Recommended daily handling exercises

There are a few behaviours which I class as ESSENTIAL to start teaching a puppy on that first week of entering my home, here is one;

AN ESSENTIAL: DAILY HANDLING EXERCISES

Dogs, like man have a personal space that they are happy with. Some can be naturally accepting of close contact others can feel threatened and react to this closeness. An uncomfortable dog is a stressed dog....stressed dogs can bite.

With this knowledge and understanding of personal space rather than wait to see if the dog is going to be uncomfortable and react we can actually PREVENT it from occurring by implementing some simple to follow exercises that will help the dog learn that being handled is actually a very enjoyable and rewarding experience. So the visit to the vets, greeting people, having toe nails clipped, teeth cleaned, been examined for injuries or ticks becomes a much more acceptable and understandable experience for the dog.

Hopefully this learning process would have already begun with the breeder you got your dog from, by 'daily handling' of the puppies to encourage the sight and smell of man to be imprinted in the dogs developing mind. Gentle stroking of the puppies also helps to encourage the release of relaxing chemicals within their bodies, signalling to the dog that man is pleasurable to be around. This is an essential first stage to the human/canine bonding process.


When starting the handling exercises at home I arm myself with a cup of treats and go and sit on the floor with the puppy, I only do short sessions at first and just work on a few that I have listed below. I eventually build it up to being able to handle the dog all over its body. I only progress as fast as the dog is comfortable with so;

Touch head = treat
Look in eyes = treat
Check in each ear (a ticks favourite hiding place) = treat
Open the dogs mouth = treat
Run you hand down the dogs body = treat
Pick each leg up in turn = treat after everyone
Check paw pads = treat
Lift the dogs tail up (like a vet would to examine) = treat


Once the dog is comfortable with this I add

FEEL THE COLLAR = treat GRAB THE COLLAR = treat

So that the dog never feels threatened if we have to grab its collar quickly, by doing this we are building a strong positive reward history so that the dog actually looks forward to this slight pressure and is less likely to bite!

i also add

HAND LOOMING OVER THE DOG & PLACED ON THE TOP OF THE HEAD = click & treat to try and get the dog comfortable with this as i have lost count of the amount of people that go directly to the top of the head rather than allowing the dog to sniff their outstretched palm first

CLEANING TEETH is next, I think we all know why cleaning teeth is important, it is just as important for dogs as it is for us. You can either get them used to a toothbrush by treating regularly when using it or you can just apply it with your finger and rub it along the teeth. All my dogs love toothpaste and I find 'Logic Oral Hygiene Gel' to be a really good make and easy to apply, a finger rub will do, as it says the enzymes within the gel will naturally keep working on the teeth and gums.

GROOMING combined with the correct diet, helps to keep your dogs coat in excellent condition and is a lovely bonding process with your dog. I introduce these sessions by holding a treat in my hand for the puppy to nibble while I brush with a nice soft brush, rewarding very often to begin with, basically one brush = treat. Extending to more brushes for a treat as the puppy begins to relax.

Eventually I can do all the above exercises that I have listed, for the reward of one treat at the end, but don't be too quick to get to this point, as a generous reward history encourages stronger learning.




All these handling exercises are RECOMMENDED to be carried out on a DAILY basis to ensure that the puppy builds up a strong reward history with human contact and handling...work that I feel is important and vital to help your pet become a well adjusted member of society.

You can make this learning history even stronger, by asking other members of the family to take part in daily handling sessions to help the puppy generalise more that all people are rewarding to be near not just the owner. Encourage the vet to partake too, go armed with a bag of high reward treats like chicken or cheese and reward regularly while the examination is underway, it will make life so much easier for him if the puppy actually enjoys going to see him.

Remember .....The stronger the reward history the less likely your dog is to react




by Kath Charlton Dip ACP

2010

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Handling exercises
• Barney the lab
• clicker training
• dog training
• positive re enforcement

[Meduteja]

Hey :) Thanks for the video.Could you answer me something,please? (If you know,of course :) ) .I have a small puppy.Like ~2 months old.And she doesn't understand that she cannot pee in the house..How should I show her that it's wrong? I can't hit her,she's too cute :(

[MultiAnimalcrackers]

@Meduteja you keep taking them outside to the place you want them to toilet in....it was every 15mins when awake and active with my lab boy a bit longer with my girl. you take them to toilet straight away on waking up to the correct spot, after play and after feeding...i also take them out through the night when they are young. Everytime they toilet where i want to i reward them with a treat...i NEVER hit an animal..cause more often than not it is our fault for not explaining to them

[JessieTheJack]

Great video! I will definitely try this! I'm sure it will help a lot! =)

[MultiAnimalcrackers]

@JessieTheJack Yes it really is an ESsential that every dog owner should do, it helps to build up a great trust and understanding between you and your dog:))

[abirdslife]

This is really great and important advice. A lot of bigger outdoor dogs do not always get handled nearly enough, which makes it hard at Vet or grooming times... well done and thankyou Kath :o)

[MultiAnimalcrackers]

@abirdslife Thankyou Cheryl, i really appreciate your comments:)))

[odinschild70]

I had to do this handle and treat program after my nervous lurcher was roughly handled by a vet, who had had to feed her soap flakes afer we thought she had eaten a battery,she was left completly head shy and wouldnt let anyone near her It was a long slow gradual process, but she will now accept people touching her face an examining her. the only side effect is that she expects a treat from the vet every time we visit ;-)

[Meduteja]

@MultiAnimalcrackers Thank you so much!I'm glad that we don't have to use force! :)

[MultiAnimalcrackers]

@rplusagility you are welcome. glad you liked:))

[rplusagility]

Great info - thanks for posting this :)