Your pup is scared, he went through a terrifying and traumatizing episode at the vet. No dog should be manhandled like that.

Poodle are sensitive dogs and do not do well with harsh handling.

I personally wouldn't go back to that vet, My vet uses fear free handling.

My girl Nellie earlier this year ended up with a salivary gland abscess and had to have surgery. Pre and post surgery Nellie wouldn't allow anyone to touch her head or open her mouth.
At the 10 day recheck my vet tried opening Nell's mouth but couldn't, I could so the vet looked as I held Nells mouth open. I had been working with Nellie to prove to her that open her mouth could a fun game.

I was told to continue working with Nellie by my vet, no sedation was ever suggested for anything.

I home groom myself.

It took work to help Nellie to get past being scared of grooming, handling, it happened during a fear period so Nellie associated food and food bowls with pain.

To put this in some perspective as a 18 month old I sliced my foot open, in the emergency room they wouldn't let my mother in because they said her presence would upset me, so my earliest memory is being held down on a gurney by 10 people screaming my head off and finally mom walked in.

My mom said after that I screamed any time I saw person in a white coat, like the butcher.

Dogs aren't children but goodness fear is fear, and you have respect that yor dog is now scared of being handled.

 

Have you ever tried calming treats?

 

I have gone the homeopathic route with rescue remedy with my cats when they came home and my pom chi mix, homeopathic route didn't work had to use psychotropic drugs.
Behavior modification should always be the first step and should used in conjunction with homeopathic remedies, that is what the "Milk bone calming treat" is a homeopathic remedy.

 

You're better off investing in a behavior specialist who can help you actually manage the behavior, as opposed to just putting a bandaid on it in the form of drugs or medications.

I have nothing against the use of these kinds of medications in general, i just feel like they should be used in conjunction with actual behavior modification training - or should only be used as the occasional last resort for something super stressful (fireworks, for example).

Just giving the dog a sedative every time they go to the vet or groomer in hopes that it dopes them up enough for them to behave doesn't actually teach them anything and doesn't do a darn thing to make them comfortable with whatever's going on. These dogs RARELY get "better" with the situation.

And honestly? I've been grooming for over 10 years. I have yet to see any kind of over the counter "sedative" do what it's supposed to - half the dogs still come in shaking with anxiety and i have never seen a sedative STOP a dog from biting. If anything, i dislike grooming "sedated" dogs the most and rarely do it because i don't find that it's helpful. And the right amount or type of sedative to make the dog really not care about anything also makes the dog a liability to groom because they have zero impulse control and tend to... fall over on the table, that's how loopy it makes them.

Whatever the reason for your dog's behavior, it's best to have a specialist evaluate - not a vet.

 

The L-Tryptophan, chamomile, and valerian may help some. The first is an amino acid involved in serotonin production. The second two are well-known herbal products often used by humans for themselves and/or their dogs as calming influences. These are not instant acting by any means, and may or not act as hoped in any given animal, including humans.

Melatonin gets used as a sleep aid by humans and I've seen it in calming treats for dogs.

Before using this or any such product, I would run a test during a calm, uneventful day. See what happens. See if the glycerin results in diarrhea that or the next couple days later.

These products can't really be expected to help once a dog is already stressed; that is not what they do. They also need advance administration. And never dose something intended for dogs to cats.

I agree your dog was manhandled, and while I understand loving and trusting one's vet, not even such a vet is a fit for every dog. Please look into fear free - I've no idea where to search, but maybe another user will have a link.

ETA: never allow Ace Promezine used as a 'sedative' for such purposes as vets can be wont to do. I learned years ago it stops the body from moving much, but does nothing to relax the mind or the fears. Imagine being terrified and unable to resist or flee.

 

ETA: never allow Ace Promezine used as a 'sedative' for such purposes as vets can be wont to do. I learned years ago it stops the body from moving much, but does nothing to relax the mind or the fears. Imagine being terrified and unable to resist or flee.

I can’t believe vets still use this. Horrifying.

 

If your pup is in full panic mode at the vet, a little anxiety medication, like Trazadone, would help. Behavior modification training takes time. As much as we all resist doggie mind-altering drugs, they may be the best bet or whatever your vet prescribes. Your pup probably goes to the vet once a year if healthy, so once in a while the meds won't hurt. As a kid, our family had a dog that really hated going to the vet. She had to be dragged or carried across the floor to the examining room. Back in those days dogs weren't given anti-anxiety meds. I don't know how they drew blood!

 

We’ve had a good experience with another calming product, but it doesn’t work anything like a sedative. This sounds way beyond the scope of calming treats anyway. They can be useful as a complementary tool, but I would be seeking the help of a behaviourist (or at least a certified trainer) to try and undo the effects of what has just happened and reintroduce your little guy to handling.

At a year and a half, he is still maturing and negative experiences can dramatically shape his perspective of the world. Being muzzled and held down while a needle is inserted repeatedly would be absolutely horrifying for a dog who’s already scared.

Has he ever been muzzled before or was that his first exposure? If the latter, that could have added significantly to his stress and would explain his head shyness and fear aggression at the grooming appointment.

There’s nothing to be done about it now, but I wish your groomer had stopped the appointment rather than pushing an already stressed dog like that. He needed time to recover from his experience with the vet.

 

AAHA certification is what should be looked for if anyone is looking for fear free veterinary practice,

 

I'm sorry that your little guy recently had unpleasant experiences at the vet and the groomer.

If Kukla's vet handled him the way you described your vet handled your dog, then I would be looking for a new vet. @Steetcar mentioned a fear free vet which I think is a good suggestion. On the Fear Free site there's a directory that allows you to search for a certified fear free vet/practice in your area.

I completely agree with what @Streetcar said about acepromazine.

 

I think I would be finding a new vet. With the new vet, I would be looking for a office that you can visit multiple times just to get him used to the place. Take treats and have the receptionist give him a treat, tell him he is cute, and leave.
I would do the same thing with the groomer, with the one you have currently or a new one.
The other thing to watch for at the vet is other dogs in the waiting room. My cockapoo get over anxious in the waiting room when people with big, aggressive barking dogs block the entrance and let their dogs lunge at the incoming dogs. That would freak her out before we even go into the exam room.

 

I think to get the best effect you should start by pairing any sedative or calming treat with behavioral training. The idea is not that the sedative will magically make the dog feel great about what's happening. Rather, the sedative will dial down the panic level to where the dog remains able to think and to respond to training.

Your training for the vet experience might be a series of small steps. 1) Drive to the vet office, pull into the parking lot, go home. 2) Drive to the vet office, sniff around the parking lot, go home 3) Drive to the vet office, go into the lobby, go home. 4) Drive to the vet office, get a friendly pat from the staff, go home. 5) Drive to the vet office, get lifted onto the scale and weighed, go home. And so forth.

The idea with the sedative is to relax him enough that he doesn't go into a complete panic as soon as you pull into the vet parking lot. (Or even worse, as soon as you put him in the car.) Without the sedative he might curl up in the footwell going OMG OMG OMG to the point where he doesn't even realize when you have left the parking lot. With the sedative he would hopefully understand that he went to the vet, nothing awful happened, and he came home.

 

Thanks so much for all of this great advice. I'm going to look into hiring a trainer. I'll also do some desensitizing with him so he gets used to going to the groomer. I'll keep you'll posted