Quote:
Originally Posted by lily74
Has anyone got any training tips of what to do with a JR that barks at people and other dogs in the vets?
He starts to bark continuously and then whines like he is nervous, he also does this to strange men as well.
It is very embarressing as you have to wait and he is making alot of noise, also do I take him out and wait outside or just ignore and annoy everyone!
thanks!
Please note he was hasn't been with my nan and grandad that long, so they don't know his past history:/
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Is he a puppy? If so a lot of vets do puppy Parties, they are just puppy socialisation classes a lot of vets do them and they are usually free too.
Its a good way for a dog to make a good fun association with the vets. Even if he is an older dog, it might be worth having a chat to the head veterinary nurse and see if they do them and ask if you can bring him along to see if it makes a difference.
If not and the Vets are willing and they are not too far away, perhaps you could ask if you can take him in when they are not busy, mine for exampe are open all day, but they have consulting hours, and inbetween them no ones really in there its just for picking up things and admin. During this time they are not busy with clients so it might be an idea to do several visits and just sit in there and get the nurses to give him treats. If he makes a good association and learns to relax in the surroundings plus not have to have anything done that may help.
Last suggestion would be to try and train him so that you can get his attention and keep focus on you. A useful thing for this is the watch me command. You start at home, use favourite treats or human food he likes in tiny pieces cheese chicken hotdogs etc. Hold the treat up near your face so he has to look up and make eye contact, the second he does, say watch me quickly and treat. You then build this up once he knows the command, so that you can get his attention and keep it longer by, instead of treating straight away as you did, pause before giving the treat, that way he has to keep focus on you for longer, you then build that up longer and longer between the watch me/eye contact/treat. You should be able to then get and keep his attention to distract him from situations, in fact done enough eventually he should start to look to you for guidance when he is a situation he isnt comfortable with.
The only other thing as you have already said of course, is to simply let the reception know you are there and ask them to call you and wait outside.
You can actually also get natural calmatives. There is a collar that can calm and soothe dogs, its impregnated with a dog appeasing pheromone to calm and soothe dogs. Lasts about 4 weeks. Its called Adaptil. You can also get a spray, that you can spray on your clothes or on one of those fabric bandanas you sometimes see dogs wearing around the neck. They can help
From vets or pets at home. but cheaper usually on line
Online Vet | Get Cheap Pet Medicine and Treatments Online From Vet-Medic - Vet-Medic
Obviously with the collar its continued use, with the spray you have to refresh it.
Other then that there are herbal calmatives like scullcap and Valerian
Dorwest
Or there is something called KalmAid again Natural
http://www.nutri-science.net/pets/pdfs/KalmAid%20DL.pdf
Ive put links if you want to read up on those.