Corgis and Vets
I know there was some discussion awhile back about how many vets seem prejudiced against Corgis, people were theorizing on why, and I thought it would make an interesting topic.
We recently had Jack to the vet for his annual checkup. Now, Jack has been to the vet's office several times recently for weigh-ins, so he's an old pro at the scale. The vet who we saw is an experienced guy who looks like he may be nearing retirement age. The scale was all the way up, and I said "Oh, if you lower it, he'll hop right on."
So, the scale went "Whiirrrr" and Jack pricked his ears and took a step back, and then when it was on the ground I snapped my fingers and said "Jack, up!" and he hopped on the scale, and sat on command. Then the scale wasn't resetting right, so we had to hop off and reset the scale and do it all again. The vet commented "What a well-trained dog!" which pleased me more than 100 strangers in a park saying what a good dog we have. But I said "Ah, wait til he's on the table!"
Well, as I suspected, Jack was cool as a cucumber in the room while we chatted with the vet. Then we put him on the table, and game over. He HATES it. He is not a nipper, so he doesn't try to bite, but he tries to scramble backwards, jump off, get away. He cries. His little heart is pounding. I don't think it's heights, as we have popped him up on picnic tables several times and he's calm. And it's not being handled, as he passed CGC with a stranger looking in his ears and mouth.
I think it's being crowded. Getting the exam done took all our obedience skills. Lots of "Jack, staaayyy, stay" very calmly got him to hold still (tense as could be) long enough to have eyes, ears, teeth, etc checked.
And after all that, the vet smiled and said "He's pretty good for a Corgi. A lot of them I've seen need to be tranquilized to even be examined." I was pretty surprised at that, as this vet is super calm and really good with the animals, but he said they seem to hate being confined. I do know I read that once or twice online as well.
He also said (and this I believe) that many of them are great and loyal, loving family dogs, but not so good with strangers, so it was good that I had socialized mine. Now my Corgi loves everyone he meets, but we got from a breeder who breeds outgoing personalities, and we socialized him within an inch of his life when he was a puppy.
How is your Corgi at the vet? And what does your vet think of Corgis? Mine was nice as could be and he didn't sound hostile when he described what he's seen, just matter-of-fact.
We also visited a breeder on Saturday, and she mentioned that a lot of vets don't really like working on Corgis.
In the meantime, I am going to try to find someone with a grooming table so we can work on Jack being up high while people loom over him, as it's that very specific combination of events which sets him off (I believe he feels trapped, as he does not mind being crowded on the ground).
We recently had Jack to the vet for his annual checkup. Now, Jack has been to the vet's office several times recently for weigh-ins, so he's an old pro at the scale. The vet who we saw is an experienced guy who looks like he may be nearing retirement age. The scale was all the way up, and I said "Oh, if you lower it, he'll hop right on."
So, the scale went "Whiirrrr" and Jack pricked his ears and took a step back, and then when it was on the ground I snapped my fingers and said "Jack, up!" and he hopped on the scale, and sat on command. Then the scale wasn't resetting right, so we had to hop off and reset the scale and do it all again. The vet commented "What a well-trained dog!" which pleased me more than 100 strangers in a park saying what a good dog we have. But I said "Ah, wait til he's on the table!"
Well, as I suspected, Jack was cool as a cucumber in the room while we chatted with the vet. Then we put him on the table, and game over. He HATES it. He is not a nipper, so he doesn't try to bite, but he tries to scramble backwards, jump off, get away. He cries. His little heart is pounding. I don't think it's heights, as we have popped him up on picnic tables several times and he's calm. And it's not being handled, as he passed CGC with a stranger looking in his ears and mouth.
I think it's being crowded. Getting the exam done took all our obedience skills. Lots of "Jack, staaayyy, stay" very calmly got him to hold still (tense as could be) long enough to have eyes, ears, teeth, etc checked.
And after all that, the vet smiled and said "He's pretty good for a Corgi. A lot of them I've seen need to be tranquilized to even be examined." I was pretty surprised at that, as this vet is super calm and really good with the animals, but he said they seem to hate being confined. I do know I read that once or twice online as well.
He also said (and this I believe) that many of them are great and loyal, loving family dogs, but not so good with strangers, so it was good that I had socialized mine. Now my Corgi loves everyone he meets, but we got from a breeder who breeds outgoing personalities, and we socialized him within an inch of his life when he was a puppy.
How is your Corgi at the vet? And what does your vet think of Corgis? Mine was nice as could be and he didn't sound hostile when he described what he's seen, just matter-of-fact.
We also visited a breeder on Saturday, and she mentioned that a lot of vets don't really like working on Corgis.
In the meantime, I am going to try to find someone with a grooming table so we can work on Jack being up high while people loom over him, as it's that very specific combination of events which sets him off (I believe he feels trapped, as he does not mind being crowded on the ground).
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Heather and Ella on
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Ella has been to the vet 3 times since we have had her: 1 to get checked out when we first got her and to get vaccines, 2 to get fixed, 3 to have a heartworm blood test.
Each time she seems to be getting better, her big problem is all the other dogs/smells/people get her excited/scared. But once she is in the exam room she calms down and she likes the vet. I do need to stay very close and kinda hold her when on the exam table. For her I think it is the metal table against her paws, she doesn't like the slippery nature of the table. The scale is a big digital floor scale that she can just step on and it has a grip/rubber surface so she doesn't mind that at all.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Jack is fine in the waiting area. In fact, he's the official greeter when he's there. Whenever someone comes in, with or without a pet, he wants to go over and say "hi." LOL
When we had him for his kennel cough booster, I asked them to give it on the floor and he was fine. But of course it is difficult to do a full exam on the floor with a short dog like a Corgi. Were it not for the darned exam table, he'd be a champ. Adding a rubber mat failed to calm him.
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Permalink Reply by Jeny (and Wrigley) on
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Haha, Wrigley is the same way. He loves saying hello to all the other people and dogs in the room as they come in.
He has only been to the vet once since I have had him and he was perfectly fine until he got up on the table. It seems like he has the same problem of being crowded without a way to escape.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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My Vet owns the clinic and has several other vets working there. I usually ask for him because I have known him for almost 20 years and he is a very calm, gentle person. He has never indicated in any way that he dislikes any breed. Sparty (my resident problem child) is a wreck at the vet. He trembles, growls and generally acts like a nasty dog! Kevin (vet) sits on the floor with him and gently examines him. The only time he muzzles him is when he is getting his toenails trimmed or if Sparty has one of his episodes where his toe nail ripped (that is another story). If I have to see one of the other vets I have them muzzle him right off because no one else seems able to project that level of calm. Mean while Izzy and poor sickly Buffy have and were always angels at the office. I think it is unprofessional to make negative comments about a breed. They see many animals at their worst because of being in pain and fearful which does not mean they are difficult at home. I know Sparty is not good there and he has good reason but he is a very friendly guy everywhere else so I like to know that the vet realizes that.
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I'm not sure I expressed myself correctly, and I want to be clear he wasn't like "Ugh, Corgis!" and did say they are usually great family dogs. He was sort of saying "They often don't like to be handled by strangers" in the way one might say "Border collies are prone to sound phobias." He was very calm and reassuring to my dog.
The other thing is we have lots of puppy-mill dogs in this area, do to our location, so I think they see a lot of that.
All I know is Jack is very dramatic about the whole thing and you'd think he was being killed.
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Permalink Reply by Boo Buchheit on
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My Corgis do good at the vet. They don't like their nails trimmed and usually cry during the procedure (except last time when I took them together). My vet's office has a few Corgis on site (they work there I guess) most days so I don't believe they have a problem with the breed there. One of the vet techs owns 3 Corgis and so she usually does their nails, being familiar with the dramatics they sometimes exhibit.
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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The only dog of mine that doesn't like the vet is Wynn...you would think he's being abused ...Wynn growls, whines and cries very loudly in the office...the vet just look at me as he was walking out and said "he's a little spoiled"! I love our vet clinic and they are not too familiar with corgis but I wouldn't trade them for another one. The vets are all great and it's actually fun and my vet and I talk puppies as he raises shorthairs! My otherdogs stand there or lay there as if they're at home. Oh yes...one vet told my girlfriend when she asked him about corgis..."you can never catch one if they don't want to be caught"...sounds like he had some experience with one. I have seen some not so nice corgis and if they act like the ones I saw...I can see where they are disliked...was it breeding or socialization...don't know but I felt bad for the owner and the dogs!
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Permalink Reply by Chloe's parent Liz on
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One Vet was okay with my first Corgi, Rusty, but said that they have lots of back problems, ( I kind of knew that). He did save Rusty's life. Rusty jumped and hit himself, ruptured his spleen that had to be removed. Rusty lived about 5 more years after that. I learned a dog is bleeding internally the gums will be drained of color. Another vet seemed to like Corgi's and an older Corgi was there.
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Permalink Reply by Cindi on
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Many of the vets I run across just aren't familiar with corgis. Oh they may know what they are, but they are not well-versed in corgi behavior. And corgis do tend to be mouthy (heck, that's how they herd). A couple of ours need muzzling at the vets because of prior behavior issues. And, really, they're doing better. It's nice when a vet understands a breed but doesn't prejudge them, isn't it?
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Permalink Reply by Potus on
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We tend to see a different vet each time we go in, but all have been fine with Potus. They have all commented on how Corgi's are very rare these days and I think we might be the only one, or one of only a few, on the books. Potus is terrible at the vet though. He's fine in the waiting room and used to be GREAT when being weighed on the floor scale, but we took him in last week to get weighed for his worming tablet and he HATED the scale. Would get on and jump right off.
He's okay on the table right up until the vet needs to do something like give him a needle and hold him still. Then he objects. Loudly! We usually all have to take a hold and try and calm him down while telling him its okay. Once thats over he's back to being the life of the party.
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Yep, it was a two-person job to hold Jack; myself and my husband held him steady while the vet checked him over. I was afraid he'd scramble right off the darned table.
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Permalink Reply by David on
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Yoda loves going to the vet, I know it sounds weird. He just hates the part of anal probing by thermometer. He starts whining at the sight of of it. He is also great in the waiting area, he gets to meet different people and dogs (if they are not sick).
Yoda's vet seemed fine with Corgi, then again there are not that many around here in Taiwan, so the stereotype has not formed yet.
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