Many pet owners feel that there is no better joy than coming home to their respective dogs. Your pets are considered to be an important part of your family. As you would with other family members, it’s important to ensure their health is in good condition. However, taking a dog to the vet is often a stressful experience for your animal. In turn, this often leads to owners feeling stressed out about the whole process. With that in mind, here are six ways to prepare you and your dog for an upcoming vet trip.
- Take Your Pet on Regular Car Rides
One of the best ways to get your dog ready for the vet is with frequent car rides. Many pets understandable find cars to be strange environments. However, this can begin to change as your pet gets used to riding in cars. Before too long, your pet should be able to tolerate car rides and might even welcome the experience.
- Act Positive Before Arriving at the Vet
It’s understandable to think about veterinary diagnostics and start to feel stressed out. However, it’s important that you don’t let your animal notice this. Dogs are actually extremely intelligent when it comes to reading someone’s emotions. This means that if you’re stressed, it’s going to make your dog likely feel the same way. If you want to avoid this problem, work to remain calm while taking your animal to the vet.
- Start Crate Training Your Animal Early
Throughout the day, many dog owners must leave their animals at home. With that in mind, you might want to consider starting to crate train your animal. To do this, you simply have your dog spend time in a crate carrier. While your dog might not initially like the idea, give it time. You’ll find that placing a few of the dog’s favorite toys or treats inside can help them enter the crate. At first, leave the crate door open which allows your dog to freely walk in and out of this item.
- Ask About Administering Home Tests
Throughout your dog’s vet trip, veterinary diagnostics will need to be utilized. These tests are performed to check for various conditions including heartworm, something that is known to affect dogs of all ages. In fact, statistics show that nearly one million dogs throughout the United States are estimated to have heartworms. Receiving monthly medication for this condition is far cheaper than emergency treatment. However, diagnostic checks can make dogs with anxiety feel even tenser. Therefore, having a kit to perform a dog heartworm test at home might be the best option.
- Bring a Few of Your Dog’s Favorite Toys
While in a car, your dog might feel stressed out. You can minimize this stress by bringing along some of your dog’s favorite items. As you drive to the vet, your dog will at least have familiar toys to play with. In turn, this help to reduce your dog’s anxiety levels.
- Let Staff Know Your Dog’s Anxiety
Before any veterinary laboratory procedures can be performed, you’ll need to contact the vet to make an appointment. During this time, it’s best to inform the office of your dog’s anxiety. In turn, this allows the veterinary to take a special approach with your animal. This allows veterinary diagnostics to be taken in a manner that doesn’t send your dog into a panic.
To summarize, there are several ways to properly prepare your dog for an upcoming vet visit. You’ll find it’s important to choose a vet office that you can trust. It’s important to ensure that this office has veterinary diagnostics to check your dog for a wide range of possible conditions. As your pet continues to receive their checkups, it often becomes easier for dogs to get more used to a vet’s office. While going to the vet might seem overwhelming, taking time to prepare your dog can help solve this problem.