Originally Posted by
Annette47
All of my older dogs have LOVED going to the vet. The two young ones, not so much. Sass can be shy with strangers in general (no better or worse at the vets than in other situations), although with age and experience she is getting much, much better. Cookie though LOVES people ... unless they are at a vet office. And it doesn’t have to be her vet, either. I took them a couple months ago to get their OFA’s done (hips/elbows x-rayed) at a clinic. Someplace they’d never been before. Cookie was fine until we walked in the door, and I guess the smell told her it was a vet’s office and next thing you know she was trying to leave ASAP.
She mostly tries to hide and cower so it is possible to get an exam done on her, and at my vets, they do let me hold her and stuff treats in her mouth. I’m not sure why she is like this - she has had a painful experience at the vets (treating a torn dewclaw - I’m sure they were as gentle as possible but it is a painful wound to have to be cleaned up) which didn’t help, but she was apprehensive even before that visit. I think it’s the smell she doesn’t like.
As I said, all my older dogs were fine, and would tolerate all sorts of treatment and despite having had unpleasant procedures would still happily go off with the vet techs wagging their tails. I have no idea why Cookie is so different. I don’t count Sass’s reluctance as it doesn’t seem to be specific to the vet - she just really wants to know someone well before she will go off with them willingly.