to Abby's vet appointments because I know that she gets nervous about them. Let's face it - Abby has had a series of not so fun appointments that have included UTI's, anal abscesses, and a tooth extraction. If this were me I'd need copious amounts of alcohol to face the exam room. On top of these appointments, our girlie has often had instances where over the top dogs have been right in her face. If vet visits are not well thought out they can be a recipe for disaster.
Since the TACT Seminar, I have decided that I need to take a proactive approach to the vet. With the first vet Abby would visit, we lucked out in one regard. Because Abby went there for routine checkups, daycare, grooming and training she truly never knew what was going to happen. I realized that I needed to take a similar approach with this vet because her generalization wasn't transferring in light of the more scary visits. First, I need to take her to the vet for all sorts of random things. Perhaps one day we will go there and Abby will just walk through, get a treat, and leave. Another day we will drive into the parking lot and Abby will be treated for walking around. Another day we may go in, get on the scale, and leave with treats. It's important that I mix these things up. Additionally, in the event that Abby does need to be seen I need to work with our vet to make these appointments less scary. Sometimes our vet runs late. Rather than subject Abby to being in a waiting area building her anxiety, I will go and check us in and she can wait in the car. When her exam room is ready they will wave to me and call us in.
This is what I did with Abby today and it worked out really well. Abby was very patient with the vet while he checked her toes and expressed her anal glands. At the end of the appointment Abby sat by the door waiting for it to open. I asked her to wait while I opened the door and I checked to be sure no dogs would bombard us as we left and Abby waited patiently until I gave the OK. She then was praised by the staff at the reception desk. However, there was a slight timing issue and her invoice was not ready when we approached the desk. I laid Abby's mat down while she waited so she could relax. It was at this point that I heard the lobby door open. I figured the best course of action was to move Abby from where she was and walk to the opposite side of the waiting area because inevitably this person might seek to leave via the same area we were standing in.
I gathered Abby's mat and focused her attention on me. It was at this point that the little dog that had come in had rounded the corner and went right up to Abby in a very forward way. I still had Abby's attention so she didn't notice at first that the other dog was coming. It was at this point that I literally stuck my leg in front of the incoming dog to block her. You could tell the other dog didn't expect it because she ran into my leg trying to get to Abby. The owner said at this point, "Oh, sorry, she's friendly." I replied, "She's not." With that Abby and I turned and walked to the other side of the room. Abby had her eyes on me the whole time and she sat proudly on the scale and worked on targeting my hand. Another stressed dog entered the waiting area and huffed and puffed while trying to pull towards Abby. My girl sat on the scale and looked from that dog to me as if to say, "Do you see that dog?"
This is why I train my dog.
Abby is sometimes friendly towards other dogs, but often hates when dogs are over the top in their greetings. She doesn't like aggressive face to face contact at first and sometimes prefers manners in approaching her. Now Abby did not show any signs of aggression or distress in the first dog ambushing her to say hi, but that doesn't matter. You should have eyes on your dog. You should know where they go and what they're doing. And you should ask me if your dog can greet mine and not be surprised or hurt when I say no. Because I have to be honest when I tell you that if your dog wants to greet mine in a vet's office it isn't going to happen. I have no idea if you are picking up food, seeking treatment for conjunctivitis, or are there for any myriad of reasons in which I would not want your dog to greet mine. It's a veterinarian's office, and in most instances you are not there just to say hi.
This is why I train my dog. So that she can go out into the world without being a menace, and in the face of uncomfortable situations look to me to fix them. So that she is not that dog who rounds the corner and ambushes other dogs or people who are reactive or fearful of her. So that I am not that person who shows no respect for others and causes panic to owners of reactive dogs. So that I am not that person who risks my dog's safety because she misreads a cue from another dog and is bitten.
Today was a day where I took great pride in the work we have done with her.
But there's a reason I train my dog: I don't want to be that person.
You know the person I'm talking about. The person that in any situation shows complete disregard for either their dog, those around them, or both. They are the person who often utters such phrases as "Don't worry, they're friendly," or "They're a good dog but they don't listen," or they simply don't say anything at all while their dog is the poster child for continued education. I'll give you an example.
Today I needed to bring Abby to the vet. A few months ago she had a problem with an interdigital cyst between the toes on her back paw, and sure enough one flared up between the toes on her front paw. I am trying to take a proactive approach to Abby's vet appointments because I know that she gets nervous about them. Let's face it - Abby has had a series of not so fun appointments that have included UTI's, anal abscesses, and a tooth extraction. If this were me I'd need copious amounts of alcohol to face the exam room. On top of these appointments, our girlie has often had instances where over the top dogs have been right in her face. If vet visits are not well thought out they can be a recipe for disaster.
Since the TACT Seminar, I have decided that I need to take a proactive approach to the vet. With the first vet Abby would visit, we lucked out in one regard. Because Abby went there for routine checkups, daycare, grooming and training she truly never knew what was going to happen. I realized that I needed to take a similar approach with this vet because her generalization wasn't transferring in light of the more scary visits. First, I need to take her to the vet for all sorts of random things. Perhaps one day we will go there and Abby will just walk through, get a treat, and leave. Another day we will drive into the parking lot and Abby will be treated for walking around. Another day we may go in, get on the scale, and leave with treats. It's important that I mix these things up. Additionally, in the event that Abby does need to be seen I need to work with our vet to make these appointments less scary. Sometimes our vet runs late. Rather than subject Abby to being in a waiting area building her anxiety, I will go and check us in and she can wait in the car. When her exam room is ready they will wave to me and call us in.
This is what I did with Abby today and it worked out really well. Abby was very patient with the vet while he checked her toes and expressed her anal glands. At the end of the appointment Abby sat by the door waiting for it to open. I asked her to wait while I opened the door and I checked to be sure no dogs would bombard us as we left and Abby waited patiently until I gave the OK. She then was praised by the staff at the reception desk. However, there was a slight timing issue and her invoice was not ready when we approached the desk. I laid Abby's mat down while she waited so she could relax. It was at this point that I heard the lobby door open. I figured the best course of action was to move Abby from where she was and walk to the opposite side of the waiting area because inevitably this person might seek to leave via the same area we were standing in.
I gathered Abby's mat and focused her attention on me. It was at this point that the little dog that had come in had rounded the corner and went right up to Abby in a very forward way. I still had Abby's attention so she didn't notice at first that the other dog was coming. It was at this point that I literally stuck my leg in front of the incoming dog to block her. You could tell the other dog didn't expect it because she ran into my leg trying to get to Abby. The owner said at this point, "Oh, sorry, she's friendly." I replied, "She's not." With that Abby and I turned and walked to the other side of the room. Abby had her eyes on me the whole time and she sat proudly on the scale and worked on targeting my hand. Another stressed dog entered the waiting area and huffed and puffed while trying to pull towards Abby. My girl sat on the scale and looked from that dog to me as if to say, "Do you see that dog?"
This is why I train my dog.
Abby is sometimes friendly towards other dogs, but often hates when dogs are over the top in their greetings. She doesn't like aggressive face to face contact at first and sometimes prefers manners in approaching her. Now Abby did not show any signs of aggression or distress in the first dog ambushing her to say hi, but that doesn't matter. You should have eyes on your dog. You should know where they go and what they're doing. And you should ask me if your dog can greet mine and not be surprised or hurt when I say no. Because I have to be honest when I tell you that if your dog wants to greet mine in a vet's office it isn't going to happen. I have no idea if you are picking up food, seeking treatment for conjunctivitis, or are there for any myriad of reasons in which I would not want your dog to greet mine. It's a veterinarian's office, and in most instances you are not there just to say hi.
This is why I train my dog. So that she can go out into the world without being a menace, and in the face of uncomfortable situations look to me to fix them. So that she is not that dog who rounds the corner and ambushes other dogs or people who are reactive or fearful of her. So that I am not that person who shows no respect for others and causes panic to owners of reactive dogs. So that I am not that person who risks my dog's safety because she misreads a cue from another dog and is bitten.
Today was a day where I took great pride in the work we have done with her.
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