Kevin Behan and Trisha Selbach bring Atikus to the Vets and explain how to vet any dog using the Natural Dog Training method. They discuss how the common conceptions of ‘taming’ your dog, i.e. giving it a lot of ‘love’ and attention, can actually put more stress on your pet. Watch the video for step-by-step instructions on what you can really do to calm your dog, and ultimately make the experience as pain-free (for the both of you!) as possible.
Click here to see the discussion about this clip with Kevin and Trisha on Quantum Canine.
I’m sure I missed this point, but I’ll ask the question anyway: How do you get the dog to “want” to get up on the table in the first place?
Good question. There are some preliminary steps such as inducing a dog to get on a small box or low wall for a food treat, and then increasing the level of difficulty until the dog is eager to jump up on a high platform. Nevertheless, I still want the dog to struggle to get onto the exam table for a while so that it gets to release a lot of emotional/physical tension. Fighting to get on table helps dog feel it is in control and experience success. This then changes its framework of perception relative to the vet and the procedures.
Thanks for this great video. I took Bootsy to the vet yesterday for vaccinations and followed the advice. This visit went far better than any other experience she’s had to date. She ate treats as was able to speak for almost the whole visit and then played tug in the parking lot afterwards. It’s quite amazing that as soon as I challenged her balance by trying to pull her off the table her drive for food increased.