Bilateral cataracts are a condition that many dogs face as they age. While most do not see a reduction in their quality of life, this was not the case for Jeter, a 9-year-old terrier mix. After observing that he had low contrast sensitivity causing him to walk into items when he was in very bright or dark environments, I had him examined by an eye specialist, who decided that surgery would be the best option for him. Leading up to the week before surgery, Jeter was going to require eye drops three times per day. During at least the first month post-op, he would need to have five different types of drops administered to both eyes daily.
I immediately developed a training plan to help Jeter develop a positive conditioned emotional response (CER+) to receiving eye drops. Jeter’s willing participation in his cooperative care routine was extremely important to both of us. The use of any force would not only cause him to retreat, growl, and air snap, as became evident when we first started doing nail trims soon after he was adopted; furthermore, it would have harmed our overall relationship.
While it might seem simple to have a dog hold still while drops are administered, I broke the entire process down into many manageable steps. Jeter first needed to develop a CER+ to these steps before I combined them to accomplish the final goal.
Below are the individual activities with their different steps in training. We started off as easy as possible and then increased the difficulty.
Eye dropper
- Show Jeter the eye dropper without moving it toward him. Praise, remove from sight, and reinforce.
- Bring the eyedropper toward his head, making sure that he does not feel the need to back away from it. Praise, remove, and reinforce.
- Bring the eyedropper toward the eye. Praise, immediately take it away, and reinforce.
- Bring the eyedropper toward the eye and hover for one second. Remove and reinforce.
- Slowly increase the duration that the dropper hovers for, working up to five seconds.
Eyebrows
- Touch the eyebrow. Praise, remove the hand, and reinforce.
- Slightly lift the eyebrow and immediately let go. Praise, remove the hand, and reinforce.
- Lift eyebrow higher and immediately let go. Praise, remove the hand, and reinforce.
- Lift and hold the eyebrow for one second. Praise, let go, and reinforce.
- Slowly increase the duration of the eyebrow lift, working up to five seconds.
Muzzle
- Lure his muzzle into an open hand. Praise and reinforce.
- Lure his muzzle into a cupped hand so that the thumb is on top and the palm is supporting the chin. Praise, let go, and reinforce.
- Slowly add duration to the muzzle hold, working up to five seconds.
- Guide his head to look up while holding his muzzle. Immediately praise, let go, and reinforce.
- Add duration to holding his muzzle up, working up to five seconds.
Water drops on muzzle
I originally started training Jeter to accept a drop of water touching his muzzle while his muzzle was held in my hand. This idea came from the book Cooperative Care: Seven Steps to Stress-Free Husbandry by Deborah A. Jones, PhD. The plan was to move the drops closer to his eyes over a number of repetitions. However, I found that this caused him a great deal of anxiety, so I eliminated it from his training plan. While this step was not right for Jeter, it is very helpful to other dogs, and it is one that I encourage my clients to implement.
I found that Jeter progressed more slowly when working on activities with his right eye. While no known injury had occurred, it is possible that the internal irritation of the right eye caused him more pain than the left eye. I made sure to work extra-slowly to ensure a solid CER+.
When Jeter was successful with each of the above activities, I began to combine them. Because I knew these combined steps would make the overall task much more difficult, I took a few steps back with each process. For example, while holding his muzzle high for three seconds, I brought the eyedropper toward his head for one second. I decreased the amount of time his muzzle was held while also not bringing the dropper all of the way to his eye.
By the end of the training, Jeter was able to remain calm while I guided his muzzle upward and held it for five seconds, while I lifted his eyebrow and hovered the dropper directly over the eye for five seconds. It was time to administer one drop.
Before this, Jeter would receive one special treat, which was only used for this training, for each step. However, after I administered a drop, I gave him ten treats in a row. The increased number of treats was to ensure that the quality of the reward was equal to the difficulty of the activity.
Before and after Jeter received an eye drop, I did “dry runs” where we would go through the entire process without actually administering a drop. I did this to prevent him from choosing toavoiding the setup because it always meant a drop was coming. In this way, he learned that while the activity was sometimes difficult, more often than not it was extremely easy for him.
This video shows a few different stages of the training. I tried to make sure that Jeter did not show signs of stress, such as lip licks, yawning, or backing away. If he did, I took a step back in the process and built more of a solid foundation.
This video is Jeter after his operation. The cone meant I didn’t need to grab his muzzle to administer the eye drops like we’d practiced for. Jeter has now been successfully prepared for pre-operative and post-operative cooperative care and I feel that he was less stressed about the entire process than he would have been without this preparation.
Read another article about Jeter here.
Tori Ganino, CDBC, CPDT-KA, is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant through the IAABC, Certified Professional Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed through the CCPDT, and a member of the International Companion Animal Network (ICAN). She owns Calling All Dogs, located in Batavia, New York, where she teaches group classes and private lessons for obedience and behavior modification. More information about her services can be found at www.CallingAllDogsNY.com.
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Mike is an emerging animal behaviorist sitting in Minnesota in the US. He carries an MSc in social science research methods (U. of Kentucky) and brings a passion for understanding how the methods we favor shape the knowledge we privilege. Coming from careers in teaching and non-profit program evaluation, he found companion animal behavior by accident helping anxious feline friends in a unique shelter in Ohio. It is a privilege and a joy to combine these and advance the journal in this exciting time of growth.
Alexandra is a certified dog behavior consultant and holds a PhD in neuroscience. She has spent over a decade in academic research and is author of numerous scientific articles on different aspects of brain development, including olfaction, neurogenesis, and memory formation. Her work as a behavior consultant focuses on creating trusting relationships between humans and their dogs through communication, respect, and science-based knowledge. Alexandra is very dedicated to promoting more science within the dog training world. She supports dog guardians and professionals to build a solid understanding of scientific principles and provides guidance on how to apply these to life with dogs. She runs Canine Mindscape in Alicante, Spain.
I’m an Argentinean-Italian dog trainer and CSAT who spent eight amazing years in Brazil learning and working with dogs. Now based in Europe, I volunteer with the IAABC as a translator and, in my free time, help rehomed dogs settle into their new families. I love bridging languages—and hearts—between people and their dogs.
I’m a translator, editor and journalist, as well as canine educator for children and families, specialized in canine body language. I am part of the IAABC Family since 2019, as Language Director at the IAABC and Translators Team Lead at the IAABC Foundation, at the moment. I volunteer at local shelters and promote bite prevention and animal welfare at schools and events all over my country, Uruguay.
I’m a Chilean veterinarian and certified dog trainer, based in Madrid and working at a veterinary clinic. I’ve been volunteering with the IAABC and the IAABC Foundation for over seven years. In my free time, I help dogs and their guardians strengthen their bond, and I love spending quality time with my own dogs.
Master’s Degree in Natural Sciences, with a strong interest in environmental sustainability and the protection of natural ecosystems. Passionate about writing and science communication, she collaborates with multidisciplinary teams on research projects, such as Equine International, and with non-profit initiatives in the environmental and cultural fields. She is writing for different magazines, including IAABC Foundation. Her major goal is to improve horse’s welfare through behaviour research and empirical practice.
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I believe that knowledge from a wide range of disciplines fosters a more empathetic, curious, and engaging world. I am passionate about social, environmental, and minority rights issues (both human and non-human), and this has invariably led me down the road of multi-species anthropology. Perpetually curious about the world we live in, I hope to contribute towards making the world a kinder place for all of us earthlings to live on!
Beckie Wheldon is based in England, UK, and has been supporting the IAABC Foundation Journal team as a volunteer journal content editor since early 2025. She has a BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour and Welfare, and has recently completed a MSc Clinical Animal Behaviour. With a passion for both practical and theory, Beckie is proud to be a part of the journal submission journey and support the process of applied animal behaviour information and research getting from our writers to the readers. As her full-time career, Beckie is currently part of the UK veterinary charity, PDSA, as a Learning and Development Business Partner for Veterinary, where she supports the professional development of people in their Veterinary Hospitals. Her last position was with the rescue charity, Dogs Trust, as a Canine Behavioural Welfare Manager, where she worked on embedding evidence-based behavioural welfare best practices throughout policy and practices, with both internal and external professional stakeholders, such as the police and military. With a varied background in kennels, caregiver education, and charity dog training classes, Beckie is also an accredited Animal Training Instructor (APDT UK) and an Associate Clinical Animal Behaviourist (APBC).
Erin Jones, PhD, IAABC-ADT, CDBC, CPDT-KA, CANZ-ATI, CANZ-ABC, is the Journal Director of the IAABC Foundation Journal. She holds a PhD in Human–Animal Studies, an MSc in Anthrozoology, a PG Dip in Animal Welfare, and a BSc (Hons) in Anthropology and Psychology. An international presenter, editor, writer and mentor, Erin’s writing bridges research and practice with a focus on the intersection of philosophy, ethics and dog-centered behaviour practice. She is the author of Constructing Canine Consent and co-editor of Topics in Non/Human Coexistence and numerous academic and trade journal publications.