A Petsmart, sure I can see that. However, if your vet clinic is dirty enough that you're concerned about your dog being on the floor, you have a bigger issue there than just a nervous dog. I would hope that they're using sanitizers and disinfectants to prevent transmission of any diseases.
I know we all love and cherish our Yorkies. I know I do mine. I and everyone I know refers to them as my "kids". But we need to remember that these are dogs, not human babies. If they are treated like human babies and not dogs we'll end up very confused, unbalanced pets. Could you tell someone with a 70lb lab that their dog shouldn't walk on the vet's floor? If you did, you'd probably get crazy looks... Some of the most dangerous dogs I've met were small ones that had been coddled and spoiled and over protected. They're not confident of themselves and fearful, which leads to bad behaviors, including biting.
One of mine was very afraid of going any place new.... So all I did was take her to new places, including the vet. I didn't carry her, didn't coddle her. She walked on her own four feet and I just told her she was alright and rewarded only the behavior I wanted. All three of mine can go into our vet clinic, where they've been spayed and neutered and been put under for dentals and been poked for bloodwork and held down for xrays and had their nails trimmed and plenty of other "mean" things, and be completely confident and unafraid.
Animals are usually taken in back for procedures because they can sense their owner's anxiety and they feed off of it. Lots of dogs are completely different once they're away from that influence and around calm, properly trained techs and drs. |