Good evening, Scully got his 2nd injections today so only 2 more weeks till he can have a good explore !!!

Whilst at the vets, a huge choc lab came running to meet him and it was wonderful, he was so happy to meet her, she was great with him. Made me feel very very excited about out future walkies.

However once i got into the vet, it was a very different story. There was 1 very big, very strong dog (i don't know the breed, very chunky, very muscly and very powerful dog) and it was trying to get my puppy it took the female owner and the male vet both to hold him back.

I was sat there with my 10 week old pup and my 3 and 4 year old boys and it has really rattled me that I will find myself in a situation where a dog will try and get us and how do i possibly protect my dog and my children. Without a doubt my children will always come first but it has really given me a bit of a wake up call.

Not very nice at all. Does anyone have advice on how to handle this situation or has anyone ever found themselves in this situation?

Just very unsettling today. Thank you

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One thing I would say is that even though you found what happened today unsettling the absolute worse thing that you can do is start worrying about what ifs. You will be going out a bundle of tension before you even start, that will transfer to the pup as they can and pick up on it and you will be scuppered before you even start.

Was the dog really being aggressive or was it just the sheer size bulk and power and type of dog that you found offputting? Did you pup seem worried or scared of the dog? If the pup isnt scared then thats often an indicator that the dog may not be a threat

It maybe an idea to think about taking your pup to puppy training classes and getting experience of meeting dogs in a more controlled environment its good to the pups for socialising and it starts training with distractions too.
Vets also often do Puppy Parties, and they are often free, some are very good although some can be better then others. It might be worth asking your vets if they do them. As regards to finding a class Welcome to APDT - Association of Pet Dog Trainers UK should find you an association of pet dog trainers class in your area. They only use kind fair effective reward bassed methods and have to pass an assesment to join plus keep up to date with all new training methods available. So that should find you a good class.

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As SDH says, was the dog actually trying to get to your puppy in an aggressive way, or just get there and meet? Kilo used to be a devil for trying to get to other dogs, even lying down and trying to 'creep' along the floor if the pulling hadn't worked. He is also a dog that a few people are afraid of on walks, due to his size (sometimes breed, although now we have moved I've not had any horrid breed comments...quite the opposite!!) and the fact that he looks fairly strong and we get an awful lot of dogs or kids scooped up and the odd scream - we walked past a man the other day who let out a scream and scooped his lab puppy up and made his small child stand behind him.

Also, I have found that the vet's waiting room is not the best place for dogs to meet, it always seems charged with tension - nervous dogs with nervous owners (not in all cases!), possibly in pain, all cooped up in a small space and tethered on a lead. I have waited outside before now when an AB was growling at Kilo - he was frightened and cowering in the corner, the AB was giving solid eye contact and just giving a low, rumbling growl. I just said to the other dog's owner and receptionist that I'd wait outside and it was fine. The AB came out past us as we were due to go in and it was fine out on the street.

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A lot of dogs are nervous and jumpy at the vets so as has bneen said not the best place for an introduction..

Once you get out and about in your neighbourhood you will meet other owners and soon get to know which dogs get along and which dont..

Out there in the street theres normally plenty of room for people to avoid confrontation so the issue shouldnt come up that often anyway..

The key is to be calm and focused, shouting, screaming or picking your pup up will only make the situation worse...


Try not to worry and enjoy.....

Don't worry too much. It won't do any good anyway. As others have said, dogs behave differently at the vet.

When my Kite was little, a huge Great Dane came bounding over to get to her. Kite screamed and hid behind my legs, but soon realised the Dane meant no harm and went out to meet him. Meanwhile, Dane's owners came rushing over because they thought their dog had hurt mine, hence the screaming.

There are a few aggressive dogs around. In 7 years I've only had one encounter when a dog tried to attack my other dog (we were walking through a narrow alley at the time), but my dog leapt and twisted so the other dog couldn't get hold of her, then slipped her collar and ran off into the night. A few minutes later she came back unharmed. Recently I witnessed an attack by a dog on another elderly dog, it took 4 people to separate them but even then no serious physical damage was done.

You can get a thing called a pet corrector which emits a hissy blast of air at a dog, it's often enough to scare them off. Don't aim for the eyes. You can carry one for peace of mind.

Hello, sorry for late response, we had a 3rd birthday in the house!!

I had been thinking about this since posted and all very wise words indeed.

Scully starts puppy socialising this week at the vets for 2 weeks and starts proper puppy training in 4 weeks so have those bases covered.

You were right in thinking that he wasn't bothered one bit about this huge dog lunging at him. I am still not convinved it was a friendly lunge but that may just be due to the sheer effort he was putting in to do so and you all completely correct that most dogs will not be at ease in a vets waiting room....

I live in a small village so will know most dogs around and there are 2 labs waiting desperately for walking with him down the road

Thank you for all the wise words.

cat xxxx

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