Chief Cheery Officer (CCO) Kiyo’s approved training tip…
Today, in our dog-friendly training tip for enlightened dog lovers – Kiyo shares how he overcame his fear of having eye drops dribbled into his eyes. The same “Bad = Good” game can be tweaked to help your dog cope with other scary situations. If your dog Fido, loves going to the vet, being bathed, groomed, having his ears cleaned, nails trimmed, teeth brushed and even eye drops dribbled into his eyes, you’re a very lucky owner. Hug Fido (if he loves being hugged too) and reward him for doing a great job!
Free Free Home Care is Possible
Not all dogs naturally enjoy being handled in certain ways, e.g. nail trims and ear cleaning, and can become scared and stressed by it. However, we can make things easier by helping them grow accustomed to being groomed or handled. The first step of the learning process is always for your dog to form a positive and rewarding association with what she’s not instinctively comfortable with.
When our dog, Kiyo (in the photo), needed a cataract operation, it was a struggle to apply eye drops, as it was clearly a no-go zone for him. Instead of escalating the conflict, and possibly triggering a growl, snap or bite, we turned to an evergreen training tip and made something “bad” into something “good” for Kiyo. Soon, instead of flinching and turning away from the eye drop bottle, Kiyo now holds still for his daily eye drop application.
Here’s a step-by-step guide that you can re-engineer for many scary situations for your dog. But if you’re not sure, do seek help from a reputable professional dog behaviourist or trainer. Your dog will thank you for it!
Read our article published by The Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT): “Putting the ‘Good’ into Something ‘Bad’.
Other Fear Free Training in Action!
In case you’re wondering how a game created for applying eye drops could be tweaked to say, help a dog who lunges, barks and spins when he sees another dog – enjoy these pictures :). Because fear free, rewards-based, positive and humane training works!
Muffin with Chief Cheery Officer (CCO) Kiyo.
After Muffin was unfortunately attacked by 2 dogs some time ago, he’d spin, bark, growl and sometimes redirect his reactivity towards his humans. The “Bad=Good” game helped Muffin re-associate positive consequences with another dog and he was able to meet and chill out with Kiyo.
Rose with Kiyo.
Just like with Muffin, Rose would lunge, bark and spin when she saw dogs, even at a distance. The “Bad=Good” game again helped Rose be able to hang out with Kiyo.
Discover force-free, fear free dog training options today – your dog will thank you for making that choice!