# 3 year old GSD aggressive at Vet's office--help!



## Hansie

We tried to take our 3 1/2 year old German Shepherd Hans to a new veterinarian yesterday and Hans lunged and tried to bite him. [The last time Hans was at the vet was a little over a year ago when he had a urinary tract infection. At that visit Hans was fine until that first vet tried to touch his privates. He growled at the vet when he came anywhere near his privates and they had us put the muzzle on him (which terrified him) and finally they had to sedate him in order to examine him; prior to that visit he really liked the vet.] We thought taking him to a new vet would be better because of that prior bad experience but this was actually worse because he was freaked out even in the waiting room. Even going to a new vet's office, Hans clearly knew it was the same type of office and was very anxious there. He is so scared that he is physically aggressive. He has shown dog aggression previously but never any aggression toward people. Has anyone dealt with this type of situation or have any advice on how to fix this??---we have no idea what to do.


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## jetscarbie

My dog acts like this at the vet's office also. I think it might have to do with the fact that there is so many different smells, sounds, and noises at the vet's office..their senses are in overload.

Maybe you could just visit your vets office several times a week with your dog in tow.


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## llombardo

I worked at a vet years ago and we had one shepherd that couldn't stand the vet..actually he was on the meaner side all the way around. The woman couldn't make an appointment because she never knew when she would be able to get the muzzle on him. One time she came in and everything was good to go, but she put the muzzle on wrong and that almost costed major injury. The end result, they had to tranquilize him, put the muzzle on him and the vet went out to the car and reached his hand through the back window to give him his shots. They never worked with this dogs aggression and sadly he was put to sleep because of it. Moral of the story is to try working with the dog on all aggression issues so he can live a happy life


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## NancyJ

While you are getting a handle on the agression (and I would get help and I am sure folks couild direct you to good trainers if they knew where you were) train the dog *at home* to accept a muzzle so that it is not a bad thing. I have all my dogs trained on italian basket muzzles in case we need them (injury whatever) and wearing one is no big deal for them. Actually, they are fine without but sometimes I think it is a good idea. You may also want to train the leather or nylon kind the vet may use.

They are a bit tricky to get the right size but I got mine at Moorco and they worked with me over the phone as the one I sized from the web page was wrong and they got it right. I just mention that one because it provides a great barrier and the dog can breathe and drink properly. Since the fear dogs often tend to bite with the front and retreat, there are also two layers of cage in front of the teeth.

To me, the value of the muzzle (JMO) is it gives YOU more confidence and that will relay down to your dog whose fear will be amplified by your anxiety about what he may do.

I think this is going to be a long slow process with a lot of work slowly getting him to the idea it is a good place [as listed above-take to the vet just to go in the waiting room. For the benefit of others, be sure to muzzle. The pupperoni treats are long and thin and can slide through the muzzle cage if you go the basket route.


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## JakodaCD OA

I agree with Nancy, Masi is terrified of my vet, fine until she was spayed there
She's fine in the waiting/exam room, fine with the techs, just my vet

Anyway, for her safety and everyone elses, I got her used to a muzzle at home, and now she just walks right into it It also seems to calm her at the vets for whatever reason, when she has it on.

Now if my vet comes to my home, Masi loves her, go figure, I think it's the atmosphere, smells that scare her, because she isn't normally a scaredy cat of anything. 

Muzzle just makes everything much easier for everyone involved including masi.


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## HecklingGopher

Get yourself a good basket muzzle and look for a dog trainer that specializes in working dogs. 

A basket muzzle will allow your dog to pant and also drink water, making it by far the most ethical muzzle you can use on a dog. 

By the sound of it, it sounds to me like your dog has a lack of respect for you as its owner. By your dog lashing out at others, it is kind of saying, "I know best, and this person is going to try to hurt me". Its alright though, there are a lot of dogs out there that do not respect their owners. You must be in a decisive leadership position. Further more, your dog must trust you that you are the one handling the situation. The only way to get to that point is through a lot of training. At 3.5 years old your dog may be an adult, but it is never too late.

To be honest, I think if a person can look you in the face and say they are surprised Hans acts this way would tell me that they have been lucky with their experiences with GSD's. It seems many people buy GSD's from working stock and don't realize the implications that come from having such a background. A good GSD should not be over friendly nor fearful. 

Aggression is a very common issue with the breed. Understanding and coming to terms that maybe your dog is not ever going to be friendly and might have some temperament issues is not something that should make you not love your dog, but make you realize that how you handle him has to change to accommodate Han's personality.


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## Hansie

Thanks for the feedback. We will definitely get him used to a muzzle so that he isn’t scared of it so that he just thinks of it the same way he does his gentle leader harness and associates it with positive things like walks—that was a great idea. That way, we can have a muzzle on him at the vet’s office to avoid any problems. We are not going to take him for an exam at the Vet until he is used to the muzzle and he is fully acclimated to the Vet’s office. I’m not sure if it is better to go back to his original vet that he liked and trusted as a puppy (that last visit he let him pet him without issue but then just wouldn’t let him touch his privates which is why they sedated him---he didn’t try to bite him at all he just growled to say don’t touch my privates—he had a urinary tract infection at that point so he probably had pain there too--but Hans has such a great memory so I'm afraid the sedation process was too traumatic for him) or should we go to someone completely new (but that is what really backfired this last time)??? We are in the Sacramento, CA area if anyone has any recommendations for great vet’s that are used to German Shepherds. We have started taking him for walks outside his first vet’s office so he will be excited about going there and he hasn’t been anxious at all. Once he is used to the muzzle we will work up to visiting the reception area, then the vet, etc until he is comfortable again before any exam is done on him as recommended. 
Hans was really nervous at this new vet’s office and the vet took his leash and pulled Hans toward him and then immediately reached for Hans with a stethascope (which is when he lunged and snapped at him)---but the vet hadn’t built up a relationship with Hans before doing this (and Hans had just watched the vet examine our black lab and then take her out of the room—the Lab was really scared too and Hans got really anxious watching this because he is very protective of the Lab). We should have stopped this before it got to that point but we thought it was a professional vet so he must know what he is doing! We just really don’t want this to be a permanent issue for Hans that he is scared of the vet so any ideas on how to calm him down are appreciated.


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## onyx'girl

Onyx is aggressive at the vet too. The way a vet tech and vet approach can make a difference. But with Onyx, it doesn't matter. She needs to be sedated and muzzled for any procedures. Even sedated, she still growls and fights. Different meds will make a dog feel less threatened, some times ACE can make it worse, and Xanax or valium better. I used melatonin with no results, went with Ace...that made Onxy feel vulnerable, her thought processing was confusing, so she became more agitated. 

Talk with your vet about chemical options. 

For now when I take her I usually will cover her head with a towel so she can't see during blood draw, ear swabs, and shots, I know this may cause more fear, but just getting the procedure over with asap is most important now. We also put her on a big table which made her feel more at ease/she was eye level and people weren't bending over her, to her feel more vulnerable. 
I've tried the counter conditioning/de-sensitizing/ just having the vet sit on the floor with her tossing treats, it didn't matter. 
I changed vets too, with no results. 
Many times a dog will behave better without their handler in the room. 
At three and a half, you have your work cut out for you to have Hans feel that the vet isn't a threat. It is genetic/nerves which is not easy to train out, but just manage.


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## benbennett

*Better results with injectable*

My current vet that has worked with wolf hybrids and has been a vet since 1980 just knocks him out with an injectable. The results are more consistent, ie the vet knows exactly how much is in his blood. I will try to post the method he used. 

Stay away from a Alprazolam and Acepromazine combination. It clearly says in the makers of Acepromazine NOT to use with aggression.

Acepromazine is just a tranquilizer and they did a study on dogs in transport using Acepromazine. The dogs that were given Acepromazine just moved less but there heart rates , body temps were all the same. 

GSD also have 10% being allergic to Acepromazine . 

Another younger vet tried and I will never let another vet use the combination on my dog. Normally I can gauge my dogs stress level and how he is going to react. Acepromazine just made it so he couldn't move which I think stress him out more. GSD are smart dogs and if you take away there ability to move and all they can think, the adrenal rush can over come the affects of the Acepromazine . IE can go from laying down to lunging biting in blink. 
My dog went from 0 aggression 100% full alert aggression in the blink of an eye on Acepromazine. 
It made him more aggressive just gave you a false sense of security because he went from laying down almost sleeping to flying in the air. 

I will post the combo my regular vet used it worked very well. 
If you vet suggest the Alprazolam and Acepromazine combo find another vet that has dealt with powerful aggressive breeds or wolf hybrids.


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