It might not be a bad idea to train two dogs at once. Many of you know that I’m raising two German Shepherds right now. I’m raising Alpha, who is five months old, and Jericho, who is four months old. I ran into something that I had never experienced with the dogs the other day.
Vet Visit
Monday, I needed to take Jericho in to get his rabies vaccination and his final round of his remaining vaccines. Alpha also needed to see the vet and get weighed for her heartworm preventative.
I headed out to the vet clinic with both of the dogs. Did some training with them in the back of my SUV as I was getting ready to take them in. Which was going pretty well as usual with these two. That’s not the part that was new to me, obviously. What was new to me was the thing that happened next.
So for our appointment, I actually had both of the dogs with me. I’ve never, in the 16 years of having dogs, taken more than one dog to the vet at a time. I brought both of them into the examination room with me. Usually, when my dogs go to the vet, they’re pretty well-behaved, but there is always some nervousness. They don’t always handle it the best, but we try to make the best out of the situation. Dogs understand that there will be shots. They know there’s going to be some poking and prodding and those kinds of things. So it’s a little normal for dogs to get nervous. Even though I’m staying pretty calm, I’m trying to help the dogs remain calm as well.
Waiting Room Fun
Well, by having Alpha and Jericho in the room together, the puppies just started to play. This is the thing that they want to do the most. Jericho still has those very sharp puppy needles, and Alpha just got rid of all her puppy teeth. But she’s still pretty mouthy. As they play in the room, I realize that this is the association they’re going to make to this room. Being very playful in the room with one another. I did settle them down before the veterinarian came in to see us. I actually had them both do down-stay and work for a little bit of their morning meal. But after I did a couple of rounds of that, I would let them play in between.
So when the vet walked in he put Jericho up on the examination table to give him his shots. It took about 5 seconds. They put him back on the floor, and it was like nothing had ever happened. I thought that that was really quite fascinating. This was something I learned from the dogs that I had never experienced before. The ability to play beforehand allowed him to be calm for his shots.
Not A Bad Idea To Play
I’m not telling you to get two dogs and try to raise them because it is a lot of work. It’s a lot of work to raise one puppy at a time, especially if you get German Shepherds. I think it might not be a bad idea to play with your dog in the examination room. Or if you have two dogs, have them play together. They can play instead of building nervous energy. They can relax and enjoy the room.
I hope this tip was useful for you. It was really insightful for me to discover that. I’m glad that I’m still discovering new things about dogs and dog training.
For more tips like this, you can always visit my YouTube Channel or find more right here on my website at www. longoriahausdogtraining.com.
Happy Training!
