Cooperative Care

Cooperative care is about giving your dog some agency in everyday handling and husbandry procedures. The goal of cooperative care is in the title - the dog should be cooperating in the care that is being provided. This means that the dog is actively participating in the handling - and core to this participation is the ability of the dog to say “no” and stop the handling at any point in time.

Giving the dog the ability to say “no, I’m not comfortable with this” and allowing them to stop the procedure reduces fear and anxiety associated with uncomfortable procedures, and allowing them to restart the handling increases their confidence by allowing the dog to move at their own pace.

If your dog can be taught to cooperate with veterinary or other handling procedures, it reduces the amount of stress and the potential for injury involved in the situation for all parties - both the dog and the people handling him. A dog that doesn’t need to be sedated or heavily restrained is much easier to work with and lighter on the wallet compared to a dog that does require those things.

The two things I keep in mind when starting cooperative care with a dog is teaching a “start button” behavior and respecting when the dog says “no”.

The most common way to start off with cooperative care is to teach a chin rest behavior. Your dog learns to place his chin on some object (your hand, a pillow, etc.) and while the dog is holding that position, you can proceed with the handling you would like to do.

If the dog ever lifts his head at any point, then you immediately stop the handling - this is the part of cooperative care where we teach the dog that we will not push him beyond what he’s comfortable with. If the dog resumes his chin rest position, then he is communicating that, while that last repetition was a little uncomfortable, he is ready to continue. If he chooses to walk away, then we respect that he needs a break from the situation.

Here are some basic resources to get started with cooperative care:

• IAABC’s journal articles on cooperative care

  • “What is Cooperative Care?”

  • “Cooperative Care: The How and the Why”

  • “Case Studies: Creating the Cooperative Canine for Veterinary Care”

• Cooperative Care: Seven Steps to Stress-Free Husbandry by Deb Jones (a good introductory book for learning cooperative care)

• Cooperative Veterinary Care by Alicea Howell and Monique Feyrecilde (primarily for veterinary professionals, but good if you really want to deep dive into the topic)

• “How To Teach A Chin Rest” from Karen Pryor Academy

• “FF180: Yes Please! Cooperative Canine Care” course on Fenzi Dog Sports Academy