Walter and Evi Getting there play on! So mice to see this friendship develop
Here is another instalment of Bean demonstrating cooperative handling, where he is in total control over me, placing eye drops in his eye. Bean does not have any eye conditions, but in this video, you can see how easily I can prep him, and you will see the drop go in.
We are focusing on stationing on the side with duration. We are then progressing to stillness whilst the drops appear, eventually making contact with his face. Notice how he tells me when he needs a moment and then resumes being calm and still.
Preparing dogs for these kind of procedures is far better than trying to deal with it when they are agitated or in pain.
So with that, get your mats and your little bucket of treats and start conditioning to cooperative handling.
I often talk about cooperative handling, teaching pups they can have control over how they are handled and examined. Here is a short video of Bean working on some stationing, chin rests with duration and having his ears and eyes briefly checked. Bean is willingly choosing to participate which makes this procedure less stressful.
We highly recommend all puppy owners work on this to build confidence around vet checks and grooming.
Recall is one of the hardest skills to master, but patience, practice and setting up the stage can make a world of difference. Working out what motivates your dog, what reinforcer it prefers is also very important.
Bean prefers toys over treats so for his 'wait' and 'come' exercise, he gets a ball as his reinforcer.
Note that at the end I did say the word sit but still tossed the ball even when he remained standing. I wasn't after a perfect arrival, I was stoked he came to me so try not to ask too much, keep it simple and reinforce each milestone.
And yes, he has a long line attached to be safe as his recall will need to be 95% reliable before I can trust he no longer needs it. Set your dogs up to succeed!
