Puppy parties bond patients to practice

Dogs can't wait to get through the front door of Chanhassen Veterinary Clinic in Chanhassen, Minn. For 12 years, the clinic has been throwing free puppy parties in its reception area. And month after month the team finds that when you correct unwanted puppy behavior with a reward-based approach, you build long-lasting family bonds, and in the process, pets bond with other pets, and clients bond with the practice. "Puppies literally come running into the clinic looking for their party pals," says Dr. Deanne McCabe, one of three practice owners.

Puppies and puppy parents love the opportunity to visit the practice when no pain is involved, Dr. McCabe says. While a technician runs the event, trainers from Unleashed Behavior and Training Services volunteer to teach clients basic obedience techniques in an intimate setting of no more than eight puppies.

After a question-and-answer session, clients learn the importance of early socialization through a game of "pass the puppy." The pups become more receptive to human handling as they're picked up, passed around, and rolled over. Clients can also enroll puppies in obedience classes offered at the practice one night a week.

The reception staff attends the parties and takes each puppy's picture with the practice's digital camera. Clients take home a printed picture, a puppy bandanna, and a goody bag full of wellness handouts, dental chews, and shampoo samples.

The practice gets the product samples for free, and each picture costs the clinic about $1 to print. A yard of fabric, which makes 12 bandannas, runs about $3. Two technicians use time between appointments to send out invitations, and team members spend a half hour setting up. "That's not much investment for a service that bonds patients to their owners, each other, and the practice for a lifetime," Dr. McCabe says.