I took Gator to the vet today, because he was due for his rabies as well as other vaccinations. Last time he was there he got very stresed out, and growled and thrashed around. (He is not aggressive, and doesn't act like this anywhere else.

In anticipation of this, I premedicated him with Benadryl. They said that I could give him 1 mg per lb, 1 hr before the appointmnt. But he's 73 lbs and that seemed like too much (as a nurse, the most I've administered to human adults is 50 mg).

Well, the car ride was fine, he was a perfect gentleman in the car as he usually is. We go to Banfield which is in Petsmart, so he happily went into the store. We had a 12:00 appointment, and were roomed, only to be told that one vet was on duty, that the other just left for lunch. For some reason, the vet that was on duty can't administer Rabies and therefore we would have up to a one hr wait. So Gator and I wandered around the store for awhile, and then went out for a walk. He visited with other dogs, and was very tranquil during our wait time.

Finally, the vet that could give the Rabies vaccination was in, and we were roomed. Gator was fine until the vet came, and he got very nervous and clung to me. I did have him muzzled, because he freaked out at his last visit. I had to have him in a headlock, while they injected him.

Once the shots were done, he was back to his usual happy self. Not that I wanted to reward bad behavior, but he did have a snack at Wendy's on the way home, because I promised him.

The benadry (37.5 mg) had little to no affect on him. Should I have given him more? Is there something else that I should have given him to calm him (like remedy rescue?).

By the way, when he got home, he wanted to go outside, and he chased squirrels and wanted to have tennis balls thrown to him.

I think I need to find a vet that attempts to develop a rapport with him.