I’ve been very slowly working on cooperative care with Kipper, using Deb Jones’ book ‘Cooperative Care: Seven Steps to Stress-Free Husbandry’ as a guide. I thought I’d log our progress in case anyone was interested. My main reasons for working on this with Kipper are:
So the first step is place conditioning: that is, building huge value in just being in the training place. This is a place you decide beforehand, and needs to be stable, high enough for you to comfortably work on nails etc., and accessible for the dog to get onto. I’m using a fold-up bed covered by a blanket
(excuse the tip of our spare room!):
For building value in ‘the place’ your dog doesn’t need to do anything. You’re simply making this a great place to be, so he’s in the best emotional state possible when you’re working there. Value is built using a ‘cheese bowl’, which is really any heavy bowl (I’ve used a jug you can see in the photo) that you smear on the inside with a very thin layer of something delicious like fish paste or pate. Show your dog the bowl, invite him to the training place, and when in place let him lick the bowl clean. When it’s done invite him to leave the training place while you refill the bowl, and repeat 3/4 times per session. That’s it! By the end of our first session (3 refills) Kipper was happily leaping onto the training place for a refill! The second reward is delivered with liquid food (like baby food) in a syringe, but I don’t have one yet so will do that in our next session. The main issue for now is using up the pate before it goes out of date in 2 days!
- I want to reduce stress where possible, and he’s currently not keen on all types of handling - especially mouth inspection and toenail trimming;
- I think it’ll build our relationship and my ability to read him;
- I think we’ll enjoy it!
So the first step is place conditioning: that is, building huge value in just being in the training place. This is a place you decide beforehand, and needs to be stable, high enough for you to comfortably work on nails etc., and accessible for the dog to get onto. I’m using a fold-up bed covered by a blanket
(excuse the tip of our spare room!):For building value in ‘the place’ your dog doesn’t need to do anything. You’re simply making this a great place to be, so he’s in the best emotional state possible when you’re working there. Value is built using a ‘cheese bowl’, which is really any heavy bowl (I’ve used a jug you can see in the photo) that you smear on the inside with a very thin layer of something delicious like fish paste or pate. Show your dog the bowl, invite him to the training place, and when in place let him lick the bowl clean. When it’s done invite him to leave the training place while you refill the bowl, and repeat 3/4 times per session. That’s it! By the end of our first session (3 refills) Kipper was happily leaping onto the training place for a refill! The second reward is delivered with liquid food (like baby food) in a syringe, but I don’t have one yet so will do that in our next session. The main issue for now is using up the pate before it goes out of date in 2 days!
