The vet I used will hold the dog until it is completely out of anesthesia before allowing them home.

Wow, this was a very helpful thread, and I am glad you posted it. People tend to be the same way coming out of anesthesia. Not many, but a few will awaken violently, it just depends on the person. I hear stories from the OR all the time that patients in the PACU have to be given anti-anxiety meds to smooth over the transition to full alertness. Very good post and to make you feel any better I probably would have taken my coat off also. I usually worry and prepare for everything and this one may have gotten past me too.

I had a similar incident with my PSD… He developed an aural hematoma and went in for surgery. While he was under I had them remove his front dew claws and do a full dental on him.

Everything went well with the surgery and they intended to keep him overnight for observation. About three hours later the vet’s office called and requested that I come pick him up because he was extremely stressed in their kennels and felt it would be better for him to recover at home. When I picked him up he was completely out of it. He couldn’t stand up but he was thrashing all around in the little recovery run. I had to pick him up and carry him to the car for the ride home.

When he got home my wife moved a dog bed into the kitchen for him to lay on. He couldn’t even get all the way on the dog bed. I then left to go to the store. About an hour later he jumps up and starts staring at the wall, standing there wobbling. My wife told him to lay down on the bed. He just stood there staring at the wall. She told him again to lay down on the bed…. Not in a corrective tone of any sort… she said more like a mom talking to a sick child. Airus then turned, looked at her, and full mouth bit her upper arm.

My wife said she stood there in disbelief for a few seconds with him hanging on her arm. She told him to out…which luckily he did right away… and then he went and laid down.

Never underestimate a sick or hurt dog.

 Quote: matthew grubb

Never underestimate a sick or hurt dog.

or one still "under the influence" of anesthesia, as your dog so obviously was...

 Quote: Sarah Morris

Animals coming out of anesthesia are extremely disoriented (sometimes violently so) at first, and can remain fuzzy and out of it for a good long while after. They howl, they stagger, they will bite, and they will smash their heads against walls and floors if not supervised. The duration of disorientation is somewhat less with the fast-acting anesthesias, but it's still present. That's why vets want to (and should) keep them for a while following procedures.

My .02 is never bring your dog home if he's semi-awake, disoriented, and/or unable to walk normally under his own power. Any vet that allows a dog to go home in this kind of state is not practicing good medicine, IMHO.

and i'm COMPLETELY with sarah on this.