Grooming, vet care, wound care, tick checks: what do all these things have in common? Other than being necessary for your pet's welfare, these events can also often be stressful. Cooperative care skills can help our animals work through and cope with that stress.
Learn more about what cooperative care is, the benefits of teaching care skills, and how you can get started with advice from our expert trainers.
What are the benefits of cooperative care?
Cooperative care is a way to give our animals agency, or the ability to consent to the activity or say “no” in their care. We ask our puppy a question, and then we respect their answer.
There's a variety of benefits to teaching your puppy cooperative care, including:
1. Give your dog their agency back
Humans control a lot, if not most, of what our animals do or don't do in their lives. Giving agency back not only strengthens their trust in us, their caretakers, but also helps them feel a part of the activity. This falls into their need for safety/security. If they feel safe, they will be more willing to work with us.
Imagine if you went to a doctor's office and the nurse took you back to the exam room, said "the doctor will be in soon,” then left and locked the door. Stuck! Panic! Why did they lock the door? I can't escape!
That feeling is often what happens when we take our dogs to the vet or put them on a grooming table without their consent and force them into a situation they're nervous about. Agency can remove that feeling of being trapped.
2. Increase safety for pets and professionals
Animals are built with instinctive security systems: voice, teeth, claws, moving away. If our animals have not found any other way to communicate their discomfort or fear, they will naturally resort to the thing that makes the scary event stop – teeth.
Bite risks increase the more an animal deems itself trapped. Even if we humans know they have an exit, they may not feel that exit is a viable option.
Working on cooperative care teaches our animals that they have other ways to communicate discomfort and pauses, and that we will listen to them. This communication system naturally lowers the chance of an animal reacting intensely to situations because they know there are other ways to say “no.” In turn our human professionals like groomers, veterinary staff, and us stay safer.
3. Strengthen your bond with your puppy
Our animals need a social group that they can trust and feel safe with. If we, their only social group, force them into situations consistently, safety is not the only thing we risk. We also damage the relationship and trust we want between us.
Cooperative care tells our animal that not only are we there for support, but we will never leave them in a situation that would cause them lasting harm. If an emergency happens, they have a long history of trusting us, so they are likely more willing to allow us to care for them in the moment, even if they are uncomfortable throughout.
Key note: If we can’t respect their “no,” then we can't ask the question “Can I…”
In emergency situations, we want to focus on safety and security to meet the goal in that moment, and then help our animal recover in whatever way they need to. Ideally, that means returning agency to them as soon as we can through things like sniffing activities, alone time, rest, bones to chew, removal from the area, etc.
How do you start with cooperative care training?
Beginning cooperative care strategies can be simple in conception, but multi-layered in execution. If your animal already has stress responses due to care events, we encourage seeking help from a cooperative care specialist who can guide you on the proper introduction, patterns and ways to keep everyone safe.
If you are starting with a new puppy, here are a few ways you can start teaching cooperative care:
Begin by respecting your puppy’s requests to end activities. Pulling paws away, moving away, and licking your hand are all polite requests by your puppy to stop.
Anytime you touch puppy, like gently handling their paws, ears, or mouth, reward them for that touch. By offering a reward, you’re adding value to contact.
Start by having the grooming tools out and allowing your puppy to explore and be around them without touching them. Add innate rewards like treats and play when the tools come out so your puppy has a fun and comfortable association with them.
Don’t lure your puppy towards the grooming tools, but reward their calmness and bravery for being around them as a choice.
Try Puppy Kindergarten at AHS
Our Puppy Kindergarten classes incorporate two cooperative care strategies to learn:
- Stationing: Starting an activity consistently in the same spot, so your dog hopping onto the designated spot becomes their signal that they’re ready for the activity to start.
- Chin Rest: Your puppy rests their chin in your hand to say “yes” to the activity and removes it to say “no.”
These two care skills can be used for a variety of things like putting harnesses/collars on, checking for ticks after a hike, checking/cleaning teeth or ears, nail trims, brushing, vet care practice, and more.
Learn more about our puppy training classes or reach out to our training staff with questions at [email protected] or 763-489-2217.
