Aggressive dog in waiting room

[Wick55]

I went to the vet earlier and I had my 9 week old baby in the carrier and small/medium 12 year old dog on a lead. A man comes in through the door with a huge dog (Rottweiler? / no muzzle on) and instantly it was trying to get to my dog (and possibly the baby) I was TERRIFIED and so was my dog. It was snarling, barking and lunging and the guy only had it on a chain he could have easily let go or got dragged over. I hurried across the foyer (which is quite small anyway) and stood by the staff room door ready to lock myself in if the dog got loose. It was trying to get away from the man and attack us for at least 10 mins. To move towards the exit I would have had to get very close to them. The reception staff did nothing, and the man was trying to get it to sit and walking it around in circles, it continued to lunge at us barking etc whenever it got closer. I was shaking with fear and when we finally went into a side room the vet said we needed to walk past the dog to go to a consult room and I said I’m sorry but no. She didn’t hesitate and took me to the room behind us. My dog was so terrified her eyes were nearly popping out of her head. The barking sound was so loud the door barely masked it. I said to the vet ‘she’s not normally like this, I don’t think that dog is helping’ and she said ‘no I don’t think it is’. And then when we went to leave, she just ‘reassuringly’ said ‘don’t worry the dog has gone in now to see the vet’. I’m absolutely livid no one said anything to the owner, or noticed what a massive risk it was having the dog about 10 feet away from a tiny baby and little dog just stood there helpless. honestly I’ve never been so afraid in my life. I was shaking for like 20 mins after and just burst out crying in the car. AIBU to put in a complaint?

Genuinely I’ve never felt afraid of a dog before I feel to traumatised. It was so large and strong I wouldn’t have been able to protect my dog or my baby.

Rottweilers are so 90s. People have moved on from having them as the go-to tough dog. They no longer fit that stereotype.

Thank you

I have several black labs. One is nervous of other dogs and he is huge and when we go to the vets he has his yellow hi vis jacket that says nervous I don’t like dogs he has two leads - a figure of 8 and a normal click lead. I have him under control at all times - not because he will attack but because he barks at every other animal in there and he is a big boy and terrifies the others the irony is not lost that he barks because he is terrified and wants them to know he’s a big strong proper dog -the minute a dog barks back he wees himself. This is the result of a viscous attack in our local woods by another dog when he was 14 weeks old and on the lead / the other dog was dealt with by police - that’s another story.

But he doesn’t bark at children and he’s never attacked anything and is a very loving and calm dog at home. But he is booked in for an annual check up tomorrow and when I phoned up to book him in - we did the following he’s booked in at 5.30 pm and another one of our dogs who doesn’t bark goes with him. He’s outside until they are ready for him - he walks in and into the consulting room following the person from the vets with a bag of food under his nose to distract. Everyone else who might be there is told - he barks he looks like a big thug but he’s a wuss and under control. In short we minimise any impact on any other customers.

Next time say something - to office staff excuse me do you have a room away from this dog. I’m terrified, it doesn’t look under control and my dog is suffering. Etc

I would never use that vets again- appalling

@CeciledeVolangesdeNouveau I don’t recall there being any mention of Rottweilers in the DDA.

Yep, the more we tease this out the more it sounds like it’s a staff problem - they should have asked him to step outside.

I’ve only been to our vet once and it was to have our old cat PTS. They didn’t have much space in the lot but we were given a bench to sit on screened off from the rest of the practice while we were waiting so he wouldn’t be stressed. I think best practice is either this approach or noisy pets stay outside.

@Greenshake always nice to meet a fellow perfectionist. No, there isn’t but I was speaking more about the general point that some dogs are designed to do damage and are capable of it as well.

Oh gosh OP, that sounds terrifying and you're definitely NBU! My previous dog hated other animals, especially dogs, but she loved people. She would act exactly like the Rottweiler you encountered today. My Vets were amazing with my situation, I would call them when I was outside and they would bring me out a buzzer. It would go off when the waiting room was clear and I could walk her through. If I was you I would send an email and possibly suggest something similar? It really worked for all concerned in our case.

I think it’s natural to feel a bit vulnerable, it’s a big dog you don’t know, and you had your baby with you. However, if the dog was under the control of the owner, then the staff can’t just kick them out because you don’t like the look of them (I’ve had this exact issue arise at my work - someone complained that there was an XL bully in the waiting room 🙄 it wasn’t doing anything (it’s actually one of the nice ones) they’re not illegal yet and vets aren’t responsible for enforcing the law anyway!)

Agree with previous comments that if there is any humanely possible way to not bring the baby, then please don’t bring the baby - you will be distracted, there’s often a long wait and barking dogs, half the time the baby cries and further stresses out the animals, and you won’t be able to help the vet by holding / reassuring your pet while they’re examined. (I say this as a mum and a vet - I love kids and animals but sometimes they shouldn’t mix!)

I would give the owner a choice - either he gets the fuck out of the vets and out of my face with his shitty aggressive dog within 30 seconds, threatening my baby and elderly dog, or I boot him and his dog squarely in the balls and call the police.

I took my newborn daughter, kitten and three year old DD1 to the vets on more than one occasion. I certainly did not think of it as a potential unsafe or intimidating place and it wasn't. But an aggressive dog and fucking useless owner and vets would have turned me into a tigress.

Yes, of course you would 😂😂😂

I'd change vets. Raise a report.

Yes I would.

Of course you would say this especially that language in front of your children. You are quite the ray of sunshine aren’t you?

At three and newborn they wouldn't know much about. More important that they weren't horribly scared by or attacked by a dog or a stupid pathetic man, I'd have thought.

Yeah I'd be so worried about them hearing bad language compared with being bitten by a large dog 🤔

Then you would rightly be arrested for your little display.

Where do you think k you'd be in the police priority queue

336532677

Would be my guess!

And if the figs is a bitch, where would you boot her?

You're hilarious and any vet would be pleased to have you off their books!

Ooh, you sound well hard...

Definitely complain, I'd not only complain to the vets, I'd complain to the RVC too. X

.

Because someone in charge of an out of control large dog, known for its aggression is likely to be a lovely reasonable chap, isn't he?

That’s probably why he even has that kind of dog (breed and apparent training level) in the first place.

Ridiculous generalisations.

I have a bull breed who is a teddy bear in all situations apart from at the vet. He is terrified and barks/snarls/growls at the staff, so much so that he has to be muzzled and they have to come out and sedate him on the car park.

Does that make me not lovely or reasonable and shit at training my dog?

That sounds like a really scary experience for you. If you choose to contact the vets, please try give constructive feedback about your experience and suggestions for improvement.

A veterinary receptionist is a really tough job, they are often multi tasking to a huge degree, they aren't necessarily confident telling clients what to do...some clients can't read how stressed and reactive their dogs are, things can escalate quickly.

The vast majority of vet practices will take constructive feedback very seriously and endeavour to improve everyone (clients and patients) experience next time.

@Rocksonabeach that's lovely to read. Are they a FearFree practice?

No, but it does mean that you and the staff take reasonable precautions with an animal who could seriously injure you or others around you even if it’s out of being scared or feeling vulnerable. I’m very used to being around horses and trust me, they would be restrained with maximum precautions if they were in a situation where they were like to get out of control. A horse is not going to attack (unless in extreme circumstances like a feral alpha stallion protecting his harem) but they can break your toes on a relaxed in-hand walk just by being a bit clumsy or you walking too close. When cornered they panic and can then be extremely dangerous because their tiny brains just go GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT and they’ll smash through things, kick out, barge past, rear or buck etc. You can have the sweetest horse in the world and they can hurt you completely by accident.

Dogs are carnivores. They are bred to hunt things down and you could describe their bodies as precision-engineered to do that. Whether they are hunters or not by breed, their jaws evolved to chomp down on things and shake them until they stop moving. My tiny little gentle cat wouldn’t and probably couldn’t hurt a fly but even she will try a gentle nibble at things during play. It’s very manageable with a 3kg cat who I haven’t seen in a position of stress yet. It’s a lot more serious when you’re talking about a dog the weight of a small human in a situation where they believe they’re under threat or their mummy or daddy is. And not only that, but they have to deal with the overwhelm of loads of strange animals and people and then someone poking away at them, possibly with a needle.