Photo taken by Joe Nutkins
Have you ever done Dog Training to help make vet visits positive for your dog or puppy and practising skills before your dog is unwell?
The worst time for your dog to have their first buster collar or muzzle on is when they are poorly or injured but it’s when most dogs are introduced to them, making them scary and contributing to their stress of the overall situation.
There are of course so many things we could potentially practise with our dogs for all eventualities of life that you will you would never get to train other skills but there are done more key skills I’d recommend and then there’s are some more specific and more likely to be needed for certain breeds, breed types and for dogs with known medical issues.
Here are some examples of skills I train my dogs with automatically:
- Muzzle Training
- Having mouth and gums checked
- Being examined all over the body including under the tail, between toes and around the belly
- Getting onto a platform to mimic the scales – we have veterinary scales at training but for home I use a platform to work on getting ‘hup’ and waiting so even if the waiting room is busy my dogs know what they are doing easily.
- Being checked over on our grooming table to mimic the vets table.
- Being held to comfort them and also present them for the vet to check them over – holding a dog in a way that offers comfort to your dog but also restrains them so vets can properly look at them takes some practise. As part of praising my dogs on the table I bring my arm around the front of the chest and the other arm under the belly which offers security as well as stopping them walking off or sitting down if this isn’t wanted. Being able to prevent your dog turning their face to the vet also helps as the mouth can be dangerous when a dog is worried or in pain.
taken by Joe Nutkins
Additionally as Pepper has drop ears instead of the prick ears our terriers have she has an increased risk of ear issues as the ear covering the opening creates a nice undisturbed warm area that can great environment for bacteria and yeast issues and therefore ear infections.
Therefore Pepper is used to having her ears looked at and I pretend to put something in her ears like cleaner so that she can build a positive connection with this while her ears are not painful; imagine having pain inside your ear canal and then someone pulling your ear about and trying to stick a bottle nose inside! Not a nice experience and will make future experiences worse too.
Once a dog has an ear infection there’s a chance they will have more so practise before they happen or once they are recovered from an ear issue start doing very very small sessions of touching the ear during fusses and they play, lifting the ear flap, looking in that ear opening and checking colour and smell, then gradually your finger at the opening, then something like a cotton bud (NOT inside just the opening) and progress to a bottle of ear cleaner with the lid on at first.
Dogs quickly learn the scent of specific health items especially when linked to pain making it even harder to get close with an open bottle of ear drops!
Dogs with long ears, long fur on paws etc can have grass seeds etc hiding easily so having them comfortable with being checked over will help reduce issues with grass seeds getting into their paws and ears but also help if you need to show the vet too.
I’m canine first aid trained and certified so I do additional practise such as taking my dogs’ heart rate, checking colour of their gums and filming them moving with the camera low down so I have baselines to compare to. Handy this week when I had to use the vet’s for Pepper Potts – story is below!
Pepper Potts and her Positive Vet Visit:
On a Sunday and Monday at the end of July 2025 I had a poorly Pepper Potts. Only a few symptoms so we weren’t sure what the actual problem was.
Pepper is usually bright, active, wants to be involved in everything and although fussy with food once she likes something she has a great appetite. The Pepper we had the last two days had was quiet, lethargic, wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t walk so I lifted her from her bed to the garden to toilet and to the water bowl to drink throughout the day as she just stood hunched and didn’t really want to move anywhere.
She appeared to have a slight limp on her front right leg and on checking her over I felt warmth on the right shoulder which can indicate discomfort under the fascia. Cue lots of photobiomodulation with my Photizo device (which I’m certified in treating dogs with), self selection (she chose Juniper and Carrot Seed) and letting Pepper rest.
Pepper was opting to lay on Merlin’s Back on Track mat which has clever technology with ceramic threads interwoven in the fabric to help the body heal.
Monday morning Pepper didn’t want to be lifted downstairs and was weary of me bringing my hands near her chest and ribs area, recoiling with a scream without even touching her. Once downstairs I could see she had no limp and would walk but head low, tail tucked right under and she wanted to get back indoors and lay down. She still wouldn’t eat so now it was over 24 hours without food, nearer 36 hours, but drinking fine using our raised water fountain.
More help with the PEMF machine while she slept, some Rahanni healing, and she indicated wanting Peppermint oil to sniff – her belly had started grumbling from hungry but she may have felt nauseous from being so hungry (I’ve had that myself).
Finally she took pieces off cocktail sausage but only one in total but that’s something!
I remembered that Pepper’s insurance with Napo includes a free online vet service via video call so I looked it up on their website and easily made an appointment for that afternoon. The call was really good – the vet called me exactly on time, asked me lots of questions, I could show the vet things like Peppers gum colour, do the neck skin test for dehydration and show Pepper’s breathing rate.
We went through lots of information and I was asked to do a couple of things like encourage Pepper to walk and to gently move her head left and right. The vet couldn’t give a diagnosis over video as she can’t feel her but said she felt Pepper needed to be seen in person so a vet can feel properly and that her advice is Pepper to be seen that day – at that point it was nearly 4pm already!
They sent a report to me and to my vets after the call and it was good to have that back up – I absolutely recommend checking if your dog’s insurance offers this especially if your dog is not good with travelling, anxious at the vets, or is nervous with people or dogs as although they cannot prescribe medication they can send a report to your vets explaining what they believe is happening and what they recommend so part of the process is already done especially as so many dogs are different at the vets!
However I didn’t have transport on Monday! Jon’s car was kaput so Jon had my van and was already at work an hour and a half away on night shift so I didn’t have a vehicle. My vets is half an hour away in Colchester, and I’m Harwich area, so public transport isn’t a realistic option with a poorly dog especially with possible neck or back issue.
While considering what to do I decided to do a ‘story’ post on social media to talk about Pepper and the video call vet service to let people about it as I’d not used it before. The post was on Instagram @Cassntay but it’s linked to our Facebook page so posts there too on Dog Training for Essex & Suffolk – In minutes had several kind people message offering to take us to the vets that day or on Tuesday!
Honestly, I feel so lucky to know so many kind dog owners and to have so many train with us and also be on our training team!
Emma is one of our fab Training Assistants and lives 10 mins from me so I said I’ll call my vet and check they can see us that day and go from there.
I hate using the phone intensely being a combination of past trauma, difficulties hearing and taking in the info and finding calls extremely draining with my M.E. So by now there had been a few calls as I’d started the day calling my doctor too!
However calling my vet reception at Colne Valley Vets in Colchester was a pleasant experience; she listened, asked a few questions and said she would just have a quick chat with one of the vets. Moments later she asked could I get there for about 5.30pm that day!
She also stressed that we had a ‘sit and wait’ appointment so there was no guess on how long before we would be seen but that was fine and Pepper was only wanting to rest anyway.
I said yes please and then just needed to get there without my van lol! At this point we had over an hour. Messaging Emma concluded that we e would be picked up at 5pm so plenty of time to get Pepper sorted, find my purse and put some outdoor clothing on lol!
As soon as she saw her harness Pepper looked brighter! I was a little weary that I’d need to bring my hands around her body and under her chest to put her harness on and this was where she had been snapping at our hands but she stood up, put her head in the harness when I said ‘get dressed’ (handy to have cue words!) and wasn’t fussed while I fumbled around under her to do up the harness!
Now, at the time I joked that she was being a little monkey and now looked fine but in reality this happens a lot. Dogs have associations with so many things and the harness Pepper associated with fun times, feeling happy etc so the harness being on helped produce endorphins, seretonin etc which can mask pain temporarily. But it’s enough to help your dog move and get them to the vet’s!!
She didn’t make a sound when I picked her up to go in Emma’s car or when I lifted her out the other end. In fact the whole journey she sat calmly with a big grin!
At the vets we queued for around 5-6 minutes to book in but Pepper was happy, looking at the other dogs and snuggling next to my leg – I’m incredibly proud of this little dog! I said we’d be outside and this is something I always do with my dogs so they can get toilets done, have a nice experience at the vets, not get bored sitting waiting and it gives everyone else a little space with us not being in there which may help a nervous or shy dog.
I’d brought a backpack with a blanket for Pepper, my lunch (yes I’d forgotten to eat all day!), water for Pepper (why are there communal water bowls in vet waiting rooms??) and a drink for me as I’d expected to be seen just before closing at 7pm so had plenty of supplies, however we were called in only about 10 mins after heading outside!
The vet was amazing; William was very gentle with Pepper, had read the report from the video call vet already and had a few follow up questions. On the table he looked her over while I held Pepper at the chest and under the body which is to give her comfort, help her not move about so the vet can examine, and stop her falling off the table!
I said that Pepper is muzzle trained so no problem if he wants a muzzle on her – all my dogs are muzzle trained and practise this throughout their lives as even the friendliest dog can attempt to bite when in pain as they are sacred and go into survival mode. Being muzzle trained means my dogs are not stressed by a muzzle, put their own nose into it easily, and vets can examine safely and efficiently.
Pepper put the muzzle on with no issues and wasn’t upset by it, let the vet move her head left and right, up and down, and then palpate her spine; touch a sore area can be very painful and this is where any fog is likely to turn and snap at the person causing increased pain. Sometimes an air snap warning, sometimes a brush of the skin with teeth and sometimes an actual bite – all to say it hurts and please do t make it worse!
Vet concluded that it’s a Soft tissue injury in the area where the neck meets the shoulder blade – top of the Thoracic area – which is where I’d felt the warmth on the Sunday and where I’d focused our treatments. Recommendation, as anticipated, is a week of rest plus Metacam. William said otherwise she is in excellent health and there’s nothing he needs to mention. Great weight, physically good etc.
Lots of Thankyous including one for fitting us in on short notice and for his gentle handling with Pepper – I’m a big believer in credit where credit is due! Out to reception to pay, more thankyous then few mins of sniffing outside before Emma kindly took us back home.
Her harness has a clever shoulder clasp that can’t undo on its own but once you start the process it uncles easily even with my rubbish hands! This meant no pulling the harness over Pepper’s head to take it off and risking hurting her neck more.
Details count!
It’s then been hard work finding food Pepper wants to eat but I opened my Peppermint oil for her to air scent which helped settle her empty stomach so she took enough food to have her metacam!
So what helped us:
Knowing Pepper’s normal gait and movements to compare with video vet.
Knowing Pepper’s usual gum colour to be able to say it’s normal.
Having a cue to put the harness on meant no forcing it over her head when she had neck pain.
Positive experiences at the vets previously made this nicer for Pepper
Getting her weight in a crowded waiting room was easy as Pepper knew what I was asking for
Muzzle training meant Pepper wasn’t stressed and the vet could examine easily
Knowing how to hold her securely yet comfortably helped the examination go quicker
Having another nice sniff about afterwards helped it stay positive for next time.
Big thanks to:
Emma with Bruno for driving us there and back
Several people who DM’d offering a lift and my Tuesday class people for offering on Tuesday also
Napo Pet Insurance for the vet video service
Colne Valley Vets for caring for Pepper so much
Dog Copenhagen for creating a comfortable harness that’s easy to get on and off
Photizo for light therapy and my certified training to use the device
Back on Track for the ceramic infused blanket
Victoria and Murphy for lending us their PEMF machine
HeaLED for their clever jacket
My Animal Matters for training me in Zoopharmacognosy and supplying the scents
Teamwork – great outcomes for everyone!!
I hope this blog has been interesting and given you ideas to work on with your own dog. We have some links to free training for you; thankyou for reading!
Muzzle Training (positively)
https://youtu.be/ylJutdFr6Yg
Muzzle Training Games
https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/l8d7w9?fbclid=PAQ0xDSwMHS2xleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABp06KHu6kcrCeafmcHW1x6yuG2p1ln_Jg6q2oLmEluzVVBgbgYONU-PIxiYOl_aem_NtfTLWLZfcPnILJ4mPBTkA
Travelling with Dogs Ebook
Free Webinar on Handling, Grooming and Examination training (positively) in three parts:
1. https://youtu.be/ia8pPwhM7Bo?si=_7GzpJDXk3kwewqB
2. https://youtu.be/0wkMK3aYH9E?si=EaonV-Th2M9IQabl
3. https://youtu.be/eKX7NjXGGtA?si=sY5pGu1nxukGnqyV
Why not take a look at our other published blogs on our website:
