A few years back Caffeine developed a nasty ear infection. A vet tech was way too rough with her and she ended up not liking her ears handled. Not. One. Bit.
My wife, Dagmar, (dog handler and spouse extraordinaire) took some time and over the course of a few weeks of careful work she convinced Caffeine that having your ears handled isn’t just “OK.” It’s actually great! (You can even see Clever and Smart milling around waiting for their turns.)
There’s no magic formula here. Just take your time and reward generously. Dagmar started out just touching the sides of Caffeine’s head and giving her some peanut butter. Then the ear, then the edge of the ear etc. until you are able to actually clean them. It may take weeks, it may take longer. Just take it slow and always quit while you are ahead: with a happy, comfortable dog. This process is called systematic counter-conditioning and desensitization.
The same process applies with clipping nails and brushing teeth.
One Comment
Thanks for the video and the reminder that ear problems can be over come!
I have two horses that really need some work with handling their ears and I’ve been putting it off. Thanks for the reminder, I think it’s time to add ears to the list of things we’re working on.
cheers,
Mary H.
http://stalecheerios.com/blog
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