O.K. I need to vent. Usually I have a problem or question or something, but this is my first venting post. You can tell me if I'm being funky about this too. I won't mind.
For those of you who don't know, I have a 1 year old, female, Australian Cattle Dog (Queensland Heeler, Blue Heeler, etc) named Ash. Also, if you aren't familiar with the breed, ACD's CAN be protective and wary of strangers. When I first got Ash, I researched vets in my area EXTENSIVELY. I decided and our vet was great. On one of our visits, Ash growled at her when she came in, but our vet ignored it and just went about her business and Ash was fine after that.
Well, this great vet moved out of state and I was assigned another vet at that hospital and my first visit with her (when Ash was about 6 months) did not go well. Ash and I were waiting in the exam room and the vet creeped in. Yes, she creeped in. When she came in, she stayed right by the door and didn't even come over to shake my hand. Ash wasn't growling or anything. Just sniffing around on the ground and sniffed the vet's feet. No growl, no nothing. This vet stood still and didn't make a move any closer to us. After I explained that Ash had been vomiting and had diarhhea for two days, she asked me to put Ash on the table. I did and then she asked me to open Ash's mouth so she could examine inside. I did that as well. She asked me to feel around Ash's belly and tell her told me what to feel for. Basically, I was giving my dog an exam that I was paying her to do. She had me hold open her eyelids and she flashed a light in them. I was confused at this point. Also, by this time Ash was nervous and finicky. The vet hadn't even touched my dog. So she tries to tell me that Ash will be o.k. and I say, "But you haven't even examind her. How do you know?" and she said everything seemed fine. I wasn't satisfied and she said, "Fine. I'll get a vet tech to take a look at her." and she took Ash into the back. This lady was petrified of my baby! She wouldn't even come near her. Ash had done nothing to make her nervous.
I moved not too long after that and had to find a new vet. I began boarding Ash at this new place a few times a week and the kennel attendents were great. So when it came time for Ash to have to see the vet again, I was expecting it to go o.k. This time I took Ash in because some neon green stuff was secreting from her right eye. Once again, Ash and I were waiting in the exam room and the vet waks in. This ladt also, stayed right by the door and I was once again, confused. This one, however, looked very haughty and stuck-up. She asked what was wrong and I told her. She walked over slowly, with one hand in the air raised like a claw, and tried to look at Ash's eye. When she got close, Ash growled a little bit. I told Ash to be good and Ash just waited. The lady came closer, with her hand still raised and in claw formation, and when she got to Ash she held her eyelid opne (no growling or anything) and then she just jumped back. She said, "Can you hold her still please? I've heard these breeds are aggressive and I'd like to take extra precautions." I couldn't believe my ears. Ash wasn't even moving. I held her anyways, and Ash remained still. The lady came closer and pulled her eyelid open again. Then she AGAIN, pulled away.
She looked at me and asked, "Does she bite?" I said, "Ash is very well-behaved. She does not bite. She's being very calm right now and letting you open her eyelid without giving you any problems. You're going to make her nervous if you keep jumping back." She then asked me if I could hold open her eyelid, which I did. She flashed a light in it and then she said that it looked like there was a scratch underneath the eyelid. She offered me the option of doing a "stain" on the eye to really be able to tell what was wrong and I said yes. She said, "I'll have to take her back now then." She walked over VERY slowly and Ash growled. The vet looks at me and says, "See, I've heard these dogs do that." Well yeah! My dog is scared of you because you were scared of her! I was about to let this lady have it, but I kept my cool. She leashed Ash and then grabbed her by the collar and Ash tried to nip at her hand. The lady let go and jumped back like a firecracker had just gone off. She said, "I KNEW that would happen." That's all it took for me to say what was on my mind.
I told the vet that if she couldn't handle the examination then she needed to get me another vet that could. I told her that Ash had been very well-behaved and that SHE was the one who had come in with preconceived notions about how my dog was going to behave. She had made Ash nervous and frankly, with the way the vet was behaving, I waas surprised Ash didn't growl more or wasn't more aggrresive with her. Instead, Ash listened to me and let the vet open her eyelid MULTIPLE times without any problem at all. If she didn't approach my baby like she was a bomb, then I KNOW Ash wouldn't have growled at her at all.
I requested another vet to examine Ash more thoroughly or I wouldn't be paying for the visit. Another vet came in and guess what? Ash had no problem with this vet. This vet had no qualms about Ash or her breed.
I decided to only have Ash see that vet and so when I had to take her yesterday to renew her bordatella vaccine, I requested that we see that vet. I know vet tech can adminster the vaccine so I said that if it was going to be a vet tech, please give me someone who was comfortable enough to do their job. (I didn't say in that plain of terms. I was more polite.) So I took Ash in and who do they give me? A vet tech that ALSO was nervous. I asked her how long she had been an RVT to try and strike up pleasant conversation as well as find out if her nervousness stemmed from being fairly new to the business or from something else. She's been and RVT for 5 years. She was going to adminster it through the nose with a spray and informed me that she was nervous around aggressive breeds. I was frustrated, but not upset because she was at least honest with me and didn't seem like she had an attitude.
I understand that someone may have had a bad experience with a particular breed or has heard about certain breed characteristics, but this went too far. Those 2 vets had judged Ash because of her breed and it really upset me. I was receiving inadequate care because of there hang-ups. If you can't handle all dogs properly, then my opinion is you shouldn't be a vet. Or if you know you are uneasy with a certain breed, have another vet take that exam. There is no reason that myself or Ash should have to suffer the consequences of someone elses issues.
I honestly wasn't aware that there was such a stigma attached to ACD's as being overly aggressive. When I calm down, I try and understand where these people are coming from, but it frustrates me because I don't want to go through this every time I need to see a vet. What if I had an emergency and needed to take Ash in asap and that vet that had been comfortable wasn't working or something? Then I'd have to deal with the other vet. I don't like that.
I know some of you may not agree with me on this and I apologize if anyone was somehow offended, but I needed to vent.
Thanks for listening.