Familiarise your dog with common handling situations at the vet’s and groomer’s.
Dogs experience a wide variety of handling throughout their lives, and two of the more common ones are vet checks and grooming. It can be stressful for dogs that aren’t used to such handling, so getting your dog used to this will make vet and grooming visits a calmer affair.
Some signs of discomfort and fear your dog may exhibit include cowering, running away, or becoming defensive, and reactions like this can worsen if they learn that behaving in such ways makes the threat dissipate.
NOTE: There could be other underlying behaviours that can be indicative of other issues, so it is important to check in with your vet to rule out any health issues first, then review your dog’s history with a vet or behaviourist before attributing the fear of strangers as the primary or sole cause of the behaviour.
Exposing your dog through similar handling and bringing them to the vet or groomer’s during their sensitive period as a puppy (which falls between 8-16 weeks of age) will allow them to get comfortable with the vet or groomer visits. However, other environmental factors that can cause this fear include past negative experiences and genetics.
Since the triggers and fears of handling discomfort differ for each dog, our lead trainer will work closely together with you to understand the issue before designing an appropriate treatment plan for your dog.
Having completed Michael Shikashio’s master course in dog aggression, Kristina is able to interpret a wider array of specific dog body language in a variety of cases. She also employs the use of science-backed methods and research in the field of canine behaviour and learning to identify the cause of your dog’s problem behaviour. After ruling out any possible medical conditions, a suitable treatment plan will be developed for your dog.
Read more about Kristina and her training methods here!
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