Said It Here

What to do if a vet yells at or hits your dog?

When a veterinarian reacts to an anxious dog by screaming in their face and physically striking them, owners are often left in shock and unsure whether to say anything in the moment or take further action. Discovering that a professional has abused an animal during an exam leads to abruptly leaving the practice while grappling with how to properly report the incident.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    leaving the exam room or walking out immediately
  2. 2
    switching to a different veterinary clinic
  3. 3
    filing a formal complaint or lodging a report against the veterinarian
  4. 4
    leaving negative reviews on public platforms like Google
  5. 5
    blasting the business on social media

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/puppy1012 people · March 2026 – October 2026

“At the vet my puppy was barking loudly. The whole time she was anxious (as most dogs are at the vet, I think) but not at all aggressive and wagging her tail the whole time - just noticeably a bit on edge and barking very loudly.”source ↗

“He then literally screamed “no barking” in her face several times and smacked (not super hard but hard enough my dog even had a wtf look on her face) her on the side of the snout.”source ↗

“We obviously will NOT be going back but I was so in shock I didn’t say anything. Has this ever happened to any of you? Would you suggest any further action?”source ↗

Old-Evidence5004 · r/puppy101 · 1,069 upvotes

“At this point he basically says "well, I hear you, but you're wrong." And then he pretty much tunes out, tells me to pay at the desk, and leaves.”source ↗

aromaticfoxsquirrel · r/puppy101 · 5 upvotes

Where this came up

r/puppy101animal welfaredog behaviorpetsveterinary care

People with this problem also raised