Well for me, I got lucky first time we tried a vet. Shane and I first lived in Michigan, and my friends recommend a vet that was very very reasonable price and they were so wonderful w/Shane, they absolutely loved him. When we moved back to NY, it got tricky.
All my neighbors recommend this one vet, that was very pricey, but he was awful to Shane. He would put him in a tight head lock and said "I have to show him who is boss now." Mind you he was about 6 months old scared puppy, that showed no aggression at all.
The next vet I went, was reasonable price but was also nasty with Shane, he would pull HARD on Shane's leash to get Shane to move. Not the type of pull to make a correction, but where it was nearly chocking the poor dog.
Finally, the third vet fit perfectly. He was reasonable price and absolutely wonderful. The first thing he did when he walked into a room to meet Shane for the first time was he sat right on the floor with Shane. He was kind and sweet, and handle him with great care. Shane also put his stamp of approval on it as well, by being on his best behavior. What I also love about our vet is that they stay open late, so I can avoid the other dog's (since Shane is very dog aggressive), I can go in around 8 o'clock at night and not worry about other animals.
It is really a trial and error thing. Ask around, see who is comfortable with you, and look how they treat your dog.