Leerburg / Dog Training Articles / Health / When To Fire Your Dog's Vet

When To Fire Your Dog's Vet

By Ed Frawley

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Customer Question:

I went to my vet today. My dog is nervous around new people and is not interested in being touched and handled.

When I'm with him, he is very obedient and listens to all commands.

We went to the Vet today and she insisted that my dog doesn't view me as a leader which I disagree with.

She took the dog, with muzzle on and his tail between his legs, and tried walking him around the area to assert her dominance.

I expressed how I thought that was wrong and that the dog is clearly scared.

He didn't know her or the environment.

My question: is it wrong for her to do that to him?

From what I've learned from Mr. Frawley and Michael Ellis is that I should be the only one handling my dog. Please let me know. Thank you.

Our Answer:

I will say that 90% of the Vets out there are smart, good healthcare providers. Our customer found one in the 10% category.

To be honest, this question is so bad, my first thought was this must be a scam question. We occasionally get them. But I looked the person up in our database and she is a good customer.

First, the comment that the dog doesn't view her as a leader is so far out in left field, all I can do is shake my head.

For whatever reason, this poor dog is seriously nervous. Its behavior has nothing to do with leadership.

To be honest, the owner did fail her dog as a leader. She allowed this stupid Vet to take her dog from her, when it was showing signs of being nervous or scared.

We would NEVER allow that to happen with one of our dogs that was either uncomfortable with another person or place.

We want our dogs to trust us. We want them to know that we have their back. We demonstrate that to them if a stray dogs approaches us on a walk, we stand our ground and run the other dog off. Our dogs learn that when a problem comes up, we (not them) handle it. That's the sign of a good leader.

Vets need to stay in their lane as healthcare workers and not dog trainers. There are a very few who are serious dog trainers much less “Behavioral Specialist”. I saw something once that Veterinary students get 4 to 6 credits of dog training in Vet school.

In our opinion this customer should have taken her dog and left. On the way out the door she should have told the Vet to take a good look because this is the last time you will see her and her dog.

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About Author

Ed Frawley

Ed Frawley is the founder of Leerburg. He has been training dogs since the 1950s. For 30 years, Ed bred working bloodline German Shepherds and has produced over 350 litters. During this time, Ed began recording dog training videos and soon grew an interest in police service dogs. His narcotic dogs have been involved in over 1,000 narcotics searches resulting in hundreds of arrests in the state of Wisconsin. Ed now solely focuses on producing dog training courses with renowned dog trainers nationwide. If you want to learn more about Ed, read about his history here.