Using Obedience to Help with Manners at the Vet - Take the Lead K9 Training

How does your dog behave at the vet?
Layla the yellow lab pup is very sweet, but struggles with impulse control and is VERY excitable! The best way to help her keep her cool and stay focused is to keep her in a command in public! I needed to grab some medication from the vet's office, so Layla took a field trip to work on her manners in a new place!
When I say that she is always in command, that means the moment she gets out of the car I need her to sit - and if she breaks the sit, we correct her and put her back. Once I close the car, I'll ask her to walk with me at my side on a short but relaxed leash - no pulling, sniffing, grabbing stuff off the ground - to the office door. If your dog is out of control in the parking lot, there's about a 100% chance they will be out if control inside the building around people and other animals ;)
Once inside she will sit on the scale to be weighed and then I will put her in a down/stay in the lobby the whole time we are there. I actually use my legs to block other dogs from approaching her, and I will correct her back to down if she tries to move towards other dogs or people.
In general on leash greetings are a bad idea (can cause leash reactivity and also promotes your dog getting excited and then ultimately rewarded for their excited behavior on the leash) but at the vet's office they are additionally bad because many animals at the vet are stressed, in pain, or even sick!
I also say "no petting" to people who approach, except for the vet staff who would be seeing her if we had an appointment. Again, I don't want outside attention to unintentionally reinforce her over excitement - she needs a whole lot of practice going out in the world and being calm and focused on her handler before we add in the element of strangers petting her and getting her excited! (If your dog jumps on people and gets worked up, you need to spend time working on their handler focus in public before adding the element of external attention - here is a blog post with training tips on how to help: taketheleadk9t... )
Good girl, Layla!