2 Tips To Minimize Your Dog's Stress When You Take Them To A Pet Hospital
Posted on: 6 April 2022
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A pet hospital may be needed in many cases if you have pets. For example, they may have a broken bone, get sick, get in a fight with another animal, and more. It can be stressful for a dog to go to the hospital, which can make things much more difficult for you. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to help ease their stress, two of which are listed below.
Take Them for Regular Vet Appointments
Start taking your dog to the vet when it is a puppy. This will help them get used to seeing a doctor. Vaccinations are an important part of keeping your dog healthy, as well as ensuring they stay on heart prevention medication and flea prevention. The vet will set a new puppy up with a vaccination schedule to protect them from a variety of diseases, such as parvo, canine distemper, influenza, and rabies.
The vet can tell you how often you should bring your dog in once it becomes grown. This will likely be around once a year. Once your dog gets used to vet appointments they will likely not be as stressed when arriving at a pet hospital.
Be Calm with Your Dog
You need to be very calm with your dog. If you are feeling stressed, they can sense it and this will make them become even more stressed. If you can have someone drive you and your dog to the hospital, sit with them in the car and gently pet them talking to them in a soft, low voice. Be mindful of where they are injured and do not touch these areas. Feeling pain causes high stress levels and you do not want to make the pain worse. Turning on the radio in the car at a low volume can also help with stress.
If your dog is overly stressed, such as whining, barking, drooling, licking, panting, and shedding, contact the hospital if the injury is not life-threatening. They can help your dog by giving them a sedative that will calm them down when you arrive. A vet can give you a sedative beforehand if you know your dog is going to be very fearful. This will help them get treated much quicker by the veterinarian once you arrive with them at the hospital, which may save their life.
Talk with your veterinarian to learn of more ways you can ease your dog's stress if you plan on taking them to a pet hospital.