This fear can form fast and it can last.
Does your dog drool, bark, pace, shut down, or even growl?

The why really matters.
Dogs are not being difficult at the vet. They are responding to how the situation feels. When those experiences are rushed, unpredictable, or overwhelming, fear can easily take hold, even when everyone is trying to do the right thing.

From a dog’s point of view, the clinic is intense.
It smells unfamiliar, sounds different, and is full of stressed animals. If your dog needs a procedure, you might feel anxious too, and that is completely natural.
Dogs can notice all of this.

Helping starts before an appointment ever happens.

When dogs only visit the vet when something has to be done to them, it quickly becomes linked with stress. Calm and pressure free experiences help change that story.

You can support this by building familiarity at home. Gentle handling, paired with positive experiences, helps dogs learn that being touched or briefly held does not automatically lead to discomfort.
That sense of safety and familiarity can then carry over.

Progress is not made by pushing through fear.
It is made by slowing down.

Listen to what your dog is telling you.

You can’t force a dog to feel safe.
But you can create the conditions for them to feel safer.

They were never designed for everything, yet that's exactly how we tend to use them.
A dog's name was never meant to cover every moment, emotion and situation throughout the day.
They aren't instructions, solutions or a shortcut to understanding, but that's how we start to rely on them.

Often their names will become a background blur. It won't stand out and loses its relevance. sometimes it can even mean emotional pressure or cause anxiety because of how we have used it.

How many times a day do you say your dog's name?
Ten?
Maybe twenty?
Chances are it's much higher because it's subconscious and we also tend to just add it in here and there.
That adds up to a lot.
Suddenly, they're ignoring it completely.

Have a look at some old videos, listen and count how many times you may have said their name.
You may be very surprised.

Names tend to work best when they stand out and don't carry an expectation or instruction.
Their names have been stretched too thin, but the good news is, the less we use them the more "elastic" they can become again.

They'll quickly bounce back, if we stop the overuse.