Force-Free Veterinary Clinics: A Dog Trainer’s Plea

Force-free veterinary clinics are a new movement–so new that the veterinary field is unable to keep up with the change. The rise of fear-free veterinary clinics are evident by the number of programs that are being developed for launch by middle to late 2016. You’re probably wondering where you can find a force-free veterinary clinic right now and I can tell you research is key. Below, I explain how you can find the right force-free veterinary clinic for you and your dog.

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How to Find Force-Free Veterinary Clinics Now

Until organizations and associations are formed and list veterinary clinics promising to abide to low-stress handling of pets, the task of finding a force-free clinic falls on us. Honestly, they’re not hard to find. It takes a bit of research and polling of friends.

Identify a Force-Free Veterinary Clinic

This is an important step because marketing savvy places can lure you in with false promises. Gone are the days of pinning dogs to the ground and compelling them to obey during veterinary visits. Remember when veterinary exams were followed by your veterinarian tossing your exhausted dog a treat in hopes of making friends again? Yeah, most dogs refused to eat them. They were still terrified. Now, dogs are rewarded with lots of treats for participating in exams and procedures. It’s a new day! 

Minimal Handling

Fear-free veterinary clinics keep handling to a minimum. Handling means taking hold of a dog by using hands. Force-free clinics may hold your dog’s collar lightly with the goal of keeping him next to the veterinarian during examinations. Forcibly holding the collar to keep a dog in place, using tight leashes or wrapping her arms around your dog’s neck is not what should happen. Instead, veterinary technicians entice dogs to participate in the exam by holding a food stuffed toy to keep them standing still.

Also, veterinary staff will treat your dog for standing still, allowing the veterinarian to touch him and look into his eyes, ears and mouth. If a dog becomes startled and shrinks back from the vet’s touch or equipment, the veterinary staff gives the dog a break. Then, they should show your dog that veterinary equipment is actually fun by pairing yummy food treats when your dog looks, sniffs and finally allows equipment to touch him.

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Taking Your Dog “In The Back”

If you’re like me, I cringe when vet techs ask if they can take my dogs “in the back.” Your dog isn’t too happy either, as you watch him put on the brakes the moment the back room door opens. He knows what happens back there. My brain runs wild with images of my dog being held tightly and forced to comply. Fortunately, my veterinarian has monitors, which show the veterinary staff working with dogs in the back. I could watch techs complete blood draws, take X-rays and peel off bandages as needed.

Standing still for blood draws should be voluntary. I watched vet techs feeding Sobek and Stella treats while the other tech drew blood from a back leg. All three vet techs were sitting on the ground with one tech in front feeding several treats as the other tech prepared, desensitized the area by tapping the vein, drew blood and joined the other tech in rewarding Sobek.

The results were amazing. Now, Sobek and Stella willingly and happily walk into the back room, as they’ve had such great experiences back there.

X-Rays

More and more veterinary clinics have stopped sedating dogs when taking X-ray films, so you’re probably wondering what’s happening back there. Again, force-free veterinary staff work in teams: one person holds the treats or a food stuffed toy by your dog’s head and another person is moving your dog’s body into position. It’s important to understand dogs should be rewarded while being handled. This keeps them interested and pairs good things with handling.

As the X-ray is taken, food treats stop for a millisecond (keeping the tech out of the picture) and resume immediately until either all films have been taken or the session is over.

Locate a Force-Free Veterinary Clinic

Usually, there are two ways to locate a force-free veterinary clinic. I recommend asking dog savvy friends or doing your own research. I’m happy to share my vet’s information!

Ask Dog Savvy Friends

Asking dog savvy friends is probably the easiest way to find a force-free clinic and polling friends is even easier due to social media. Now that you have an understanding of what a fear-free clinic looks like, ask specific questions to ensure you’ve chosen the best place. Ask what happens during a typical visit, how blood draws are handled and so forth.

Research

Locate veterinary clinics within your area. If you find the right one, make the drive. It will pay back tenfold. I remember driving 54 miles round trip to a force-free vet clinic, as I passed dozens of vet clinics along the way. My dogs were treated with kindness, which resulted in easy, fun and quick veterinary visits. My dogs learned how to respond to scary things.

Look Up Websites

Most businesses have websites and vet clinics are among them. Force-free veterinary clinics will usually explain their low-stress handling techniques on their homepage (first page seen). If not, click on their About Us or Mission Statements page to check for any indication of low-stress handling techniques. If you’re having a hard time finding such a clinic, widen your search to 25 miles, which will undoubtedly increase your chances of finding one.

Make Calls

If nothing is listed on websites, call veterinary clinics and ask if they use low-stress handling and force-free methods. Usually, you’ll hear “Of course,” but ask about the process of a typical veterinary visit, blood draw procedure and sedation use for X-rays. Force-free veterinary clinics will happily explain details, as the receptionists are fully educated in explaining handling methods.

If you hear “We do hold patients still,” “A vet tech will hold your dog in place,” “We muzzle most dogs,” “We give treats afterwards (it should happen as your dog is examined),” “We sedate dogs because it’s easier” or general traditional handling methods, I would continue looking. That isn’t the right place.

Go With a Friend

Going with a friend is an excellent way to discover if a veterinary clinic is truly force-free. Ask to tag along when your friend brings her dog in for a checkup. Observe handling of dogs and ask veterinary staff questions if needed.

Change Your Vet’s Perspective

Many of you adore your current veterinarian and I totally understand. However, ask your vet if she would use low-stress handling during your dog’s visits. Print out this chart, which explains how a stress-free vet exam should be conducted from a veterinary point of view. Bring a plastic bag full of yummy treats and food stuffed toys to each visit and ask veterinary staff to reward your dog while being examined. If your dog must go in the back, ask if procedures can be done with you present. Explain that you want your dog to have an awesome veterinary experience, so it’ll be easier on everyone.

Not only are veterinarians passionate about pets, but they’re also business savvy. If more clients request force-free veterinary visits, you’ll probably see a change. Shoot, I remember when acupuncture and chiropractor veterinary care was laughed at about 20 years ago and now it’s mainstream because pet owners asked for it.

Don’t be afraid. Ask for force-free veterinary care. It’s the best thing for your dog!

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Force-Free Veterinary Visits are Here

We all know our dogs’ oh-no-we’re-at-the-vet look. You know the one when their ears are pulled back, their eyes wide and their body shaking. Usually, the look happens when we’re either pulling into the veterinary clinic parking lot or stepping inside the clinic. We feel bad, but we justify their reactions as a necessary evil.

Well, no more! There’s a new wave in the veterinary community. It’s called force-free veterinary visits. Many veterinarians are choosing to passionately follow their “do no harm” oath to the letter. By using force free and low stress handling, dogs will leave the clinic better than they arrived–not only healthier, but also more mentally intact. Force free vet visits apply to all pets, including cats, horses, birds and guinea pigs.

What are Fear-Free Veterinary Visits?

Force-free veterinary visits entail there is minimal to no animal restraint involved and dogs are encouraged to participate during vet exams. Force-free vet technicians are armed with peanut butter stuffed toys, super yummy treats and lots of praise and pats. Dogs happily eat yummy treats as a veterinarian peeks into their eyes and ears, feels their belly, and listens to their hearts. If a dog becomes concerned and backs away, the veterinary staff stops the exam and gives him a break. After a few minutes of chatting with the owner, the vet tech will entice the dog to participate again. Basically, force-free veterinary exams move at your dog’s speed.

As I’ve discussed in other articles, dogs find freedom to choose (engage or disengage within a situation)  just as reinforcing as treats and belly rubs.  Allowing a dog to choose is very powerful.

Once a dog experiences a fun and rewarding veterinary exam, you’ll notice a huge difference in his reaction next time you pull into the parking lot. You’ll probably notice tail wagging, willingness to walk into the clinic and relaxed body language while your dog is examined. Not only does your dog have a relaxing experience, but you will as well!

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Why are Fear-Free Veterinary Visits Important?

Veterinarians and their staff were noticing a steady incline of fractious (biting, growling) dogs or dogs that “shut down” during vet exams, which resulted in additional difficult and scary exams in the future. Every time a dog has a negative experience at a veterinary clinic, you can bet he’ll learn to dislike vet visits even more, forcing the dog to defend himself.

Force-free veterinary staff is no longer forcing dogs to comply or pinning them to the ground for examinations. Instead, they’re enticing dogs to engage, pairing yummy treats with veterinary equipment and making sure dogs are happier than when they arrived. This is huge!

You’re probably wondering how blood draws, fecal exams and other painful screenings are handled, but you’d be shocked how easily they can be performed with minimal handling. A dog happily licking away at a cream cheese stuffed toy will voluntarily stand still as a needle is inserted into a vein during blood draws.

Yes, you may notice your dog flinch (it does sting a bit) in the area and you may even notice your dog’s eyebrows raise when a fecal loop is inserted (I would too!). However, when allowed to choose their response in a situation, most dogs choose to ignore it as they feel safe. And that, dear readers, is the secret. By allowing dogs to participate willingly, they feel safe, which is the opposite of fear.

By using force-free, or low-stress handling, veterinary clinics can actually save time while saving costs. It’s expensive to incur bites off staff members or snap multiple X-ray films of struggling pets. It’s also the right thing to do for all pets.

Our First Fear-Free Veterinary Visit

For the most part, our regular veterinarian does a wonderful job allowing our dogs to participate in all exams. However, our first fear-free veterinary exam was like watching an awakening within my dog.

Sobek is a massive Rottweiler, so you can certainly understand why most veterinary staff members look uneasy when he gleefully bounces around and exuberantly greets everyone. Recently, Sobek went in for acupuncture with Dr. Amanda Florsheim DVM who acknowledged his size by sitting on the ground next to him. Her vet tech also sat on the ground right in front of his face and fed him delicious baked chicken. During the visit, Sobek stood pretty darn still as Dr. Florsheim inserted 20+ needles along his spine, around his healed ACL scar and along his rear.

Now, I’ve had acupuncture several times before and at least a third of inserted needles burn and hurt. Sobek was allowed to choose to participate and Dr. Florishem moved at his speed, which set Sobek up for success. He happily licked his food stuffed toy and gobbled baked chicken as the inserted needles were allowed to work their magic for 15 minutes. Now, that’s a success!

What I Experienced

Allow me to express my personal experience during a force-free exam. It was exhilarating and relaxing all rolled into one. Instead of worrying about Sobek jumping around, constantly moving, licking the vet’s face or tugging on the leash, I was free to enjoy the experience. If I weren’t so wrapped up in our calm vet visit, I would’ve taken a picture, but instead chose to be present during an eye-opening experience.

As a dog trainer and pet owner, I plead you to find a fear-free veterinary clinic. Not only will it change your dog’s life for the better, but you’ll also walk away proud your dog was a superhero! That’s the best feeling!

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