When you decide to add a puppy or an older dog to your life, you’re also adding visits to the veterinarian for regular checkups and anything else your dog may need. Much like choosing your own family doctor, you want to make sure your vet is someone you can trust, who has your dog’s best interests at heart, and someone you don’t mind seeing on a regular basis. Here’s how to choose the right veterinarian:

1. Start your search early.
2. Ask family and friends for recommendations.
3. Ask local shelters or breed clubs for recommendations.
4. Look them up online.
5. Look over the services offered and costs.
6. Check office hours and location.
7. Ask about emergency care.
8. Visit the facility in person.
9. Consider your preferred communication style.

1. Start Your Search Early

You don’t want to wait until an emergency or it’s time for a checkup to find the right veterinarian for you. It’s best to start your search early so you have time to gather some names and offices, do your research, and make a visit to the offices and facilities.

You want to make sure you are ready to go to the vet when you need one and that you know where you’re going, who you’ll be seeing, and what to expect when you get there. This is one of the biggest tips for smoother veterinarian visits.

2. Ask Family and Friends For Recommendations

If you’re established in a town and have family or friends nearby, ask them where they take their animals. Sometimes, the best way to find a good vet that works for you, or to avoid a potentially bad match, is to ask people you trust for their experiences. At the very least, you’ll end up with a list of names and offices you can start checking out.

3. Ask Local Shelters or Breed Clubs For Recommendations

If you’re new in town or just want a different perspective, you can also ask for recommendations from your local shelters or breed clubs. These organizations care about dogs, and the health of their dogs is a top priority, so you should be able to get a few good vet recommendations from these sources.

4. Look Them Up Online

You can also search online to help build your list of potential vets. Once you have your list, make sure you look them up online. This will let you see their current office information and give you an indication of whether or not it is up to date, and will also give you a chance to see what other people are saying about them.

Granted, a negative experience or perceived negative experience tends to be shared more than a positive one, and there are a ton of trolls out there, but online reviews can be helpful in evaluating whether a potential veterinarian is right for you. You can also figure out their name and check with the licensing boards to make sure they are legitimate and currently licensed to practice, at a minimum.

5. Look Over the Services Offered and Costs

An important part of choosing the right veterinarian for you is making sure their office offers the services you need and may need in the future. Consider the following questions:

• Do they offer comprehensive care?
• If so, what are they including in that?
• Do they have preventative wellness plans, including dental care?
• If your dog needs blood work, X-rays, or other diagnostic testing, do they have the equipment to do that on-site?
• Or will you need to go to a separate facility for diagnostic testing and have the results sent to the vet’s office?
• Can they handle standard surgeries in-office, or would that require a referral to another facility?
• Do they have any specialists associated with and working out of that office?
• Do they have a trusted network for referrals to specialists or other facilities for more complex issues?
• What are the costs associated with the various services your dog will need?
• What payment options do they accept?
• Do they accept pet insurance plans, and if so, which ones?
• Do they offer payment plans, care packages, or partner with third-party financing?
• What methods do they offer for scheduling appointments?
• What are the average wait times for non-emergency appointments?

Going through this checklist of questions and considerations can help you evaluate how well specific veterinary offices fit with your needs. Veterinary care, both regular routine visits and anything unexpected that comes up, is a cost that comes with owning a dog. When choosing the right veterinarian for you, you do want to be aware of care costs, so you can plan and budget for them accordingly.

6. Check Office Hours and Location

Another important consideration for choosing the right veterinarian is whether the office hours and location will be good options for you. The best veterinarian in the world does you no good if you can never get over to see them.

Check the office and appointment hours to see how well they work with your schedule. See what type of weekend availability, if any, is available. Also, think about the location of the office and how convenient it is for you to get there.

• How close is the vet office to you?
• What are the transit options for getting there?
• What is the parking situation like?

You should be able to work around scheduled regular visits, but you also want to make sure that your vet’s office will still be easy enough for you to get to when something unexpected happens with your dog.

7. Ask About Emergency Care

In addition to regular visits and office hours, it’s also important to ask a potential vet office about how they handle emergencies, especially anything that occurs after hours.

• How does the office handle after-hours emergencies?
• Can you contact them in an emergency?
• If so, what is the process for doing that, and how does it work?
• If not, do they partner with a local animal hospital for emergencies?

None of these things are necessarily dealbreakers; it just depends on what you need and what you’re looking for. What is essential is that you have an emergency plan in place and that you know what to do, who to contact, and where to go if something happens with your dog before an emergency occurs.

8. Visit the Facility In Person

Everything could look amazing online, but you want to make sure you visit the facilities you’re considering in person, and you want to bring your dog along. Even if you think you’ve found the right vet for you, visit a couple more facilities just to be sure. Many facilities cannot handle pop-in visits as they’re busy, so you’ll want to call ahead. Plus, you can save yourself some time by calling prospective vet clinics first.

For example, you should not need an actual check-up or procedure for your dog in order to check out the practice. So, if they insist over the phone that you can’t come in unless they are seeing your dog for something other than the visit, then you know it’s time to move on to the next name on your list. They may ask you to schedule a time to come in, as they may not be able to accommodate random pop-ins, and that’s okay, but you shouldn’t have to schedule something for your dog in order to stop by and visit the lobby.

At the facility, you’ll want to:

• Check to make sure things are clean.
• Verify that their equipment is up to date.
• Confirm that their vets are certified and licenses are current.
• Meet the staff you’ll be interacting with regularly.
• Watch how they interact with your dog.
• Get an overall feel for the place.

Meeting as many people in the office as you can will help you get a sense of how they interact with you and with your dog. As long as your dog is properly trained and socialized (and is usually open and friendly to meeting new people), they should get along fine with everybody. If you feel comfortable, secure, and relaxed in the space, it’s likely a good thing. If the facilities give you weird vibes or an odd gut feeling, it’s okay to cross that office off your list.

9. Consider Your Preferred Communication Style

As you are considering the right vet for you, think about other factors as well, like your preferred communication style and what kind of interaction you prefer with your vet and vet techs.

• Would you prefer someone who is more personal and asks about your life or someone who sticks to business?
• Do you want someone who thoroughly explains everything in detail up front or someone who gives you the basics you need to know and then elaborates if you ask for more detail?
• Do you want someone who will help you get a second opinion for your dog if you need it?
• Do you prefer to mainly communicate about appointments via email or over the phone?
• Do you prefer communicating directly with office staff or being able to manage a lot of things online?

If you’re stuck between a final few good choices, things like this can help you narrow down to the option that suits you and your needs the best.

The Right Veterinarian Helps You Take Better Care of Your Dog

There are a lot of things to consider when evaluating the right vet for you and your dog. Considering these things can help you find veterinarians in your area and choose the right veterinarian for you. A good veterinarian is an essential part of creating a good support system for your dog.

You want to make sure you get it right because you will be relying on them to give your dog good care, and you and your dog will be seeing this person on a regular basis. There are many questions to ask for your first vet visit, and questions you’ll need to ask at every visit; you want to know you can trust your vet to answer honestly and with your dog’s best interest in mind.