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
-
Permalink Reply by christy fry on
-
I'm really LUCKY my vet the 1st time I took Jordan in when he was a puppy said "well if he isn't trying to bite me by the 2nd shot I'll be dissappointed." I asked how he knew that jordan would react that way since he was my 1st corgi and he replied that his wife breeds corgis!!! sure enough Jordan was trying to bite him by the 2nd shot my vet at the end said I had a fine corgi boy and plopped him back into my arms =)
-
Permalink Reply by Beth on
-
Haha! THAT's funny.
First time we had Jack to the vet as a puppy he was pretty wild, and the vet said "That's pretty good for a Corgi; it looks like you have a nice one." and I was taken aback because my puppy was a little shark.
-
Permalink Reply by Maryann & Henderson on
-
My vets have never said anything negative about Corgis to me. I think Henderson is the only Cardi the practice sees, so he's a novelty when he goes in, to the people in the waiting room as well as the staff. He's not bothered by being up on the exam table - at home he's been known to jump onto the coffee table a few times (sometimes he thinks he's one of the cats!).
-
Permalink Reply by Stephanie on
-
Everyone at our vet office LOVES Bear - but I am sooo embarrassed when they examine him. He really doesn't like to be confined, when they hold him still, he wiggles like they're trying to bury him alive. Luckily they all think he's really cute, so they just laugh and carry on.
-
Permalink Reply by Maddy & Keke on
-
Keke is ok at the vet. She does not bark or bite but she will try her best to escape when put on the table... ...lol. So far, one vet commented that how nice if they can stay puppy size/look forever.
-
-
For mine it's definitely the "being confined" part and it looks like a few other Corgis here feel the same!
The day I picked him up from the breeder, she showed me how to hold him in my arms like a baby while she clipped his nails. She showed me how to tape his ears. Oh, he was so sweet! Calm as could be while I held him. Barely wriggled. In fact, we were looking for a less dominant dog, and that's one of the reasons they picked Jack for us.
All that changed when he put on a few pounds. The first time I tried to hold him still to do his nails at home, he screamed like we were trying to kill him. Frankly, I'm embarrassed to say I've never been able to do his nails. Something we need to work on, but he walks on pavement/stones enough every day to keep them short. But still, it's something we should be able to do to him.
The day we took him to be neutered, when we picked him up they said he was wonderful! Made friends with everyone and was clearly a hit at the office (again, we'd socialized the poor little guy half to death). Then they put him on the table and went to draw blood, and wham! entirely different puppy. They said he went crazy. The vet, wisely, said to not try to hold his body still at all, but to talk to him and just steady his head, and I guess then he was ok.
I've never been able to flip him over on his back, either. I tried to teach him "roll over" because he knows so many other tricks, and when I tried to "help" him over he just starts to fight.
He's a fairly submissive dog in most ways; greets strangers with ears partway back, submits instantly on the rare occasion he's been yelled at. But physical confinement? He just can't' seem to abide by it. My only concern is what happens if he hurts himself?
-
Permalink Reply by Sam on
-
I have heard this many times. My vet always remark how nice my corgis are. I do not think it is a "breed" thing but more dogs that have not been socialized or handled greatly as youngsters. They are not typically "protective" of their people and generally are happy to meet anyone that comes by. Many do seem to have issue with their feet being handled. Starting this early in life is so helpful. Some dogs are generally fearful and react negatively because of it. I have yet to have a corgi that has issue at the vet. I think my early training, handling and socialization has been the reason.
-
Permalink Reply by Nicola Porter on
-
It's strange to hear that. I don't know much about corgis except the two I have and both loved people, were not nippy at all. I do think they have this "i want to be alone" thing going on, my two would tolerate cuddling but sigh as if to say enough already.
-
Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
-
We have a vaccination clinic every spring with reduced costs (good idea...gets more animals there) I take several of mine in to that along with the cats and they love waiting in line and socializing! I am so lucky because we have 3 vet offices in 3 small towns so you can usually get in...these are large animal vets also and I find they are much more reasonable than large city vets in their cost...they also make housecalls (of coarse the milage isn't cheap) but I've used this 1x.
-
-
Mine tolerates cuddling and is fine being handled. He is a therapy dog and is wonderful being surrounded by wheelchairs; he'll even lie down. He's great in crowds of people and does not get nervous.
I can brush his teeth and clean his ears and he's just fine.
It's only when he feels trapped. He never tries to bite, just get away.
-
Permalink Reply by Beauty and the Beast on
-
This is very surprising to me. Corgis bad with strangers? Have to be tranquilized to get exam? Huh?
We never had problems wit that, and even though Shiro is only 6 months old, he behaves at vet's better than some adult dogs. Our vet was very surprised that he could turn him over, give him eye drops, chech his mouth and ears while he was sitting almost calmly. He said it's pretty amazing for his age, and we didn't even handle him that much.
The breeder also said that corgis are terrible about their nails being clipped and she even demontrated on one of the puppies. Little guy was screaming like he's being killed even when she just touched his paws with the clippers.
Shiro is not like that. Maybe that's because one of us is holding him while the other is clipping. He is very calm for a puppy, just moving and wiggling.
Bad with strangers thing - that I do not understand. I met a couple of dog aggressive corgis, but they had bad experiences. Even though they'll growl and bark at other dogs they're the sweetest things when it comes to people.
-
Permalink Reply by Joanna, Rainy and Calvin on
-
Are you kidding? Algy runs in, waits by the door for the vet to come in, and runs back into the lab to jump on the table so he can lift his head when they draw the blood from his neck. All for a cookie.
For a while, he was going in once a week. The ONLY time he has an issue is when they clip his nails, but he has mellowed somewhat with age.
Do you think age would be a factor?
Rescue Store
Stay Connected
FDA Recall
Canadian Food Inspection Agency Recall
Groups
We support...
Badge
© 2024 Created by Sam Tsang.
Powered by
