teach your dog to accept eye drops
As eye infections in dogs are common, your veterinarian may prescribe eye drops for your dog at some point. After introducing your dog to eye drops to acclimate your dog to the approach of the eye-drop bottle, your dog now has positive associations with the bottle. However, the application of the actual drops can be aversive for many dogs (and humans), so how do you teach your dog to cooperate?
In this video, Karen Pryor Academy faculty member Laura VanArendonk Baugh demonstrates how to teach your dog to accept eye drops. As in the last video, Laura uses a chin rest to keep the dog calm and still as she applies the eye drops. Laura then administers the eye drops at the corner of the dog’s eye and allows the drop to roll into the eye. At first, she clicks as soon as the drop makes contact with the eye. Once she has established the dog’s cooperation with just the contact of the drop, she then clicks/treats as soon as the dog blinks and the drop fully enters the eye. As always, please speak with your veterinarian before trying this with your animal.
For more tips on how to prepare your clients' pets for successful vet visits, check out our Better Veterninary Visits course!
Happy Training!