HI
Unfortunately I have a new problem with our 16 month old male corgi. He has always been fine at the vet [except once when he growled at a vet who pinned him down], let them inject him, microchip, rabies test etc. We went to France in June where he yelped in pain when given the fox tapeworm jab in the back of his neck [it stings badly] and since then we are finding it hard to even put Frontline on him without him going into a panic.

He also now struggles violently at the vet and won't accept his temp being taken even when muzzled. Even putting him on the floor is no help.

I stroke and groom him all over and he has always been a bit touchy around his tail/bum and paws - i.e. he normally snatches his paws away or turns his head around quickly to see what I am doing with his tail but he does let me inspect them. When he was in his vet friendly stage the vet found nothing wrong with either so there is probably no physical issue here.

I have always given him treats when grooming to get him to like it [he goes up on a table] and apart from the touchiness re paws/tail he enjoys being groomed. I know that telling him off or fighting with him is going to make the problem worse.

Can someone please suggest a good way to get his confidence back - I don't reassure him when he struggles at the vet or snatches back his paws. However, what do you do if the dog won't even have his temp taken or accept Frontline?

thanks
Cissy

I would suggest that you try some T Touch massage techniques This linktakes you to the site

Was he docked or born without his tail? I'm wondering if there's any nerve damage in the tail area........ TTouch will probably help, as will any gentle non confrontational handling with plenty of reward for positive reaction from the dog, take very tiny steps in the process, if he finds anything too much take it back a step and continue....

Thanks MM and Digger -

he is undocked and has full length tail but I did wonder if there was something bothering him at the base of it. However, he wags the tail enough and it hangs properly so I assumed I could rule out physical probs.

I checked out the Ttouch and luckily I already do a kind of aimless massage around his ears which he likes. I will look into this further. I am finding the hardest thing now is giving the reward at the right time because the transition from struggle to calm and vice versa is so quick I'm not sure what he thinks he is being rewarded for - so agree with the small steps approach.

Otherwise he is very calm in the house, likes his cuddles etc ....
thanks
Cissy

Clicker training might be helpful in that situation. It really finetunes your timing! And the actual reward doesn't have to be at the right time, you click first, and then it can take a couple of seconds before the reward without your dog losing the message.

Jo

thanks Jo - I have a clicker waiting in the wings to be tried shortly :).

My old cockers tail was docked to short :| one day we noticed that it looked like the middle was sucked in . her tail actully came out the socket and went into her bowl. when she sat dow the pressure of it pushed it in. very rare vet never saw it before but i thought since were on this subject id warn you breeders . keep em longish:P