Veterinary poser

I am in a bit of a quandry, and wonder what others would do in our situation, which is as follows:

For over 30 years we have been with the same Vet practice, and for many of those years we have been seen by the same vet.........a chap whose skills are beyond doubt, and we trust him implicitly when it comes to ops etc. However, he does not have the best bedside manner; in other words he scares the living daylights out of animals and doesn't mind hurting them in order to get to the root of the problem. To sum him up:
He was brilliant with our last dog when she had her cruciate op. He has always been spot on with diagnosis and treatment. I trust him BUT, every single one of our animals has ended up absolutely terrified of him, which always made examination a huge ordeal. (If I didn't catch the ponies before he turned up, then once they spotted him or heard his voice we could forget it for that day).

When we took on our latest rescue dog Jimmi, we were seen by a new lady vet at the practice and she was wonderfully gentle and we had no problems. She left to get married. We went back to seeing our original chap........result, Jimmi became petrified of stepping paw inside the surgery. We switched to another lady vet in the practice and he has gradually improved although is still very wary. Damn it - she has just left.

There is another lady vet there, but although she is reputed to be very good and also gentle, on the one occasion that she saw Jimmi she insisted on muzzling him even though I explained that no matter what was done to him and no matter how scared he got, he had never tried to snap or bite. The muzzle freaked him out.

My dilemna is this.........do I go with the vet with all the experience that I have known through countless animals, but who makes life incredibly stressful because of his rough manner, or do I go with the lady vet who is much gentler and is also very good, but who clearly does not have the confidence to deal with dogs that she perceives to be potential "snappers".

My own thoughts swing from one to the other.......I do trust the long term vet, but he has made examinations so very difficult and stressful. The lady vet is good, but can I persuade her that Jimmi just needs gentleness and patience, and there is no need for a muzzle which in his case is counter productive.

I may have to decide very quickly, because a paw has flared up again and the antibiotics are not working as well as I would have hoped

I'd change to another practice and talk to them before you commit.

Thats what I did. It is a 10 mile trip out to them but worth it.

rune

id give the lady vet another go....to be fair,i never listen to owners that tell me their dogs wont bite,i go with my own feelings....she may just need to meet him a couple of more times to get what he is 'really about'.

Ditto this. You may know that he won't bite but she may have been told that by several owners who's dogs have then tried to bite her (or even succeeded). I'd do a bit of muzzle training with Jimmi at home to get him used to it (check out Youtube for videos on how to do this - remember to use positive methods so he learns to be happy in a muzzle, rather than just putting up with it through fear), once you get him to accept a muzzle, it will make his vet trips a lot less stressful.
I'd perhaps do as rune said and look at other practices in the area too though, you have no obligation to stick with the same vets if you're unhappy.

I'd also stick with the lady. It's not very often my dog has ever been muzzled but not long ago when they had to take her out the back i actually asked her to be although i was told they would anyway because it's common practice to muzzle any animal they will cause pain to. Turns out she didn't cry nor was aggressive even though they pulled 2 nails off her feet i think she was too scared but at the end of the day you just never know and you want them and your dog protected.

I certainly wouldn't take my dogs to a vet who frightened them so would go with the lady vet and if she doesn't feel confident to examine the dog without a muzzle after a few trips then I would go elsewhere altogether.

Thank you all of you for your helpful replies, and I will do as most of you have suggested and go with the lady vet.

Tupacs, yes I can see it from her point of view now re the muzzling, and hope that once she gets to know him properly she will dispense with this idea altogether.

It has been a real quandry to be honest, because the older male vet really is very good indeed - but this is not much good when Jimmi is too terrified of him to allow a proper examination. He tends to focus so hard on the problem presented to him that he seems to forget that it is a sensitive living animal! I am not being sneaky or underhand in any way, and the vet knows that I am not impressed with his bedside manner!!! He also knows that I think the world of him after all these years, and I am assured by the nurses and receptionist that he is never miffed when someone chooses to go with one of his other vets, in fact he welcomes the reduction in his workload.

I have heard such good reports of the lady vet, so think that it would be sensible to give her a chance, especially as she is very gentle. I think that I will try to reassure her more regarding not being bitten, by telling her that I used to be a vet nurse many moons ago and know how to restrain a dog properly for examination.

Jimmi is one of the most sweet natured and gentle dogs that I have ever known, and it breaks my heart to see him so distressed at the vets. It's just so disappointing when a vet in the practice that Jimmi had learned to relax with leaves to start a new life elsewhere! So inconsiderate!!!

Thank you all again for helping me to make up my mind.

There is no way I'd take my dog to a vet who frightened it that much! If you want to stick with the same practice then get Jimmi used to a muzzle and go with the lady vet. It's not really a big deal to muzzle a dog for the vet imo and far better than going to a vet you know will terrify him.

I take my dog to a vet whos people skills leave a lot to be desired but he is absolutely wonderful with Rupert so I can handle how he is with me at times.

Yes, I definitely want to stay with the same practice......and will be making the next appointment with the lady vet; that may be sooner rather than later if Jimmi's flare up paw-wise doesn't settle with the antibiotics. I know what you are saying re the muzzle, but he really did panic the very second that the thing was put on him (I probably would if someone forcibly clamped my jaws shut!), so I am not keen to put him through that again either at home or anywhere else. I will have a chat with the lady vet, and perhaps book a long appointment so that she can get to know him a little before doing any examinations.

Was it one of the fabric type muzzles that holds the mouth shut? Ruperts used to being muzzled but panics if you put one of those ones on him, he rears up, paws frantically at his face and thrashes around. I think because it's so tight and restricting. He's never bothered about the Baskerville one I use. I introduced it really quickly with a clicker and some cheese spread and from the first moment it went on he's accepted it.

Trying to let the vet get to know Jimmi is a good idea if she's willing though.