You should plan to be here for about 30 minutes. It's going to start with the technician asking you many questions about diet and the dog’s history, getting an idea of whether you have questions specifically for the doctor. The tech will also get the dog’s weight on the scale, take you into the room, and then have the physical exam done with the doctor. If there are any other tests that we recommend, we would need to draw blood, potentially take an x-ray, or other things like that. I would say the average is about 30 minutes.

Well, they're not required. No law says you have to bring your dog in for an exam, but we consider them vital to maintaining the pet’s health. So the more frequently we're going to see your dog, we're going to be able to diagnose diseases early on.

Well, you need to bring your dog! Ideally, you’d also bring a stool sample. I know that sounds kind of weird, but it would be beneficial if the dog's due for a fecal check that you would bring that sample along. That way, we don't have to have you come back again to drop off a stool sample. That would probably be it.

During the wellness exam, we're going to be doing a complete physical exam on your pet. So we're going to start with getting the dog’s body weight on the scale and then take them into the exam room. I'm going to do a complete exam, checking everything from the tip of their nose to the tip of their tail. We take their temperature, listen to their heart, look at their eyes and ears, and all of that, so it’s a full physical exam.

There are so many things being sold out there that are utter nonsense. I know back in the day, people used to say that brewer’s yeast or garlic works, and none of these things work. I'm sorry, just don't even bother. Some of these things are dangerous. People have a thing about diatomaceous earth. If you put that in your carpet, every time you vacuum, you're breathing that in yourself, and I don't think that's healthy at all, so I really don't recommend those things. Please work with your veterinarian to find the safest and most effective product.