Hello husky lovers!

I don't have my dog yet, I'm just preparing for her arrival. I have to choose a veterinarian. So far my approach is 'look for the same qualities in a vet/veterinary practice that I'd look for in my own doctor' and 'ask fellow dog-people for their recommendations'. I'm blessed with MANY vet options in my area, so I'm curious...

What do you look for in a good veterinarian/vet clinic? Anything you've learned from experience?

(P.S. I do have my options narrowed down based on the personal recommendations of my good friends who own dogs in my town, but I still think advice from you all would be informative, not only for me but also for other folks who are new or moving to a new town.)

Good Morning and welcome to the forum! I think the most important thing is to find one that a) you feel comfortable with, and b) that shares your philosophy (or at least isn't judgmental). What I mean is, I feed my dog raw and occasionally give him probiotics when needed (sensitive tummy), and our first vet rolled his eyes at the probitics and told me feeding my dog raw was "categorically the worst possible thing I could do for his health." So, I saw him a couple more times for vaccines, but then switched to another vet. What finally made me switch is that he was always at least 30-60 min late for our appointments. He would never call and I would just sit in the room and wait. It was just him and a tech/admin (she did both) and it was SO annoying to wait with a puppy. Can you imagine a husky puppy waiting in the vets office for 30 min?

My current vet is a large clinic with about 5 or 6 vets and does both holistic and tradition vet med. So, I can see a holistic vet if I want to. I haven't taken him in for much, other than the normal stuff, but when I told them I feed raw and give supplements, they supported it and had some suggestions help with the raw. It was great. Although, I will say, they are more expensive than other vets. The quote they gave me for his neuter was almost $1200, so I took him to the humane society to get the neuter done for under $200.

Another important thing for me is that they don't laugh me out of the room when I have a silly worry. They are patient and thorough and always return my phone calls, even for something simple. I'm a total anxiety queen, and at first every little thing that was slightly out of place with my pup made me nervous. They understand that, and were very patient with me. There is a tech there that loves Dizzy and he loves her (because she gives him way too many treats) and he woos in excitement every time he sees her. When he realizes that we are going to the vet, he drags me down the block until we get there, and they never take more than 5 min to get me in the door, they email me all records, and call to follow up after everything.

And the place IS ACTUALLY CLEAN!!!

My key quality in finding a vet was how they acted around my pets. When we adopted our kitty, he was our first animal, so we didn't have a vet. The shelter we got him from partners with a vet in town and you get a free initial exam. We just went there because it was easy, but I didn't really like it. The office staff was all very friendly, but the doctors didn't even seem to like animals...I didn't bother switching because he's an indoor cat and doesn't need the vet that often anyways.

So when we got our puppy, I looked for a new vet. I did a lot of research, Yelp actually helped a lot. The vet I ended up picking was in a tiny little building, no chairs in the exam rooms, barely any room to move around, etc...but the doctors are FANTASTIC with Bode. And they ended up moving last year to a bigger space that feels like a real vets office.

I logged on this morning with the intention of looking this exact thing up in the Search! Thanks for asking the question

Our vet recently left our clinic, so we're considering switching to a new clinic that is closer. I was never really crazy about our old clinic. It was far from home, and i only went because i liked my specific vet. The receptionists and vet techs all seemed kind of grouchy and sometimes annoyed with Gus. He gets kind of excited in new places, and c'mon! Think about how many smells there must be in a vet's office!

I guess the only way to really know if they're good is to actually go to them for an exam or something right?

Jen, i like that your vet has a holistic vet too. My old vet also kind of turned his nose up at the idea of giving Gus probiotics. There solution for everything always seemed to be meds from them! And they charged me like $60 for Pepcid AC once. I could've purchased that myself at the pharmacy for like $20!!

Thanks for the replies!
What I'm seeing so far is:
- Watch how they interact with my animal, if they get along well with my dog that is important (I don't have her yet, so I'll have to watch this once she's here and we go in for our first visit.)
- Find one who is open to different viewpoints and techniques, since what matters is what works for the dog! Patience. Patience with my husky. Patience with me and my endless questions.
- Big or small clinic matters less than good people and a CLEAN environment.

I'm actually on my way out to visit a vet clinic now so I can see the place before deciding who to take my dog to.

Any other suggestions or stories?

I recently moved back to my hometown after 16 years and am thrilled that my vet is still practicing here. (He was my vet for 10 years before I moved). What I like about him: He keeps up with the vet med literature. He talks to me like a human rather than as if I were an idiot. He gives the facts and lets me decide what to do without being all judgey. He doesn't lecture me when I make a mistake. lol He is AWESOME with my dogs and they love him. He is VERY good at x-ray hips for both OFA and Penn Hip. His philosophy is much like mine (We're 'old school' about a lot of things). His staff is excellent with low employee turnover. The waiting room, examination rooms, and kennel area in the back are very clean. His prices haven't changed much in the last 16 years. Most importantly, I trust him completely.

The vet I was using before I moved back was actually scared of Luci ever since the time she nipped a tech while she was there to get spayed. The last time I was there I wound up saying 'stop being so scared. She's playing you.'

I agree with what people have already said. I really like how friendly and careful my vet is with my dogs. When he is looking in there ears and mouth and eyes he is also petting them and giving them treats. My adult dog actually likes going to the vet as long as we don't put her up on the table.

I also like that my vet is not afraid to be honest. If your dog is fat or sick he wont sugar coat it he will just tell it like it is. Which is nice because when he says something is not an issue and I don't have to worry about it I trust him.

Also my vet is really giving he works a lot with the shelter and gives them inexpensive medical care. He is willing to do installments if its for a huge surgery and you have a good record of paying your bill. Also with my puppy he said sometimes their baby teeth wont fall out correctly or their adult teeth wont come in right. And that I should look at his teeth every day and if they looked weird or wrong bring him in and he would check it for free. If there was an issue I would have to pay for whatever he would have to do but I really like that he would rather have his clients come in and make sure there okay then have them not and have it be to late to easily correct.

If you have a lot of friends with pets I might see if you could tag along to their next appointment you could see how they interact with your friends dogs and how they deliver info.