Thursday, January 24, 2013

Things Dog Owners Say That Make Vets Cringe: behavior version

When a dog is acting funny, and the owner comes out with one of these phrases, we veterinarians not only know what to expect moving forward, but we know more about you than you'd like to let on.
  • "She turns real fast with her mouth open but she's never bitten anyone."

  • "She's just the sweetest dog at home."

  • "She's never done that before in her life."

  • "The last vet was rough with her."

  • "She was traumatized as a puppy."

  • "She puts her teeth on you but she's not biting. She's just putting her teeth on your skin."

  • "Are you hurting her???"

  • "She only nips, she doesn't bite."

  • "Your white coat scares my dog. The other vet wore a blue coat and she was fine with him."

  • "Your blue coat scares my dog. The other vet wore a white coat and she was fine with him."

  • "I don't want to put her through training. She had a hard life before I rescued her."

  • "He was never that way with the old vet..."

  • "He's obviously been abused." (This is especially funny coming from clients who have owned the puppy since he was six weeks old.)

  • "He was abused by a man with a beard, wearing a hat."

  • "She's never aggressive at home! In fact, it's really cute, to tell you she's upset, she makes this growly noise first, and if you keep moving toward her, she'll come over and close her mouth on your hand or her arm. But she never actually bites or anything."

  • "What did you do to him? He never acts that way at home!"

  • "She didn't bite you, she jumped with her mouth open and just scratched you."

  • "He's just afraid of the muzzle."

  • "Good dog. Good dog." (Repeated PRN)

  • "It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay."

  • "Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit."
Vets and techs, have something to add? What am I missing?
at 9:13 AM
Labels: , , , , ,

21 comments:

  1. I think, as a general rule, you shouldn't trust any owner who is opposed to muzzling their dog. Those are usually the ones whose dog has a skewed view on allowed behavior.

    ReplyDelete

  2. Bill Bryson talks about pet owners (after he's been bitten) saying "He never bites! What did you say to him?"

    His point: "It's a dog! Why the hell would I say anything to him?"

    ReplyDelete

  3. When the owners say, "Oh, he won't let me touch his ..."

    ReplyDelete

  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. sorry, first time poster. hit the wrong button.

      Delete

  5. I had the "It's okay. It's okay" from a client while she was giving treats to her intact male JRT who was trying to leap out of her arms to eat me. I wanted to ask, "Where's MY treat??"

    ReplyDelete

  6. You've got the last one all wrong. It's more like
    Owner: "Fluffy sit. Fluffy sit. Fluffy siiiiiiiit.... Fluffy siiiiiiiiiiiiit..... Fluffy! Sit! Fluffy! Sit! Fluffy! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit!"
    Tech/Receptionist: "Maybe I could try?"
    Owner:"No! He knows how... Sit Fluffy! Sit! Sit!......"

    ReplyDelete

  7. i think my favorite is "don't worry, he doesnt bite hard"/"don't worry, his bite doesn't hurt." ...???

    ReplyDelete

  8. to put a different spin on it, my favorite is when I tell the techs that my dog is dog reactive and ask to get an appointment surrounded by cats then they look on wide-eyed when he goes nuts as he sees a dog in the lobby. My goal is to keep everyone sane and safe, It'd be nice to be believed.

    ReplyDelete

  9. "Should I give him a treat now??" after a vicious little never-trained chihuahua has tried several times to remove my fingers for the crime of touching the table he's standing on.

    ReplyDelete

  10. Oh my favorite is, "it's OK mommy is here, you're alright, good girl/boy, mommy is here, mommy is here" repeated constantly while the dog is growling like a thunderstorm and trying to kill whoever is closest! The owner is always right in the way while the dog is being restrained! Another classic "He/she doesn't like to walk on a leash" or "But I can't do that! He/she doesn't like it!" How do these people survive? If they spawned children how do they get to adulthood? Obviously mommy or daddy won't give the kid a pill if they can't their pet! The all favorite " I rescued Pookie when he was 4 weeks old, he was being abused, he is 13 now". Rescue to me means saved from horrid fate or death, not gotten from a rescue group who did that then invested time and money for training and vet care, not to mention once they arrive at your family they become family members! Not little forever street urchins! One last one, "I have a "neighborhood cat" or "it is my son's dog, he moved 5 years ago" come on! if you are bringing animal to a vet it is YOURS! Wow! I just realized I have been doing this too long, and animals are so much easier to deal with than peopl!

    ReplyDelete

  11. As a pet owner, not a vet or tech, I don't understand why someone would be opposed to having their dog muzzled if thats what it took for the dog to be examined. But apparently it happens often enough that my vets' office has a standing policy to not outright inform a pet owner if a CAUTION has been put on the dog's file unless the owner asks.....THAT peeved me. I'd much rather train my dog to wear a basket muzzle as part and parcel of trips to the vets office, than have the vet/tech decide he's too worked up today and so they have to put a muzzle on him with no warning making him even more face shy.....and before someone asks why I didn't know about it, it happened during the prep to put him under for his neuter *sigh*

    ReplyDelete

  12. On the flip side a total of 6 times in 13 years I have seen an owner effectively reprimand their canine for attempting to harm me, resulting in my subsequently being able to actually perform a proper exam on the beasts without further issue :) sadly 4 of those were in my first two years of practice in rural America. So just to be clear the ONLY words I want to hear when your dog (regardless of size) is attempting to bite me is a sharp NO! After we are done an apology for your dogs dismal manners is also ok. NEVER use the phrase "he's feisty" in any context if you want me to be able to focus on treaty your dog.

    ReplyDelete

  13. I recently had a client come in for me to reassess her dog's ear infection. The instant I GENTLY put the otoscope into the rather large dog's ear, it growled, wriggled free and snapped (thank goodness it missed) at the tech's face who happened to be holding the dog. I informed the owner that we would like to place a muzzle, for our safety to complete the ear exam. She went on to say that her dog "has never snapped at anyone in 12 years." Then she said that we absolutely could not muzzle the dog and she wanted a new Dr. and tech. I tried explaining the obvious reason we muzzle any dog that bites. I also tried explaining that this could have just been a painful response-all to no avail...I love my job. I love my job...I love my job. NOT!

    ReplyDelete

  14. My favorite so far: (after the dog has snapped) "I know, she bites. We don't like to say it up front because we don't want you to assume she's a bad dog."
    Really? I don't think she's a bad dog. I don't really like the owner much right now, though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. No error, disagree! Unless its an HBC with fracture or something as equally painfull biting dog = BAD DOG!!!! Now of course most had dogs ( but not all a I assure you) are the results of poor training/ owner expectations/ inappropriate breed selection for this owner. But if an attempt is made to liberate my erythrocytes from their normal intravascular orientation then that indeed is a bad dog.

      Delete

  15. Two instances in two weeks:

    1. Owner (after full physical exam): "Wow! Fluffy is really good with you."
    Me: "Why? Is she usually not?"
    Owner: "Oh, she usually hates the vet and tries to bite."

    2. Owner (after dog has tried and barely missed biting my face): "We probably should have brought his muzzle."

    Seriously? Please just tell me that your dog may bite. I won't judge. But I will be grateful not to have stitches. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete

  16. OMGnoooooo!!!!!!!! I'm one of those owners. Dammit.

    ReplyDelete

  17. The best example was the owner of a chihuahua that chastised the "bad doctor" for being mean to her itty bitty baby. This was after the said "itty bitty baby" latched onto a his thumb and didn't let go. It was exasperating watching her coo and baby the little land shark and ask him if he was okay while the doctor is dripping blood all over the exam room from multiple puncture wounds.

    After seeing this, I decided a hard-fast rule in dealing with difficult patients/clients. If I am the doctor seeing the pet and our staff can't get a muzzle on a particularly bad dog, either they get muzzled by the owner, or if they can't/won't do it, they are given sedatives to give the pet and we try again or they go elsewhere.

    I believe in muzzles and chemical restraint and I am not going to risk the health of myself and my staff if your pet wants to eat us for lunch. If you don't like it and refuse, that's okay, but we still aren't examining your pet and you can find a new doctor for your sweet baby that has never bitten before.

    ReplyDelete

  18. After my cat bit the vet during an exam, (First time, EVER!) our vet said it was no big deal, it happened all the time. But he was bleeding!! It was the most mortifying thing to ever happen. I don't think we could have apologized more. When it's a cat that bites, what's the appropriate fix for that? Are there cat muzzles?

    ReplyDelete

  19. This is a huge reason as to why I'm not a dog person. These idiots are the same ones that don't restrain their dog in their yards and comment gaily that "Fido" is just playing when he lunges at me and circles me.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)