Is it safe to give Benadryl to dogs?

It is safe, but it probably won't work for your dog's vet visit. I would go ahead and let the vet give you the sedative (maybe Acepromazine) for the visit. You'd give the dose one hour before coming in. Ace is very safe and effective.

We have a few dogs that need an injection when they get to the vet, just so we can look at them. They are given domitor/torb injection in the hip. They fall asleep and then we can get a real good look at them. We recommend blood work prior to sedation.

It may help if you'd just take your dog over there pretty often just to say hi. Ask if the staff would give your dog treats and pet him and then take him home without anything else being done. Then they could maybe put him on the scale and give him treats. We do this for clients to see if their dog can get used to us. That way we wouldn't need to sedate at all.

When you do go to the vet, ask for the quietest time of day for your appointment. Our quiet times are first appointments of the day. Going when it isn't crowded really helps a lot.

Some of our clients know that when they come in, we will hand them a muzzle to put on their dog. We call it a party hat. It's just something to keep us from getting bitten, and quite often a dog will actually calm down a bit when muzzled. Of course there are those dogs who just go crazy when we try that, so we immediately take it off and go to plan B.

I hope that you have a vet and staff that will work with you to get your dog used to the hospital. In the end, though do go ahead and use the sedation if need be. You really have to get your dog's shots and exams done for his own good. (Bring his stool sample so they don't have to poke him "back there.")

vet tech

yes its completely fine. We give dogs at my work benadryl all the time! They also have calming tablets at the pet store you can give them. But on the back of benadryl it tells you how much you should give them but usually for 35 pound dogs we give them half a pill.

Call the vet and ask how much dosage you should give him. It depends on their weight so don't give him anything unless you consult your vet.