VETERINARIAN’ S PERSPECTIVE
SYMPATHIZING WITH OUR CLIENTS
By Melissa Bain, DVM, DACVB, MS, DACAW Professor, Clinical Animal Behavior
University of California School of Veterinary Medicine
Dog training professionals must give ourselves grace at times
As I work from home on my couch, I find my mind wandering. One reason is that it’ s late afternoon, after I’ ve already rewritten my presentations for a week’ s worth of lectures and labs and organized the classes to the nth degree for next week. The other reason is that my dog is curled up on the couch, looking oh-socute, just begging to be snuggled. His fun terrier self has taken a siesta this rainy afternoon, virtually inviting me to take part. However, work calls …
While my husband and I fell for Maverick’ s scruffy looks and personality when we first met him, it took me quite awhile to become attached to him. Of course, he was well cared-for, but I did not feel a bond with him at first. We euthanized our previous dog in the spring of 2014, seven months prior to adopting Maverick. Thumper was our once-in-alifetime, very rare“ American Ball Terrier” who lived to more than 16 years of age, passing away peacefully in our house with family surrounding him. He was the first dog my husband and I adopted while working in Wisconsin, a victim of my perpetual threat of“ if we don’ t adopt this dog from work, who knows what will happen to him.” He was as perfect as perfect could be … easy to housetrain, very dog savvy, non-aggressive, and smart as a whip. He made me look smart!
When he passed, our family collectively decided to wait until after our summer vacation to adopt a dog. We resolved to not adopt the first dog we saw, nor adopt a puppy. Well, thanks to the wonders of social media postings, we showed up at the first adoption event we attended and selected Maverick, 3-months-old and a whopping seven pounds.
There is always talk about a honeymoon period. Nope, not with Maverick. We were pet-sitting our friend’ s sweet Border Collie a couple of days after Mavericks’ adoption, and while feeding both dogs separately, Maverick proceeded to chase the other dog from food bowl to food bowl. That was followed by another three months filled with the stress of not being able to housetrain him. Talk about feeling like a failure.
As dog care professionals, we carry a burden of owning well-behaved dogs. How many of us cringe when our dog lunges at another dog, or barks at passers-by, or isn’ t housetrained? How many of us have fallen in love with a dog or breed that we know we shouldn’ t have? How many of us hold ourselves to a higher standard than we would for a typical client? We talk with our clients all the time about their dogs’ behavior, how it is due to a combination of socialization, genetics, and / or life experiences.
We should sympathize with our clients’ struggles, even if they selected a breed that isn’ t suited for their lifestyle, or if their training techniques led to the current problem at hand. I would get frustrated with clients when they brought their dog into the clinic wearing prong or choke collars, and silently fume before going in to speak with them. What helped me be more understanding of their situation is when I finally realized their story is theirs and theirs only, that they have struggles I do not know about and I cannot change how they got to this point in time. I have concluded the basic reason most owners utilize these tools is because they love their dog: they sought out help and followed the recommendations dispensed by someone else; they can now walk him without getting pulled over; and they can prevent him from lunging at people or other dogs on the street. When approaching owners in helping with a paradigm shift, kindness and understanding go much further than
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