Your dog can learn to target a chin rest to your palm as a stationary position, on a walk, target on a towel, or the arm of a wheelchair for petting in therapy work.      Dog resting chin on open hand      To prepare for training have high-value soft treats, and identify a comfortable height and position for both animal and trainer, such as a rolled up towel on a chair. When teaching this behavior, it is important to keep your hands steady, so your dog is not nervous.    Step 1: Stationary Chin Rest   

How to help your cat get used to having their nails trimmed Start by putting the trimmers in a common area like your living room where your cat can choose to explore them at their pace. Putting treats around the nail trimmers can help to create more positive associations with them. If your cat will not go near the trimmers, feed them treats at a comfortable distance. Gradually decrease the distance between them and the nail trimmers. Next, have the nail trimmers nearby when you are interacting with your cat. This interaction may be a play session or a time

Just like us, cats feel fear, and their behavior changes in response to it. What makes one cat fearful or anxious may not make another one feel that way. 

Many cat owners never learned to trim their kitten’s nails and struggle with nail trims for their adult cat. To prevent scratches to people and furniture, as well as to decrease the potential of too long nails causing pain, difficulty walking, and other medical issues your cat’s nails will need to be trimmed from time to time. To make trimming your cat’s nails easy for you and acceptable for your cat will take time, patience, and rewards. There are several low stress handling methods that can be used to make it easier for you to trim nails, such as a

What is Enrichment and Why is it Important for Senior Dogs? Enrichment is offering experiences and opportunities to animals to encourage healthy natural behaviors and enhance physical and emotional welfare. Enrichment is often broken into two broad categories: environmental and social.  Environmental enrichment alters the animal’s space either by making changes to the environment itself or by adding novel items such as toys, feeding puzzles, exercise, and things to smell and explore. Social enrichment involves offering positive social experiences for the animal with people or other animals. Enrichment is important for all species of animals, including people! Sometimes we enrich

Technique for Kittens If you have a kitten, your work starts now! Between three and nine weeks, kittens are at an important age for socialization. Now is the time to expose your kitten to other people, animals, and situations such as nail trims. Treats are the best rewards to use with your kitten. This will help them associate nail trims with a positive experience.      Kitten on back Photo Courtesy of CattleDog Publishing      First, figure out what position your kitten prefers. Choose a position that will keep your kitten at ease and that will allow you to