When To Fire Your Dog's Vet

By Ed Frawley  |  Last modified: January 12, 2023

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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.

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 and owner of Leerburg.com and has been producing professional dog training videos since 1982. Over the years, he has collaborated with some of the most respected dog trainers in the country. His body of work includes 194 full-length training DVDs and 95 comprehensive online courses. In addition to these, he has produced and published over 4,000 short training videos available free of charge on Leerburg.com and across the company's social media platforms.

Ed and his wife, Cindy—also a professional dog trainer—bred working-line German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois for more than 35 years. Although they retired from breeding in 2009, they had produced over 300 litters by that time.

Ed also served as a K9 handler for the local sheriff's department for 10 years, working in partnership with the West Central Drug Task Force. During his time in law enforcement, he handled multiple narcotics and patrol dogs and conducted more than 1,000 K9 searches. If you want to learn more about Ed, read about his history here.

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