Hopefully your dog will never have a traumatic injury, but if he does it helps to know what to do and where to go. When you're choosing a veterinarian, ask if the office is open after hours for emergencies. If not, ask the doctor to recommend an emergency clinic near your home. Keep the phone number and address of the facility where you can quickly locate it. Be sure to visit the facility before your dog actually needs to go there.

Choose an emergency clinic as carefully as you would your primary care veterinarian. Meet the doctor and office staff and make sure this is a place that you would want to take your dog if you had to.

Ask about fees. After-hours emergency veterinary care is often very expensive — sometimes double or triple the cost of what daytime services might be. You should never sacrifice your dog's health for a few extra dollars, but sometimes it helps to weigh the nature of the emergency against the cost of the services. You don't want to take your dog to the doctor at midnight and pay extra fees if the problem can wait until normal operating hours. If you're ever in doubt whether or not to take your dog to the veterinarian, call the office and ask.