COOPERATIVE CARE
Does your dog struggle being handled?
Brushing our dogs, cutting their nails, applying ear drops or eye drops, brushing their teeth, going to the vet, having wounds checked or injections given. Does is have to be a fight with our dogs every time? Or can we let them opt in and opt out? ‘Cooperative Care’ or ‘Voluntary Vet Behaviour’ is such a great tool to teach our dogs to take the stress out of handling.
“Cooperative care involves training an animal to not only tolerate handling and husbandry procedures, but to be an active, willing participant in these experiences. [...] One of the most important aspects of teaching cooperative care is that the animal is allowed to “say no.” They can indicate using a non-aggressive, safe behavior that they want the procedure to stop. Teaching a duration target behavior is a vital foundation in cooperative care – not only does it help to keep the animal still, but we teach the animal through the process that if at any time they break the target position (lift their head, etc.), then the handling procedure will stop.” The IAABC Journal
Here is Hank who when adopted was very adverse to handling, at the vet. He voluntarily puts on his muzzle, enjoys wearing it and cooperated with his lovely vet Thea for his vaccinations.
Astro below is terrified of being handled. Doesn't let anyone cut his nails, can't really get vaccinations and won't let the vet look at his sore paw. But he is lucky as his mum is super committed to get him confident and comfortable with being handled.
First she taught him a sustained chin rest and then we met again, so I could show how we introduce the first handling; here of the legs. Now mum and dad are working at home together; in this session they are introducing the syringe for vaccinations. WHAT A SUPERSTAR ASTRO IS!!!
The way it works: Astro gives permission to the handling by resting his chin. He knows that he can take his chin off anytime and any handling will stop immediately. How empowering!
Update: Astro has been to the vet for some fake injections. Next Thursday he has to get a real injection. The vet was very impressed with the technique. They have seen similar but not as effective. Astro was like a completely different dog. His mum says the training "has actually been life changing. Even this early on, I'm confident taking him to the vet now and the vets are so much more relaxed around him too. He loves his training. He didn't want to stop even after his appointment had finished and they were closing haha. Thanks so much!"
A huge shout-out to the guys from Marshall and Pringle Kaiapoi who helped Astro so wonderfully to prepare for this real injection without muzzling him or holding him down on the table. Astro did fabulous! He moved at the end of the injection, taking his permission away. Luckily the vet was done and reacted perfectly.
The first "injection" was a fake one, one of many to help Astro prepare. The second one in the video was REAL. It is hard to prepare him perfectly for the real one as we can't inject a needle every time. But I think his dad's face tells it all. Those guys couldn't be more proud!
For FREE Shipping on orders over $100 and much more variety, find our new specialist store here: Kiwi Canine!
This ultra-durable interactive toy features 5 different openings to hide treats. Once treats are buried in the openings dogs will have to chew, squeeze and work to release them. This toy is designed to release treats only when the dog has applied enough pressure for them to pop out! The texture of the GuRu ball is gentle on dog’s gums as they furiously work to get a strong enough grip to release treats. GuRu scores a 5 out of 5 on the Durability Scale. Fill each opening with something different or load it up with your dog’s favorite treat. Works great with kibble, bully sticks, carrots, apples, peanut butter, or whatever else your dog goes crazy for!
As with all Planet Dog toys GuRu is made with Planet Dog’s signature Orbee-Tuff® material, meaning it is Made in the USA, durable, completely non-toxic, buoyant and is as safe for humans (even babies) as it is for dogs.
Planet Dog 100% Guarantee Terms & Conditions - Sit Happens will replace any Planet Dog Product purchased through Sit Happens. If the product is unrated or rated lower than 5 out of 5 on the chew-o-meter scale, we will replace it with a 5 out of 5 product. If the price of the replacement product is higher than the original purchase, the customer is to pay the difference. If a 5 out of 5 product has been destroyed twice or the customer does not wish to replace the destroyed item, we will arrange for a refund. The destroyed product must be returned to Sit Happens to forward to Planet Dog. This guarantee is valid for 90 days from date of purchase. Customers will be responsible to bare the shipping cost for the exchange items.
Size: 100mm
Chew-o-meter: 5 out of 5