I have gone to Triangle Veterinary Hospital three ...

I have gone to Triangle Veterinary Hospital three times since moving to North Carolina, and I will never go back.

I have an 19 week old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who is currently 10 lbs. With the small size and gentle demeanor of a Cavalier, it is important to have a veterinarian who is well versed in low stress handling techniques to help build the puppy's confidence during a stressful time. Unfortunately, I have found the vets and technicians here to be completely lacking in these skills, and, as a consequence, my puppy is showing signs of submissive fear.

When my puppy was 16 weeks and ~8 lbs, we went in to get his last distemper/parvo booster and a nail trim. While accidents happen, Dr. Watson nicked my puppy with a needle trying to deliver this shot, and he bled. After this incident, my puppy started acting more nervous and kept trying to wiggle away from her.

After a successful second attempt at the shot, I tried to counter condition with high-value treats, but I made the mistake of not leaving the clinic; he was still behaving submissively and nervously.

The vet technicians then tried to brute force restrain him to get his nails trimmed. I was appalled that the technicians needed to restrain a small, clearly fearful puppy so forcefully, so I insisted that I just hold him to keep him calm. We were able to get his nails trimmed that way without a problem, but I spent the next several weeks using counter conditioning methods with high-value treats to get him comfortable with people touching his feet again. He had never been unhappy with nail trims before.

I again made the mistake of giving TVH another try. We went in for a nail trim and to buy flea/tick/worm prevention medication. Instead of letting me hold him to keep him calm like before, two vet technicians whisked him to the back (without his treats). When I heard my puppy screaming out, I stepped into the back room (they had left my door open), but did not see them (they must have been in another back room). I then called out for them to stop or let me hold him like before, but there was no response. Another technician came and asked me to go back into my room.

When they brought my puppy back, he was shaking, fearful, and pulling to leave.

I'll be spending a long time trying to counter condition the harm that this clinic has caused and will be looking for a new vet immediately.