The first time I called I spent nearly 20 minutes on the phone with the receptionist explaining my situation - I have a dog who is fearful of the vet and I was looking for a Fear-Free Certified female veterinarian to see if my dog would be more comfortable with them. My dog is 15 months old and good with people. However, at the vet, he is a completely different dog. He has been in training since he was 8 weeks old and we continue to take group training classes to this day (and will continue well into the future). He has his Canine Good Citizen, Community Canine, and we have successfully completed obedience classes from puppy to advanced. He is well trained and I am not a novice/ignorant dog owner. The receptionist who took my call was amazing. She was very understanding and helpful. We set up a wellness exam and I had her write in the notes that he is fearful and needs staff to take things slow - I was very upfront with his behavior in a clinic setting.
When our appointment came up, we went to it equipped with high value treats, his favorite toy, and his muzzle. My dog still had to be muzzled when being touched, but the appointment went incredibly well for the circumstances and both the tech and the vet (Dr. Stephanie) that we saw were amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better appointment.
At the first appointment we scheduled for my dog to be neutered. About a month later, we had an appointment for pre-surgery blood work. I wasn't nervous because I was so happy with our previous experience at Fredonia.
To my surprise, the blood draw appointment was atrocious. When we entered the clinic my dog was calm and confident. He greeted the receptionist and took treats & pets from her and got on the scale willingly (she even commented on how well behaved he was!). When we got to the exam room, my dog was nervous (growling) from the start, but he typically calms down once the tech is in the room, offers him a treat and talks to him. However, the tech I had for this appointment never gave my dog a chance. She stuck her head in the door, heard him growl, told me to muzzle him and said she'd be right back, she's going to get help.
She came back with 2 other techs and then proceeded to tell me to hold my dog's head. They then started manhandling him and terrifying him to the point that he urinated and expressed his anal glands. As this was happening the lead tech scolded me for talking to my dog and trying to calm him down (I know that praise during such behavior only reinforces the bad behavior, but I was using words I use during training to calm him down) by harshly saying "stop talking to him, his behavior is UNACCEPTABLE."
After she returned from taking the blood sample out of the room, she told me that "my dog is dangerous and I need to be aware of that." To clarify this was the first time this vet tech had ever seen my dog and only the second time he had ever been in this clinic. She knows nothing about him or his behavior. I explained to her that he is NOT like this outside of a veterinary setting and that he is just scared. She proceeded to tell me that "she was surprised by that, because if they are this bad in here, they are usually just as bad outside." Not only was she unprofessional, she was out of line to make these comments and insinuate that my dog is a danger to the general public. She is not a trainer or a veterinary behaviorist. She ultimately negated the positive progress we made with the previous appointment. She planted fear in my dog who was already nervous at the vet in the first place.
Now I need to point out the fact that I completely understand that those in the veterinary profession NEED to keep themselves safe when handling our pets. However, my dog was muzzled and under my control. I would have completely understood resorting to physical restraint IF they took the time to try some fear-free tactics FIRST. However they completely disregarded any fear free methods they could have tried and went straight to the most traumatizing option. This is so upsetting because I picked THIS clinic because they claim to be Fear-Free Certified. I would love if the clinic would explain what fear free means to them. Because this blood draw was anything but.
I was apprehensive about bringing him in for his neuter, however I needed to get it done and I didn't want to push it off any further. Thankfully the techs and vet (Dr. Megan) that I dealt with for the neuter were great, just like the first visit. The neuter went smoothly and they took great care of my boy. Overall I would recommend Fredonia Veterinary Clinic based on the my first & most recent experience there, but be prepared if you have a large breed because it may be deemed "aggressive" by certain people who have no credentials to make that claim.
I will continue to ask for Dr. Megan & Dr. Stephanie and the other techs I saw and request to not see the tech from the blood draw again! read more
