Move Cotton Ball Forward
Now that your dog is completely fine with you holding the cotton ball, it’s time to start moving it. Bring the cotton ball toward the dog an inch or two, reward, and then put it back down. How did your dog react?
Even if they give the most fleeting signal they’re uncomfortable, don’t proceed until they are clearly relaxed and happy about the process. If your dog is clearly uncomfortable with even this small motion, make the motion smaller, or shift the movement forward but downward, away from the head.
Even if you can only move the cotton ball a quarter of an inch forward with your dog feeling comfortable, this is a workable distance.
When you’ve found a movement, no matter how slight, your pup is comfortable with, do 10-15 reps, pairing a treat with the forward motion of the cotton ball. Repeat this session as often as needed for your pup to feel relaxed and comfortable, but at least one complete session at one inch forward.
At this stage in the game, with so much training behind you, it’s easy to get sloppy here and think skipping steps is fine. Although your dog likely has many layers of experience now that may help them be more comfortable with grooming items in general, rushing this process won’t cause them to like getting their ears cleaned faster.
Ear cleaning is one of the most sensitive parts of grooming for many dogs, especially in breeds prone to ear infections such as cocker spaniels or basset hounds.
Touch Shoulder with Cotton Ball
Once your dog is comfortable with the cotton ball coming all the way to them, it’s time to make contact. First contact should not be on the head (a very sensitive area) but instead, should be in a neutral area, like the shoulder.
If it seems like you’re taking a step back, since we were approaching the dog with the cotton ball (probably towards the head) and suddenly went to a different area, not to worry. We’ve communicated to the dog that approaching the face is possible, and that contact is next, in the nicest way possible.
When your dog is completely fine with the cotton ball approaching very close to but not touching them, touch them lightly on the shoulder with the cotton ball and reward at the same time.
How did your dog react? Were they torn between watching the cotton ball and getting the treat? Did they flee? Did they tense up? Or did they ignore the cotton ball completely and hoover down the snack?
How they react will depend on what you do. If they are nervous, vary touching and coming close to the shoulder. If they just want their treat, repeat this exercise 10-15 times and go on to the next phase at the next session.
Touch Neck with Cotton Ball
Once your dog is comfortable with their shoulder being touched, you can begin moving the cotton ball up from the shoulder to the neck. Do this an inch at a time, rewarding between each touch, and checking your dog’s reaction each time.
If you hit a spot where they pull away or feel uncomfortable, go back to the spot where they were comfortable and stay there until they are ready to move on.
Reward your pet at each interval you move up at least 10-15 times before moving on. The more time you spend building your dogs positive associations with being touched by the cotton ball, the easier it will be at the next critical step, touching the ear.
Touching the Ear with Cotton Ball
Finally, it’s time to touch the ear with the cotton ball. At this point, we will not be touching the inside of the ear. We will be touching the outside of the ear without moving the ear at all. Touch your dog with the cotton ball on the outside of the ear and once again, you guessed it! Read the dog’s reaction.
Did they pull back, or look for treats?
If they give even the slightest hint they didn’t like having their ear touched with the cotton ball, try just approaching close to the ear, and build up to actually touching it. Reward heavily for every positive interaction with the cotton ball.
If your dog is completely comfortable (or when you’ve built up to them being comfortable) with having their ear touched with the cotton ball, repeat this 10-15 reps. Then touch the inside of the outer ear with the cotton ball.
How did they do? Were they fine with that? Did they just want the treats, or did they pull back? If they are uncomfortable, go back to the outside of the ear for a bit. If they are fine with it, repeat 10-15 times, rewarding every time.
Add water
Next, we’re going to add warm water to the cotton ball just enough to moisten it, and touch the inside of the ear once more. If your dog is fine with it, repeat 10-15 times. If your pup is not fine with it, try adding less water (even just a drop) and gradually building up the moisture.
Adding Cleaner
Cleaner has a strong smell to it. If your dog has had a bad experience with cleaner before, they may also have strong negative feelings about it. Therefore, although it is intuitive to simply replace the water with cleaner, it’s best to backtrack a bit here.
To acclimate your dog to the cleaner, apply a small amount to the cotton ball and present it as if it is a new item. Reward any positive interaction with the cleaner-soaked cotton ball. Read your dog’s reaction.
If your dog high-tails it out of the room, you know they’ve had a painful experience with cleaner and their ears. Great sympathy is needed for your pet. You will need to start from the very beginning of the cotton ball program, going through all the steps slowly, to get to ear cleaning.
If your dog is negative at all toward the scent, go all the way back to the beginning. Otherwise, if they are positive to neutral, start at the shoulder touching section and move forward, but with a cleaner soaked cotton ball instead of a dry one.
When your dog is fully comfortable with having the inside of both of their ears touched with cleaner on it, this should be enough conditioning for your groomer to be able to take it from there. It will also benefit you because if you ever need to maintain your dog’s ears at home, you’ll be able to do so safely. Congratulations!
Similar Posts:
- Desensitizing a Dog to Ear Care, Part 1
- Nail Trim Desensitization: Part 2
- Introduction to Tail Desensitization
- How to Desensitize Scissor Touch
- How to Clean Your Chihuahua’s Ears
