[Dailydrool] Very nervous dog

[Pamela McQuade]

Understand that Tony is nervous, not aggressive. Both can cause the same reaction, but if you try to bully a fearful dog, it will only make things worse. You need to make him feel comfortable at the vet's, probably by some form of desensitization. You'll probably need a behaviorist on this one, because let's face it, awful things do happen at the vet's, and it's hard to feel really good about going there. How much do you like going to a doctor's office? 
 
Our Jane also hates the vet's, though she's never had anything awful happen there beyond spaying. I wonder if it goes back to her puppymill/pet store roots. She also hates going to pet stores, especially those where animals are kept. Could something like this be feeding into Tony's attitude? Our Abner had much worse vet experiences than Jane ever did, but he trotted into our vet's office as if he were meeting friends. The only vet or vet tech he bit was at the place where he had the back surgery, and we never took him back there.
 
I would not even consider putting Tony in a kennel. Try getting someone to come care for him in your home, as long as he's not aggressive there. But I'd make sure he'd met and been out with the pet sitter before you left. Call me crazy, but I'd also tell Tony well before you left and just before you left that the pet sitter would be staying or coming to take him out, and it would be OK. Dogs seem to understand more than we think they do.
 
Ideally, if you can get someone Tony already knows well to pet sit, it would be great. It should lessen the stress.
Pam, food slave to the Dashing Bassets
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