Isla is a beautiful and very intelligent 4-year-old border collie who has been benefitting from our confidence clinics over the last 2 years.

Outside the vet clinic, she is a happy dog, loved dearly by her human family. They had been working hard to improve her confidence with home handling but she can become very anxious with new surroundings, people and sounds – particularly in a vet environment.

When we first met Isla, she was a very stressed, overstimulated dog; getting near her was difficult due to her previous vet experiences. She would put herself on the waiting room chairs and lunge and snap at passers-by, feeling as though she had to protect herself and her family from the threats she felt. Despite being highly food driven (an excellent trait for building confidence in the future!), at this point a clinical exam was impossible and of course forcing this would only make her fear worse and prevent any trust building. After some heavy sedation we managed to get her in for her spay procedure and give her a full check over, but of course also diminished any slight positivity she may have developed for us.

From here we discussed bringing Isla in for confidence clinics with our nurses. Confidence clinics are a positive experience for your dog, with no poking or handling to start, just lots of treats, toys and allowing them to feel comfortable here with us. We usually start these outside the practice, working with your dog’s comfort level and building up over multiple sessions to create positive links with reception, consult rooms, and the ideal of a stress-free vet exam. The aim is to be able to check ears, mouths and complete vaccinations comfortably.

Isla was quite an extreme case and so with some calming medication on board to smooth the learning curve, I started sessions off small, scattering treats around reception at quieter times of day. We built up to treats around the nurse consult room, then becoming comfortable with just sitting in a room with myself and her owners, chatting and providing gravy bone sustenance for Isla. As time went on, I was able to give her treats by hand, in between retreating back to her owners for safety. Through 2 years of hard work, perseverance, patience and around a million gravy bones, we have managed to not only place a stethoscope, hold her paws and successfully vaccinate Isla, but are now greeted joyously in reception with a waggy tail and politely bullied with a nudge for head rubs. Such an achievement for a dog previously unwilling to be touched!

It has been the most rewarding part of the job for me to get to know Isla and be the reason, along with her dedicated family, that she now enjoys visiting us here at the Ivybridge practice. She still has a way to go, but with the continued work, patience and a million more gravy bones, we are excited to see her learn to love the rest of the South Moor team.

I am so proud of Isla and the work we do at South Moor Vets. Isla is now becoming friends with behaviour-keen RVN Josie, to continue her positive journey, whilst I disappear for a while to travel the world.