Is your dog worried when coming to the vets? We know that visiting the vets can be a stressful experience for some patients. New smells, sounds and strangers can be overwhelming. Here at Hollybank Vets, our Registered Veterinary Nurses (RVNs) run free socialisation clinics to help your dog get used to coming to visit, and hopefully realise it isn’t such a scary place to be!

Our socialisation clinics are short, positive visits where nothing ‘scary’ will happen. This can reduce stress for future visits from routine health checks, to emergency visits ensuring your dog can get the treatment they need without additional worry.

Your dog will get to spend some time with an RVN and explore the consult room at their own pace. Some dogs won’t make it into the consult room on their first visit and may prefer to stay in the waiting room. We can practice getting on the scales, enjoy lots of treats or even play with some toys.

As your dog becomes more comfortable with the sessions, our RVNs will introduce new experiences, such as listening with the stethoscope, pretending to give an injection and checking their ears, all in preparation for when they come for a real vet visit.

We recommend coming monthly for the socialisation clinics as too often can be overwhelming, but if leaving too long between visits, then your dog can forget the progress they have made.

Meet Freddie: A 5-year-old border collie that has been coming to visit our RVN Alicia.

“We noticed Freddie was timid coming to the vets when he was younger, so we suggested delaying his castration and working on him being more confident. Castrating a nervous dog can sometimes make them more anxious, as testosterone helps give them confidence.

Freddie had become very wary about being examined so he started coming for monthly socialisation clinics, where we have been working on getting him more comfortable coming into the vets, being examined and having his vaccinations.

He is now happy coming into reception and the consulting rooms to have a fuss and some treats, Freddie loves gravy bones! He also enjoys playing fetch and tug of war with us. We have slowly worked up to getting him used to his chest being touched and putting the stethoscope on him and are working on simulating an injection (without the needle).

Freddie’s owners have also been great with him at home, working on muzzle training in case he needs to wear one. They even have a stethoscope to help desensitise him to having his heart listened to.”

If you think your dog would benefit from a socialisation clinic then please contact us on 01606 880 890 or 01606 717 969