Question for those who work for vets

I realize the real answer is that I need to talk to my vet about this, and I will ask when we go back in for Gusto's next laser appointment in 2 weeks. But after reading a few threads, it is back in the forefront of my mind.

Do you always bring dogs "in the back" for blood draws? If an owner requests that you not do so, do you have an issue with it?

I ask because Meg went into full panic at one point when the vet tried to take her out of the room - finally managed to slip her collar and jumped up behind me in the chair and was shaking. The vet just did the blood draw in the room with me, no issues. Since then, I've always just had it done in the room.

The last vet I was at, they asked for the dogs so they could take them out back. I said "It's fine to take Gusto, but Meg needs to be done with me here. She panics otherwise.". They said it was fine, but when the vet could not get a vein in her (and I'm talking several minutes of trying the jugular, both front legs and a hind), he finally just dragged her out back. He said to use a tourniquet, although given some other stuff I learned about him after, I half wonder if he ever got blood at all and just told me her bloodwork was fine.

I hate myself enough for not stepping in and stopping things at the time. I love Gusto's rehab vet so much that I've had both dogs transferred there for their regular vet stuff as well. So far we've only been for Gusto's lameness/laser appointments, which she's done entirely in the room with me (and outside with me watching him move). I will be asking her about whether or not she removes the dogs from the room for anything, but I'm wondering if that is an out-there request to make. Does it upset you if someone asks that? Do you comply?

No. If someone would prefer to have the blood drawn in the room, we are more than happy to do that. Restraint can be tricky though, and a lot of times it isn't possible to have the owner restrain for a blood draw because we absolutely need to keep the dog still.

Most of the time, we just have to owner come into the back with the dog if they want to stay with them, unless the dog has anxiety issues in the back room.

Almost never, unless an owner tells us the dog is better without them present. And even then, we usually have the owner just step outside the door instead of moving the dog.

Honestly, I completely despise the practice. Owners usually HATE it and there's very, very rarely a compelling reason to do it. The vast majority of dogs do WAY better with their owner in the room. Plus a lot of times you can do things with a slightly anxious dog like have the owner machine-gunning treats or letting the dog lick peanut butter or Easy Cheese off a tongue depressor while you get blood from a back leg and they barely notice, when if you'd taken the dog away it would be awful.

I also despise the practice of leaping immediately to a high level of restraint, but that's a rant for another thread.


ETA: We do not allow owners to actually restrain their dog, just to be clear.

Oh, I have no qualms about letting someone else restrain either dog. I've been to some vets who have me hold them and some who have staff hold them, both of my dogs are good with either. Meg might even be okay with staying in the room while I leave; she doesn't have any separation issues normally, but someone taking her away from me is a problem for her.

As long as I'm not asking for some huge vet rule to be altered, I won't stress about asking then.

It's an insurance issue here. However, if the vet knows you well enough, they'll often take the risk.

Though, if they let you stay with them, the vet has to do it rather than a tech, so the price goes up from my understanding (You get charged for a recheck appt, rather than just blood work)

An insurance issue just to be in the room? It's certainly a liability issue for owners to restrain, but to be in the room? Sounds sketchy to me.

The price goes up even if I'm there for an appointment anyway? I have full exams done on both dogs in the early spring when I do their heart worm test, so it isn't like I'm just ducking in for blood draws. I mean, I'd pay the extra price, but that would strike me as odd.

Coming from the other end of the spectrum...

I've always stayed in the room with Jack when they've done exams, blood draws, etc - we do a lot of counter conditioning work while it's happening, and it's just easier for everyone. At my regular vet, they've let me restrain him for blood work. At the ophthalmologist, the tech held his head so it was at the right angle, and I held the rest of him. No one has ever had a problem with it.

I've always let them take the cat in the back to do blood draws and the couple of times she'd had cystos. I don't mind one way or the other, and she doesn't seem to care. I've never asked to come with or for them to do it in the room, but I'm sure they'd oblige.

ETA: From the other side of the spectrum, I can absolutely see a vet not wanting an owner to restrain their own dog - I would much rather trust my coworker to restrain for me than trust the owner of the dog, who may or may not do it properly. Before I went to this vet, we had a long phone conversation to discuss whether they can handle special behavioral needs.

A tech should still be able to do it in that scenario?

We automatically bring everyone in back for procedures, yes. As the person drawing blood, to be quite honest I really hate doing it in the room with the owners. Puts the pressure on lol because a lot of owners make a big deal out of it if we don't get blood on the first attempt. And oftentimes they want to hover and try holding their dog and it just... makes it more complicated than it needs to be.

But if someone asks for us to do it in the room, yeah we will. Or we will even offer to do it in the room if the dog seems calmer with their owner. For most anxious dogs though we prefer to take them in back because they tend to do better - and then, again, we don't have anxious owner hovering and making it worse.

For my own animals, I don't care if it's done in the room with me, in the back treatment room, or on the roof. I've always let the staff just do what they need to do in order to get what they need.

I am one of "those" annoying owners, I suppose

I am very very fortunate that I have a vet I have known for so long, and since they know me, not only do I get to stay in the room, but I usually restrain myself as well. The only exception would be if I neeed help with a foster. But i pretty much grew up with this vet, they have taught me to restrain same as they do. But I am not an anxious hovering owner I am chill and professional, I do better when they give it to me straight

I helped my Mom take Miya to a low cost vet, and they had the same problem. Couldn't get a vein, couldn't get her to hold still. I told them if they let me hold her, she'd be fine. She was just uncomfortable being restrained by a stranger. But they wouldn't let me at all, and chastised me for trying. In the end it took 4 to restrain and one to draw the blood, and they muzzled her 'just in case'. Miya cried and panicked and peed, but never did try to snap or growl or anything. I was PISSED, if I was a dog I would've snapped at person 2 let alone 4 if it wouldve been my dog I would've walked out. If they would've had a back room, who knows how they would've done out of our sight - and yes thats my opinion on it. So I told my mom, next time we go to my vet or I refuse to help. That's ridiculous.
So next time we went to my vet, I held her and she was fine. And they got the vein on the second try

I agree with this, and have seen a lot of dogs do better without their owner, but we make exceptions. There is a JRT who will absolutely no matter what throw a HUGE temper-tantrum trying to bite everything in site if the owner is there, and is 100% without the owner, this dog is ALWAYS seen separate from the owner the dog has a lot of medical problems, and doesn't need the extra stress.

There are some dogs i don't even touch and the owners hold for everything, either because the dog is clearly more comfortable with the owner, or because the dog doesn't want anyone else touching it lol

I don't work at a clinic, but since others are chiming in...

I always call and talk to the vet I'll be seeing and ask about this before going to a new vet (and I've been to a lot...) because I don't let my dogs leave the room after Frag was all but beat in my hometown when he had coccidia as an impressionable year old pup.

I haven't had a problem with any vet that I decided to use doing blood draws with me in the room and NOT restraining my dogs. Frag and Recon will both hold down stays with no one grabbing at them just fine. Sir holds a sit stay and offers his arm for draws. No problems... I just feed treats during it and the vets love that they are so well behaved... and I make sure they are to make sure everything stays positive and they don't need to be restrained. Because there's no way Frag COULD be restrained without being sedated if he didn't listen up.

I'm a registered vet. tech. and have been doing this for... 15+ years.

Generally speaking, we bring our patients into our treatment room for venipuncture. Rarely, we'll do this in an exam room, but I have to agree with whomever said that it's a lot of pressure for the person doing the blood draw. I am excellent at my job and can hit just about any vein on any pet, but even I have bad days. Owners breathing down my neck, gasping and using grabby hands when I'm trying to do my job doesn't cut it for me.

Under no circumstance, ever, do owners restrain their own pets... nor will myself, my coworkers or our doctors draw blood on an unrestrained pet just because their owner says they'll hold a down/stay.

Our standard is to take the dog back if we need to get it from the neck (large samples), and in the room if it's just a heartworm test/small sample.

If someone takes serious issue to taking the dog in back, we do let them either go with us or stay in the room and do it, we just warn them we're getting it from the neck - it looks bad, but most dogs do better with it.

That said, when I find a new vet, it is very important to me that I be allowed to stay with my dog for blood draws, and ideally restrain my own dog. I've been a vet assistant for 7 years, I know how to restrain my dog. Logan got his service dog eye exam the other day and I loved that the vet let me restrain my own dog. I understand that not everyone is able to properly restrain their dog, but if they CAN, I don't see why it's a problem.

One of the doctors I work for typically draws blood for heartworm tests in the room unless the dog is especially difficult, but pretty much everyone else goes to the back (for nail trims as well). There's more room, there's better light, there isn't an anxious owner hovering over the dog's face, and it frees up the doctor's time to discuss things with the client without distraction. It is amazing to me how many people insist that their dog won't bite them even if the doctor is doing something potentially painful (palpating an injury for example) or invasive (rectal exam). I'm glad you believe that, but please take your face out of Fluffy's face just in case. Dogs can be unpredictable if they're in pain.

I don't know-- I've been on the other side of the table a few times with my dogs' referrals. It is anxiety-producing to have my dog taken away from me, but at the same time, I need to trust the people at the clinic to treat my dog well even away from me, or I need to find a different clinic.

Yes we will respect an owner's wishes if they strongly object to it, and we have a few dogs who we do in the room with the owner restraining because they're simply better that way (our police dogs for example, and a few nail trim dogs). But most of the time it is easier for everybody to take the dog to the back.

A really good point, and part of the reason I'm no longer with that vet. I remember talking to someone about the concerns I had, and saying "I really am not worried about all the usual stuff like having him do yearly exams, but I think about leaving one of my dogs there for a dental, and my stomach drops". But by the same token, the staff shouldn't be doing anything to my dog that they wouldn't be 100% comfortable doing in front of me.

I'll see what the vet says. It's one of the things I usually ask about ahead of time, along with how comfortable they are with the vaccine schedule I use, but I was just so relieved to find a vet that I like and Gusto liked (as well as Gusto likes anyone), I had my dogs transferred over without the pre-move questions.

At our Vet they take the dogs out back for any blood draws, etc. and I do not mind. The only time I have gone in the back was to help out with a female that had to have a C-section and they needed extra hands.

I have no problem leaving a dog there for dentals, spays, etc.

For me it's all about my overall trust of the staff.
I used to be a little touchy about "going to the back" but at the end of the day, when I found the right clinic with the right people..and now I am pretty ok with it.

and I don't want him associating me with blood draws lol let him hate them .

I think it depends on the owner, vet, and dog.

I honestly don't remember too terribly much past a year or two with our vet, simply because I was younger and my parents did most everything. But now that I've started taking my dogs to the vet (especially Blaze) and built up a rapport with the vet and techs, they've allowed me to help restrain both my dogs. Mainly because they both do better when I'm present. We tried where I'm not in the picture (standing or sitting out of the way in the room while they work) and for both dogs they did loads better when I was touching them.

My vet does blood draws, gives vaccines, nail trims, and exams in the room. He's allowed me multiple times to see go into the backroom and see xrays and let Blaze walk back off leash from the xray room to the exam room (more like Blaze ran back to the exam room where I was and quickly sat down at my feet).

So yeah, I dunno. Would they let your average owner do all this? Probably not and I see why. I'm not huddling over the dog, awwing at missed blood draws, or saying 'poor fluffy' the whole time. I understand they have to do what they have to do. I want to know what's going on with my dog probably more than your average Joe and I'm really grateful they've allowed me to be a part of the exam. However, if they say they need to take him into the backroom to do something, I don't have a problem with it either.

I haven't had to have my dogs moved to the back for blood draws. My old vet did it right there in the room. I was allowed to hold Ivans head/muzzle for them and a vet tech would hold the rest of him still. With Ivan I can get him to do things and manipulate him in ways he simply will not let others do. And like with Bostons Meg, he has issues with being taken away from me.