Aspen goes berserk at the vet when they try to check his ears or give him vaccinations. The vet tech holds him tight and he thrashes and moans like he is being abused! It worries me that he is in so much distress when being held. He even hates when me and my boyfriend hold him for ear drops or ear cleaning. He will fight with all 28 pounds of fury he has! The vet said to train him to like being held by holding him and only letting go or treating him when he stops struggling. Is this true? Or are there better ways to get him used to being held? He hates snuggling too. If you lay down next to him he will ignore you or lick your face. He hasn't laid down next to me or on me since he was 2 months old.
I think there might be a helpful thread for this. Its really about using a bottle rather than cleaning with wipes, but I think the principles might be the same. Using "the bucket game"? Others might be able to help you more but I think this was the thread I was thinking off. Same principles can be used for eye drops too https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/ear-cleaning.14036/#post-212811
Quinn freaks over ear and eye drops as well, and ever since the vet flushed her eyes a couple months ago, plants herself and refuses to enter exam rooms. I did the bucket game (per @drjs@5's post above for eye drops) and it really worked, but took a lot of work and patience. She does not respond well to being forced/held, so we do not force drops if she is truly worked up (us meaning myself or the vet). I will skip eye drops if she runs from me when she sees the drops in my hand and will try again the later in the day or next day. There is another thread somewhere that I cannot find - called Scared of Drops I think, that is a discussion I had started with some good tips for the bucket game. To help with being scared of the vet, we did a few visits that did not include anything "scary" - so no shots, no therm up the bum, no drops, nothing in the vet's hands. After 2 visits of treats and pets from the vet and nothing she dislikes occurring, she is more relaxed going into the exam room. I have brought her a few times for nail trims or to pick up chews, so that not every visit results in even seeing the vet. I always hold her at the vet's, as she calms down better than if a vet tech or the vet try and hold her. She seems to be OK if I crouch down and hold her head toward my body so she can't see what the vet is doing (she is still stressed, but not panicked at least). Hopefully someone else will have some good advice!
Rather than holding on to him until he stops struggling I'd take a different approach. Stroke his ears back or tummy gently just for a short while then give him a treat, or building up the length of time you fuss over him followed by tasty treats to get him more used to being handled by yourself and the vet.
