“COVID Puppies” Bringing BAD Behavior to Vet Clinics – Dr. McPeck’s Solution

Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Well, yeah, you can.

Hi. My name’s Dr. Sean McPeck. I’m the owner and CEO of Tier 1 Veterinary Medical Center. One thing that we see a lot right now, and we’ve termed “COVID puppies.” These were the puppies that were bought during the lockdowns during the time where everybody was staying kind of isolated in their home, but, they wanted some companionship. They wanted something to to keep them company.

They weren’t able to see their friends and family. What we’ve seen now is an older dog that did not get initial socialization. Did not get initial training and exposure to other animals, to other people. And so these animals have high anxiety, aggression, very difficult behaviors when it comes to dealing with the veterinarian to the point to where the the visit to the veterinarian becomes so stressful for them, because just to be able to get vaccines, we’ve got to restrain, possibly muzzle ,that is just going to lead to future visits throughout their life getting worse and worse and worse and worse.

What I would highly recommend to anyone that bought a puppy or received a puppy during COVID is to now take that opportunity to really, really advance your relationship and your bond with the dog by doing some obedience training. Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Well, yeah, you can. Of course, it can be a little bit more difficult because the best times are when they’re puppies and they’re just learning, especially if they’re treat motivated or toy motivated.

It makes the training very, very easy. But yes, even an older dog can learn new ways to behave. It just takes a little bit of time and effort. Find a trainer or a training facility that works with groups or works with individuals and let them help you and let them guide you and they will help you desensitize the dog to other dogs.

They will help you desensitize the dog to other people in other environments. And then once you have some of these tools in place, now you can run with it and you can do it at home. Get your dog some training, get your dog some desensitization and some socialization and you will have a better, happier pet and one that other people will enjoy being around them.