Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 8:38 pm Post subject: Dexter won't let me put his ear drops in - help....!
I'm meant to be giving Dexter ear drops once a day - but the second he sees the bottle he starts jumping around, showing his teeth...generally making it impossible...
I'm normally armed with treats for this. I let him have a good sniff of whatever it is i have to give him. I get him to sit and then give him the drops.
Id get the drops out and ignore him then go and sit down with them in your hand. Let him calm down before attempting to go near his ears.
I am aware that this sounds much more easier than it is
No advice as we found that Sam who usually is happy to let you touch any part of him HATED having ear drops in and gave us a good run round over having them every morning and every night...
Only way we could do it was to capture him in one person's arms (with treats too) and another person to administer drops extremely quickly then give treats otherwise the treats were gone and pupster had made his escape...he had the drops but I won't say it was easy!
When we took Max on he had grubby ears and hated anything going near them. It took my husband to hold him/his head still (and his mouth closed) while I put the drops in. Once the drops were in, he got lots of praise and some very tasty treats. In time he came to realise that things going into the ear = tasty treats.
It didn't take too long for him to become totally accepting and since then I can put anything in his ears and he just looks at the fridge/treat cupboard once I'm done. I would have struggled on my own the first few times though.
Rueben had to have some drops when he was a pup and the vet told us not to let him see them. He told us to have some treats ready and to get him to lie down then make a big (but calm) fuss of him and then put the drops in once he's chilled.
I now use a natural remedy ear cleaner on him every six weeks or so and he's always more than happy to have them put in as he knows he gets a yummy treat once it's all over
If you are using drops from the vets, the chances are they will be alcohol/spirit/solvent based and will sting like hell if his ears are sore already.
You could try it this way ...
Put the dropper bottle either in a pocket that is close to your body (e.g. jeans/trouser pocket) or tuck in into the front of your bra. Leave it there for a good half and hour so that it warms up to body temperature. If the liquid is body temperature, it will lessen the shock of it beign dropped into the ear canal. While the bottle is warming up, give Dexter a massage. Get him lying on the floor, on one side, and a few minutes before your half hour bottle warming time is up, massage the area around the ear that is uppermost. Keep massaging with one hand and with the other, take out the bottle and undo the cap. Sneak a few drops into the ear and keep massaging. Put the bottle back in your pocket to keep it warm, and flip him over, massaging his side and then around the other ear, before sneaking the drops into the other ear.
There are times when I'm afraid you just have to say, "You're going to get it my son, like it or lump it, so get over it."
I've never given treats before that kind of thing, though I might give something nice afterwards. You can’t say to a dog "I'll give you a treat if you let me do your ears." Their brain does not work like that. Bribery only works if the animal realises that it is expected to pay something for the treat. Humans can grasp that concept but not dogs. Whatever you are doing, titbits should ONLY be used as a reward. They cannot understand anything else.
Firstly, warm the drops up to body temperature. It's far less a shock to the system than sticking something freezing cold in their ear!
Then, No messing, no fuss, DO IT! That's the secret of it. The more you faf around the more you worry him and the harder it gets. Get everything ready then go in, do it and finish, as quick as that. Do one ear at a time, let things settle before doing the other. You really have to look at it from the direction of, "It's got to happen." Not "He doesn’t like it." He does not have a choice in the matter. Actually it is good for him to learn who calls the shots. I start with my pups almost from day one with both ear and eye drops, using plain water, so they grow up knowing that I have the right to touch them anywhere I like any time I like. The same thing applies to claws. I start just tipping one claw at a time just as soon as the pup comes here. Training these things is every bit as important as lead training.
I have the same approach as John, make sure they are warmed up first so it's not such a shock to him when they go in.
Fudgie get a smelly ear about every 8-10 weeks-ish so it's a regular occurance for him to have drops in. Believe it or not he now lies down in front of me when he sees the drops and cotton wool pads and is in absolute ecstacy while they are being cleaned
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