Dog Owner Perceptions of Veterinary Handling Techniques

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Improving the veterinary experience for domestic dogs and their owners is important to promote canine welfare and owner compliance with routine veterinary care. Incorporating dog owner perspectives on portions of the veterinary appointment can help increase dog owner satisfaction and clinic visits. Thus, an online survey was distributed to current dog owners residing in Canada and the United States, to assess owner agreement towards 13 handling techniques used on dogs during routine veterinary appointments, when the participants’ dog was calm, fearful, or aggressive. We also assessed the influence of participant’s pet attachment and demographic information on owner agreement towards the handling techniques. Participants (N = 1176) generally disagreed with the use of more restrictive techniques and agreed with less restrictive techniques, regardless of dog behavior. We found that dog owners preferred full body restraint used on fearful dogs if they had previous veterinary experience or were male; whereas dog owners preferred minimal restraint used on fearful dogs if they had a stronger attachment to their pets or if they did not have previous veterinary experience. As owner perspectives align with current handling recommendations, we encourage veterinarians to incorporate owner perspectives to help improve dog and owner experiences during routine veterinary care. ABSTRACT: Veterinary care can be a source of stress for domestic dogs and their owners. If a dog owner is not satisfied with the veterinary experience, this may reduce the frequency of veterinary visits and negatively impact a dog’s health and welfare. Allowing dog owners to offer their perspectives on aspects of the veterinary appointment may help improve owner satisfaction. We assessed owner agreement towards 13 recommended handling techniques used on dogs during routine veterinary appointments, when the participants’ dog was calm, fearful, or aggressive. An online cross-sectional survey targeting current dog owners, residing in Canada and the United States, was used to examine the influence of participant’s pet attachment (using the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale (LAPS)) and demographic information (age, gender, experience working in the veterinary field) on owner agreement towards the handling techniques. The majority of participants (N = 1176) disagreed with higher restraint techniques (e.g., full body restraint, muzzle hold) and tools (e.g., dog mask), and agreed with lower restraint techniques (e.g., minimal restraint) regardless of dog demeanor. Logistic regression models revealed that for medium/large dog owners, having previous veterinary work experience resulted in lower agreement with the use of minimal restraint (p < 0.0001) and higher agreement with the use of full body restraint on fearful dogs (p = 0.01). Small dog owners were more likely to agree with the use of minimal restraint on fearful dogs if they had a higher pet attachment score (p < 0.001), and were more likely to agree with full body restraint if they had previous veterinary work experience (p < 0.0001) or were male (p = 0.02). Owner perspectives align with current handling recommendations and provide further support for the use of low stress handling methods to improve owner satisfaction and dog welfare during routine veterinary care.