Chihuahuas are prone to tear stains. These stains can sometimes develop hard crusts that are painful to remove. Daily eye cleaning can help keep hard crusts from developing, keep tear stains minimally, and allow medical eye care if necessary.
Please note, while desensitizing the eye area will help with medical care, medical level desensitization is not within the scope of this article. The focus is instead on grooming related care, such as wiping the corners of the eye.
Step one: The forehead
Just like with many of the other sensitive areas we have worked on, the corner of the eye is a sensitive place. It’s best to start with a warm up to let your pet have an idea of what area you’re planning to touch.
The forehead is typically a well liked place for dog’s to get a soft scratch, and it’s close to where you want to touch.
Start here and pair touching the forehead with a light stroke or scratch, followed by a treat. Do this several times and watch your pets reaction. If your pet walks away or pulls back, consider that a soft ‘no.’ Back up toward the top of the head if this happens, until you find a spot your pet likes better.
Work your way from where ever your dog is comfortable towards the forehead, until your pup is fine with being touched there and clearly expects treats instead of trying to leave.
Practice this at least one session, at least 10 repetitions to help your pup get on board.
Step two: Stroking bridge of nose
After this, the next step is to touch the bridge of the nose, lightly stroking it in exchange for a treat. Before beginning this new session, start with 2-3 repetitions of the forehead touch, to warm your pet up.
Again, if your pet pulls back when you go lower down the nose, you’ve gone too far. Try between the eyebrows above the bridge if the jump to the stop (where the nose meets the eyes) is too far for your pup.
Be patient here. This may take several days or even weeks of stroking the nose before your dog has forgotten all about not liking their nose being touched and is just happy for treats. Keep sessions short, 10-15 repetitions, with high value treats, and pay close attention to clues your pup is confident—or unhappy—with what you are doing.
When your pup is eager to be touched lightly on their nose near the eye for a treat, it’s time to move to the next step.
Step three: Lightly stroking under the eye
When your pup is completely on board with getting their nose stroked, you can stroke very lightly from the near corner of the eye to the far corner. This desensitizes the most important part, under the eye.
It’s okay to make it on the high side of your pup’s cheek, no need to touch your dog’s actual eyeball. (you wouldn’t want to for cleaning tear stains anyway.)
Troubleshooting
If your pet is very opposed to touching near their eyes no matter how long you work with them, it’s possible they are in pain. Glaucoma, eye infections, and even tooth infections, can all cause pain near the eye.
If your dog has green crusties, one eyeball appearing bigger than the other, or dry eyes, it’s worth getting them checked at the vet.
When you bring the dog to the vet, note how long you’ve been working with your pet on modifying the behavior and that your dog is still opposed to it. This will help your vet know to look closely at the eyes, not just a cursory glance.
It’s also important to remember to be gentle and soft while working with your dog’s face. Poking, prodding or trying to start out with wipes will not help your pet feel more comfortable. If you have children who like to poke and prod, you may need a lot more time for your pet to feel comfortable because they’re used to any touch near the eye being uncomfortable.
When your pup is completely comfortable with the under-eye being touched, we can move on to the last phase of body desensitization, touching the mouth.
Similar Posts:
- Introduction to Tail Desensitization
- Touch Desensitization: Feet
- Introducing Hindquarter Desensitization
- How to Teach Your Dog to Use a Scratch Board
- How to Measure Your Dog for a Muzzle
