Fear reduction in dogs during the veterinary visit

Abstract

This thesis examines the presence of fear in dogs during the veterinary visit, why this is an issue, and how to improve it. Most dogs are experiencing some degree of fearfulness while being at the veterinary clinic, and especially while being handled by the veterinarian. Several methods have been proposed to reduce the fear experienced by the dogs, regarding environment and ways of handling as well has prevention and treatment of veterinary phobias. One of the proposed factors was acclimatisation, where dogs would have the time to familiarise with the environment prior to being handled by the vet. In our experiment we wanted to test this theory. The experiment included five dogs, none of which had any extensive behaviour problems relating to the veterinary clinic already. All dogs were examined on two different occasions, one time with the ability to investigate the environment and the other time with no time for adaptation before the examination by a veterinarian.