I don’t have much experience with Bender not being a good boy when he gets his shot. He is rather docile and I’ve trained him well. So when he does receive his shot of insulin he doesn’t fuss about it. But I know not all dogs are like that. Some commenters have said that their dogs are any where from fussy to aggressive. They would like to know what can be done to get their dogs to be good about getting their insulin shot?

The only thing Bender isn’t thrilled about is getting his nails clipped at home. At the Vet he is a perfect angel. But at home he will do everything he can to get away. After fighting with him to cut his nails I realized I’m letting him win and I’m not making the event fun for him (I’m not mean about clipping his nails, he just doesn’t enjoy it).

Letting Him Win: I was letting Bender win by letting him get away/avoid the situation. If he was kicking and trying to mouth his paw/my hand I would let him to a certain extent or not correct him enough.

Which after I stopped letting him win, I was able to cut a few more nails but really could only do about 2-3 nails per 5 days.

I ending having to have help, I would restraint Bender while some one would cut his nails. Restraining Bender doesn’t mean I’m hurting him in any way. There are certain ways you can hold a dog which makes it difficult for them to move. Google “how to restrain a dog” or ask your Vet about safe ways to restrain your dog.

By restraining Bender I was able to do about 2 paws before he really had enough and not wanting to traumatize him I would let him go.

Neither technique was really affective until I started making the situation as enjoyable as possible. If I was able to cut his nail, I would reward him with praise. Then when we were done he would get a treat.

This isn’t a quick solution either. I will have to continually work with Bender to be able to clip his nails without him fussing. It will be the same way when giving your dog an insulin shot.

Look at the situation you are putting your dog in when giving them a shot. You are asking them to lay down, You are hovering over them, they feel the shot. It isn’t a fun situation. Then if they figure out if they resist they might not get the shot. They will try it every time.

I would like some feed back on this, if your dog was difficult to give an insulin shot to, what did you do to change that? Also how you do give your dog an insulin shot?