Happy & Victory Visits
To a dog, the veterinary hospital can be a stressful place full of unfamiliar sounds, smells, and equipment. Frequently they are poked, restrained, or put into positions that aren’t customary. It’s no surprise that over time your pet may start to show signs of stress while at the vet.
Happy & Victory Visits
To a dog, the veterinary hospital can be a stressful place full of unfamiliar sounds, smells, and equipment. Frequently they are poked, restrained, or put into positions that aren’t customary. It’s no surprise that over time your pet may start to show signs of stress while at the vet.
Happy Visits
Happy Visits are a service we provide for our patients at no charge to decrease, or keep them from becoming, fearful of veterinary visits. During our happy visits, we avoid any potentially stressful events such as needle pokes, temperature taking, or restricting their movement such as they would experience during a
traditional vet visit.
Generally, these upbeat visits consist of large quantities of Easy Cheese, peanut butter, and squeaky toys but this can be anything that is considered “the best” from your dog’s perspective. The goal of frequent Happy Visits is to build trust between us and your pet.
The trust we build with your pet during these frequent sessions can be used later on to desensitize them to things they find stressful such as nail trims, vaccinations, and restraint. Desensitization is a way for us to present stressful things in smaller, controlled sessions to your pet while positively rewarding them for being brave. In some instances, we may even get your dog to enjoy what used to make them fearful!
Before starting a Happy Visit the veterinary staff will judge your pet’s comfort level. Depending on what your pet is comfortable with, we may walk them around this hospital, visit exam rooms, or just stay in the lobby and play! Hopefully we will do a little more at each session than the previous one until your pet is comfortable being in the veterinary hospital. Like most training sessions, Happy Visits are recommended in frequent, short sessions to keep your dog focused and from becoming overstimulated or bored. Visits typically last about 5-10 minutes and are recommended as frequently as is convenient for you, typically weekly to monthly.
It is not necessary to schedule these free 5-10-minute visits, but it is highly encouraged to avoid the hospital’s peak hours. Having your pet in a full lobby or waiting for extended periods of time may be stressful for them and adversely increase anxiety. If this occurs, it is best to schedule for a different time. The best days to schedule are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10AM-3PM, but give us a call anytime to see if we’re available.
Generally, these upbeat visits consist of large quantities of Easy Cheese, peanut butter, and squeaky toys but this can be anything that is considered “the best” from your dog’s perspective. The goal of frequent Happy Visits is to build trust between us and your pet.
The trust we build with your pet during these frequent sessions can be used later on to desensitize them to things they find stressful such as nail trims, vaccinations, and restraint. Desensitization is a way for us to present stressful things in smaller, controlled sessions to your pet while positively rewarding them for being brave. In some instances, we may even get your dog to enjoy what used to make them fearful!
Before starting a Happy Visit the veterinary staff will judge your pet’s comfort level. Depending on what your pet is comfortable with, we may walk them around this hospital, visit exam rooms, or just stay in the lobby and play! Hopefully we will do a little more at each session than the previous one until your pet is comfortable being in the veterinary hospital. Like most training sessions, Happy Visits are recommended in frequent, short sessions to keep your dog focused and from becoming overstimulated or bored. Visits typically last about 5-10 minutes and are recommended as frequently as is convenient for you, typically weekly to monthly.
It is not necessary to schedule these free 5-10-minute visits, but it is highly encouraged to avoid the hospital’s peak hours. Having your pet in a full lobby or waiting for extended periods of time may be stressful for them and adversely increase anxiety. If this occurs, it is best to schedule for a different time. The best days to schedule are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10AM-3PM, but give us a call anytime to see if we’re available.
Victory Visits
To help decrease your dog’s fear level at the vet, or to prevent them from becoming fearful, we recommend Victory Visits. A Victory Visit is a scheduled, personalized, training session with our Training Partner to acclimate your pet to gentle control and veterinary equipment. Each dog’s comfort level is unique and what
they are reactive to varies, so their first session includes both a consultation and training plan. Trust and positive association take several visits to acquire. For many pets we are trying to undo years’ worth of negative experiences. At each visit we take small, gradual steps toward our end goal. These small improvements may seem insignificant at first, but they will be the building blocks for larger improvements down the road.
Like any training, these sessions take a lot of mental energy for your pup so sessions are limited to 30 minutes, except for the initial consultation. The more frequently these sessions occur, the more trust and positive associations we will build. Each pet’s progress will depend on their previous experience, personality, age, and amount of training.
If your doctor has previously recommended any anti-anxiety medications for veterinary visits, please give them accordingly before visits. Likewise, if your pet is less stressed when wearing a Thundershirt® or with nutraceuticals on board, please use those! Ask about our Non-drug Option for Anxiety Handout for nutraceutical ideas.
Like any training, these sessions take a lot of mental energy for your pup so sessions are limited to 30 minutes, except for the initial consultation. The more frequently these sessions occur, the more trust and positive associations we will build. Each pet’s progress will depend on their previous experience, personality, age, and amount of training.
If your doctor has previously recommended any anti-anxiety medications for veterinary visits, please give them accordingly before visits. Likewise, if your pet is less stressed when wearing a Thundershirt® or with nutraceuticals on board, please use those! Ask about our Non-drug Option for Anxiety Handout for nutraceutical ideas.