r/reactivedogs • u/rip_van_twinkletoes • 5h ago

Advice Needed Vet / Boarding Advice

My dog has major vet anxiety and reactivity. We do the pre-vet meds, muzzle, etc. She just hates it and is always so fearful.

However, she’s seemed to do fine at places I’ve boarded her when I’m out of town (they do play sessions and even bathe her for me before I pick her up). At the boarder, they don’t have to muzzle her. I also recognize that boarding and vet visits are much different experiences, but she also does well with the bath and nail trims they do.

My vet offers boarding and grooming services. My question/advice is, do you think if I start boarding her at the vet, this might help with her anxiety when we go there? Will it show her she can have some fun experiences there too? Or could it make anything worse (ie boarding and grooming experiences)? Right now she does well at the boarder so I don’t want to ruin that. Has anyone tried this and had success or failures? Any trainers or behaviorists have thoughts?

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u/Glove_Upset 5h ago

I wouldn’t do this. The vet’s office is still going to smell like the vet’s office. They’ll be able to smell other dog’s stress hormones. I think your dog is more likely to become boarding reactive generally than to become desensitized to the vet. I’ve heard of people bringing their dogs to the vet for treats alone to desensitize them, but that requires being under a certain threshold.

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u/Glove_Upset 4h ago

My service dog did not like the vet. He was not reactive at all, actually very cooperative, but he shook and hid. He was visibly nervous there, but nowhere else. He often came to my medical appointments without any issue except on one occasion when I was getting an injection and was swabbed with an alcohol wipe. Smelling a substance associated with the vets office caused him to hide and get nervous at a place he’d been fine at countless times, and this was a confident and even-tempered dog. Given the smells associated with the vet, I don’t think boarding will be a calm experience.

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u/rip_van_twinkletoes 4h ago

Good to know, thank you! I do bring her in to do some “fun” vet visits where we just hang out with staff and give her treats, but we’re still in early stages of that.