20 replies to this topic

[Sue R]

In two words, gentling exercises!

With Celt's very recent vet visits and surgery, something I really want to emphasize, and I don't think I can overstate it, is that it is essential that a pup (or young dog, or whatever dog you have) experiences "gentling exercises".

A friend whose GSD has TPLO last summer has long been the instructor for the puppy classes at our local kennel club (I know, "kennel club" is a bad word around here but this group provides a wonderful service to the community by providing classes for puppies and family dogs, among other things). She was our instructor for Celt, Bute, and Dan as pups, and for Celt, Megan, Lisa's Nellie, and Bute as young dogs. I was also an assistant instructor there for several years.

With each weekly class, she spent part of the time on "gentling exercises" or training activities that prepare a pup (or dog) for the eventuality of medication administration, veterinary exams, and so on. Over the six week course, the pup would become acclimated to having ears examined; mouth and teeth examined; all parts of the body handled and manipulated (don't forget the feet, and trimming toenails!); liquid and solid medication (water in a syringe, and Tic-Tacs) given by mouth (without Pill Pockets or similar cover-ups). One entire class would be devoted to gentling exercises, along with the weekly lessons.

She also encouraged visits to the vet's office when you don't have an appointment - just take an opportunity to go there with your dog or pup, check his/her weight, give him treats, let the staff give him treats, and then go on your way. A visit without a shot or an exam, just to let your pup/dog know that the vet office is a good place to visit. My dogs practically pull me into the vet's reception area and aren't usually eager to leave, unlike many poor dogs that have to be dragged in and then drag their owners out.

When she emailed me last night, she asked if I was particularly glad at this trying time for the gentling exercises that Celt had received as a pup (and which have continued, in one form or another, over the years) and I said a resounding, "Yes!" They have stood us in very good stead over the years with all the dogs, whether there was a need to examine a cut paw and wrap it; a visit to the vet with an exam; giving of medication; or anything involving handling any part of the body.

The moral of the story is it is (like crate training) it is not *when you need it* that you train your dog to be handled, examined, poked and prodded, medicated, or confined - it is *before you need it* that you acclimate the dog to procedures and activities that he/she might have to experience at some time in his/her life - and which time will most likely be one that is stressful to begin with, and you don't want to add a layer of stress or resistance to an already stressful situation.

Off my soapbox now...and, thanks, Cindy!

[waffles]

She also encouraged visits to the vet's office when you don't have an appointment - just take an opportunity to go there with your dog or pup, check his/her weight, give him treats, let the staff give him treats, and then go on your way. A visit without a shot or an exam, just to let your pup/dog know that the vet office is a good place to visit. My dogs practically pull me into the vet's reception area and aren't usually eager to leave, unlike many poor dogs that have to be dragged in and then drag their owners out.

This is what we do. We got Levi when he was 2 and most likely never saw a vet. He was fine the first time but his 2nd visit he actually pee'd himself all over the table. Luckily my vet is very good with dogs and it wasn't a total disaster of a visit, although I had to bath him when we got home! But, since then we now buy heartworm pills every 2 months so we have to go to the vets. I come stocked with yummy treats, he gets treats from us, the staff, we sit and wait for a couple of minutes while throwing treats in the small evaluation rooms, then leave. We have done this several times and now he walks right in with very little nervousness.

It is such a wonderful idea to integrate those exercises into a class. So many people don't realize how awful it is for the dog, the vet staff and the owner to have to drag a dog in, have them be scared the whole time, possibly need to be muzzled because of their fear (or the vets fear), etc.

[KrisK]

Thanks for the great post Sue! That was one (of many) mistakes I made with my Jazz. He hated having his feet handled but was more or less okay with ears/mouth.
I would not have thought about the syringe...but having to administer medications to Zachary, that would have been helpful.
I have started handling Mr. Puppy #3 ...and will continue to do so. Right now, he's such a charmer, that he doesn't mind the handling.
I will have to make an effort to get him to the vet's office. It's not that close by.

[Tiga's_mom]

We've done that with Tiga since he was a pup. Whenever we go for food or anything really, we try to take him with us. He loves the scale and will practically pull me to it when we go in. The staff all love him. He's been there so many times and will let us, the vets and the techs do pretty much anything. He's not a fan of having his paws touched because of his allergies but he'll allow it. He's used to taking pills and has no problem with that. It definitely made things easier after his surgery. He loved ROM exercises and didn't fuss at checkups. He's a pretty chill dog.

We're trying to do the same with Annie but she's a bit more challenging. When she's calm I'll touch her everywhere. Check her ears, pull the gunk from her eyes, touch her paws etc. She hasn't been out to the vet for no reason yet but we're working on it. I might take her today actually as I have to go get insurance paperwork. Great topic Sue!

[Sue R]

And, of course, just taking your dog any place you can is helpful - pet shops, places like Lowe's (check to see if yours allows dogs), garden shops, wherever.

Don't forget to provide as wide a range of experiences as possible - our classes always had a "treasure hunt" sheet handed out the first week, and the pup that got the most experiences checked off won a special prize.

And surfaces - condition your pup to every sort of surface you can think of.

[Cody & Duchess]

I am by nature a checker. I check the ears, the fur, the skin, the paws. I just do this so often, that all of my dogs have become very used to " let me see your belly". I also have white tile floors - so they are very used to having their paws cleaned. Someone on this board mentioned that you should let the dog know which paw you are lifting, so I tap and say this one, so not to take them by surprise. All of my dogs are from rescue, and two were probably two when we got them. None had much socialization. It was still pretty easy to get them used to being manhandled - I just did it a lot and babied them while I did it. That being said...... I have been wondering.

My big BC boy Cody - if we are out and he gets a burr in his pad - he stops, holds his paw up and does not move ( waiting for me to come over and fix the problem). Sometimes the burr has not held onto his paw - so when I check the pad and I tell him he is okay, he trots off happily. Have a ruined this majestic dog? What would his fellow working dogs think of his wimpy ways? I can just imagine a dog standing on the steep hills of Scotland overlooking his sheep saying " Please put your paw down and get back to work".

[Liz P]

Every client that comes in with a pup gets a quick lesson on what I call "accepting life." I tell them that it is important for pup to tolerate being handled and to understand that sometimes they just have to relax and accept being restrained in order to have nails trimmed, vaccines, exams, etc and that it won't kill them. I also stress puppy kindergarten classes. It is so much less stressful if we don't need 4 techs laying on top of a dog just to do a nail trim or vaccine.

[rushdoggie]

Every client that comes in with a pup gets a quick lesson on what I call "accepting life." I tell them that it is important for pup to tolerate being handled and to understand that sometimes they just have to relax and accept being restrained in order to have nails trimmed, vaccines, exams, etc and that it won't kill them. I also stress puppy kindergarten classes. It is so much less stressful if we don't need 4 techs laying on top of a dog just to do a nail trim or vaccine.

Yup, its my POV too. I can touch every part of you whenever I need to. I go about it gently, ease into it (particularly with an older dog as many of mine have been adults when I got them), use treats, a soft touch, but I am insistent. I also practice gentle restraint and for any fractious dog I teach them how to calmly accept a muzzle.

Then, if they get hurt/sick and need attention, they might be a little scared but they will have some comfort level with being restrained/muzzled/whatever.

Its the same reason every dog should learn to accept being crated/caged. They may need to be when injured or in an emergency, and you don't want them panicking about it then.

I know Sue's friend Cindy and shes awesome and a great teacher, I totally enjoyed her classes.

[waffles]

My big BC boy Cody - if we are out and he gets a burr in his pad - he stops, holds his paw up and does not move ( waiting for me to come over and fix the problem). Sometimes the burr has not held onto his paw - so when I check the pad and I tell him he is okay, he trots off happily. Have a ruined this majestic dog? What would his fellow working dogs think of his wimpy ways? I can just imagine a dog standing on the steep hills of Scotland overlooking his sheep saying " Please put your paw down and get back to work".

Oh my gosh! I laughed so hard because my boy does the same thing. If he gets a burr anywhere but his tail or most recently slugs on his belly, he stops, sits and won't move. I walk over and he instantly rolls over so I can swat away the slug or pull the burr. It is so pathetically wimpy looking. As soon as I "fix" the situation he is up again running around. Glad he isn't the only BC who does this.

[border_collie_crazy]

I work on this with all my dogs, I was tought with Happy, I was young when I got her and took a kids dog handling class, and this is one of the things we were taught to work on. Happy is sooo good, she gets a cut on her foot and she just sits there with her paw in my hand while I clean and wrap it, or she got a cut on her ear under her fur that I didnt notice till the blood was dry and crusted up, so we held a bowl of warm water up and Happy just sat there with her head tilted to soak her ear in the water. she is easy to force any meds too(she wont take anything on her own though no matter how well hidden!) she makes life so easy that I focas on this sort of thing with all my dogs so I dont have pain in the butt dogs to deal with lol. working in a kennel in good motivation too, I have to re-bandage dogs, medicate dogs, clip nails etc.. and after dealing with enough other peoples horrable dogs, I need my own to be a "break".

[gcv-border]

Excellent advice about handling dogs when they are young (or new to you in the case of rescues), and then continued handling throughout their life.

The other exercise I was taught in the puppy class I took with Torque was to teach the dog to allow us to grab his head/neck area. Just gently grab it at first and then treat. Continue to grab at their head/neck area with ever increasing intensity and speed, and treat when they allow it. (Note: you do not harshly 'grab' your dog, just put your hands on the dog as if grasping him. For this exercise, you just want to acclimate your dog to the speed and motion of the grabbing.)

The idea behind this is that there may be a time when you need to grab at your dog to get it out of danger, and you do not want your dog shying away from your grasp.

Personally, I think all dogs should have a great recall so in theory, you could call your dog to you out of danger, BUT I recognize that sometimes even the top dogs can have a mental hiccup - and the humans too (i.e. your knee-jerk reaction may be to grab the dog rather than call them). If you train your dog to have a great recall and to accept being lunged at and grabbed, you have covered both bases.

Jovi

[alligande]

I could not agree with you more, we have never done specific exercises but are very physical with our dogs, we touch, feel, wrestle, maul, play with feet etc. Our vet was impressed that one of us was able to give enemas to Brody, we had him lay down on his side, and away we went, after the first couple of attempts he just went with the flow and lay there till we said ok.

Personally I think trust plays a huge part in this, when the dogs are comfortable having ticks and thorns removed, all the other things we do are just part of the program.

[Rave]

Oddly enough, I assumed every good dog owner did this with their puppies, whether in a class that has it or not. It's a crucial part of socialization! Every puppy class I've taught or attended has done this. And good breeders will have started doing these things before you even pick up your pup. If they're not, I might be looking elsewhere for a pup!

[Sue R]

The sad thing is that so many pups/dogs do not get any sort of this kind of training - and so the owners have a fight at best to trim nails or give meds or examine an injury or a spot of concern.

The dog's temperment plays a big part in this - some dogs are just trusting or have learned to trust (as pointed out) and some dogs, no matter how well you work with them, may have "issues" with certain aspects of handling. And when that's the case, you have to learn how to manage the dog to deal with the issue.

My daughter has one dog that is very difficult to administer shots to. She is a dog that has to be restrained and muzzled at the vet. But I have developed a method for giving her a shot that works for us. When we visit, I take as many opportunities as I can to come up, talk to her, and grasp the back of her neck (like I was going to give a shot), give her a friendly shake, give her a treat, and go do something else.

After a few of these greet-grasp-and-shake sessions, my daughter will sit with some bacon bits (what dog can resist bacon?) and while she feeds bacon bits, I come up, grasp-and-shake, and then give the shot. And the dogs (we do all three this way) usually isn't even aware I've done it because she's so used to the motions.

The only time this did not work was when we were pressed for time and I could not pre-condition her, and we tried substituting another treat for the bacon. I was successful giving the shot but Nellie knew what I'd done, and I wouldn't have been able to do it again in such a haphazard manner. I guess it's bacon or no go in the future!

Thanks for all the great comments and great ideas! This is so, so important and I hope that some of the new people with pups who might not have realized the importance of this are reading and learning, and will put these ideas into practice.

[alligande]

Even if you have a dog you can do anything to, does not mean others can. We can do anything we want to Brody, we have given him subcutaneous fluids, multiple enemas, all sorts of nasty intrusive things, but at the vet he needs a muzzle for injections as he will nip them. I always hold his head and talk to him which helps but he knows the difference between his humans and other. He will let them take his temperature etc, but no needles. He thoroughly enjoys the vet before and after the needles and as others have said is one of those dogs who pulls you into the office, just no needles, but then I know humans who feel the same way.

[Liz P]

I also do random things to my pups and dogs that the general public might do. I run up to them quickly, yell, wave my hands around, pet them very rough on the head, grab them unexpectedly, lean over them, squish their faces and otherwise "torture" them. I teach them that me acting strange is a fun game. This is just in case a kid or not so intelligent adult does something rude to my dogs while I am out and about.

[Sue R]

Next time I see you, Liz, I'll have to remember that you "acting strange" is fun. I just thought it was you, normal!

[Gideon's girl]

I'm taking Micah to puppy class now and they do one better than any class I've ever been in before. We all sit down with our pups in a big circle, do a "medical exam", then pass our puppy to the next person. We greet the new pup, take a moment to do a sit and down, and then do an exam and pass the pup. So every pup meets every person, does obedience exercises with every person, and gets examined by every person. Too cool!

[Sue R]

Excellent exercise! We did "pass the pup" also in our classes. It's a terrific learning experience.

[diane allen]

Great post, great responses.

Two examples of "when it pays off":
1. Young dog cut a leg; nothing too serious, but decided it was a good time to check out the emergency clinic, when I knew it wasn't life or even limb threatening. No problems there, but the usual "check back with your regular vet in two days" re infection. This, in a year-old BC. Can't get in to see regular vet, sub vet sees dog and mumbles something about sedation. I nearly lost it! Finally convinced her the dog would be OK. He sits up on table, sticks leg out, turns his head away, and NEVER moved a muscle while she unwrapped, cleaned, put antibx cream on, rewrapped (which of course I'd been doing for those two days - twice a day!)! She was impressed.

2. Now dog is older (6), doing agility, and occasionally strains a muscle. A friend's dog also had a (diagnosed) iliopsoas strain. I showed her the stretches/range of motion exercises I do. She commented that she could NEVER do those with her dog, that it was even hard to do it once at the vet's.

While my boy does not like his front feet picked over (for stickers), nor is he terribly appreciative of having his teeth brushed - I do both regularly, and am thankful he tolerates so well!

That said....I had another dog with a grass awn in her ear; crummy vet actually drew blood pulling it out (likely couldn't see very well, and just took some skin with the awn). She NEVER let any one deal with her ears well after that!

diane