I took my 5 year old chocolate girl to the vet yesterday (she loves going to the vet btw). As always all the strange, exciting smells make her a bit hyper - hanging off the end of the harness and jumping up and down on the spot. Anyway there was a lady in reception (her dog was out the back in the treatment room) who took it upon herself to fairly loudly tell Hillary to sit when I was trying to quietly get my girl to focus on me and calm down. This lady said in a self satisfied tone 'I'm using my 'man voice' and continued to bark orders at my dog. I admit to feeling a bit annoyed as rather than focus on me Hillary was getting more excited because more than one person was giving her commands. Not wanting to create a drama, I didn't say anything to this woman, but honestly I wanted to tell her to shut up and let me handle my dog. Using a 'man voice' is definitely not how I train my girl and get her to act appropriately. It is not as though this woman had her dog with her who may have been upset by a hyper Labrador or that I was not taking steps to calm Hillary. That I could have understood. But for a complete stranger to attempt to discipline my dog when I was obviously attempting to get my dog's focus was overstepping the mark in my opinion. Am I overreacting by feeling slightly annoyed? I would like to add that I have no problem with the vet staff telling Hillary to 'pull her head in'. They have known her since she was 10 weeks old (and she attended their puppy school back in the day) and they also know how to get her to respond appropriately. If anyone would like to air their views I would be very interested in your 'take' on this situation.
I would too been annoyed and you are certainly not over reacting. Any dog at a vets can behave in many ways due to illness, pain , fear etc...she had no buisness interfering at all. I would have politely told her that I can manage my own dog thanks and offer not further narrative at all. Clearly anyone thinking using a "man voice" is not upto speed with modern day thinking with behaviour management with dogs. I would have like to have see how her dog behaved!
Thanks, Edp. The vet nurse put us in a consulting room fairly promptly so the situation didn't escalate. As for this woman's dog, the door was slightly ajar so I could see through the crack when her dog came out. It was small enough for her to have it tucked under one arm. Whether or not she has experience with large dogs (Hills is a solid English bench lab who is at her ideal weight of 31.5kg) is up for debate. I agree with your comments about the 'man voice'. My husband does not use it and my vet (who is a man) most certainly doesn't and Hillary behaves like a perfect lady regardless of how much he is poking and prodding her during examinations.
