Cooperative care is a way of training animals to accept - even love - participating in husbandry or veterinary procedures. Ear or eye exams, nail trims, vaccines - all of these things and more can be taught in a way that causes the animal to be happy, even eagerly willing, to participate.
I enjoy training cooperative care behaviours so much that I just got two of three titles with my dog FigJam as part of a new Cooperative Care Certificate titling program. (You can see them below.) Although FigJam meets the requirements for many of the higher levels tasks already, everyone starts by submitting at Level 1 first. We are both looking forward to filming level three.
The ten tasks stay the same throughout the levels, but each level requires an advancing level of skill to perform. Here are the tasks:
1) chin rest; 2) lie on side; 3) restraint; 4) wear a muzzle; 5) foot handling; 6) mouth and teeth handling; 7) taking medication; 8) tolerating an injection or blood draw; 9) eye exam; 10) ear exam. You can read all about the program here: https://cooperativecarecertificate.com/
If you and your pet struggle with husbandry or veterinary procedures, I'm available to help.
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FigJam's Level 1:
FigJam's Level 2: