Canine Chin Rest: Voluntary Blood Draw with Basket Muzzle Introduction Training

Voluntary blood draw with basket muzzle introduction.

Me and my boy have been having fun with new goals. One is basket muzzle training. Over the years, Santino has offered voluntary blood draws, injections, suture removal, ear and eye exam procedures while resting in the chin rest position. We took this new video about six weeks ago. Catching up now on sharing after the Midwest Veterinary Conference attendees observed it first. It is 4:45 minutes long.
As always, my videos are unedited so others can observe how we problem-solve live.

These are my personal goals that reflect the possibilities for me and my clients. There are many positive ways to approximate toward our animal husbandry goals. Thanks for continually sharing in ours.
I cannot thank the team at Medical District Veterinary Clinic enough. They are always supportive of our goals, take the time to hear my approximations and plans. Then they jump right in with their fourth-year veterinary students from The University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine. We all help to educate future veterinary professionals.

Thank you Kelsie Dolezal for helping us with his first-ever muzzle introduction during an actual procedure. We have been studying hard for this exam, and this video shows us taking the test live.

Some highlights:
The blood draw props were placed on the floor for Santino to explore before the procedure.
1) Kelsie is the head veterinary technician and simple spectacular.
2) I want Santino to see her first, and not have her touch/startle him from behind from the get-go.
3) This is the first time we integrated the muzzle into a vet visit procedure for Santino. We have been practicing with the muzzle at this location after training classes.
4) The muzzle is placed on the towel as a target for the chin rest.
5) The straps were left hanging to the side for these approximations.
6) Keslie's cues from me to start/stop the procedure are "go" and "pause."
7) We did pretend pokes with a capped needle in a video just before this one to assess his comfort level (which was excellent).
8) I am talking to him and gently petting him on the head during the insertion and blood draw from the butterfly needle (because it makes me feel good, and hopefully provides reinforcement for him!).
9) He did release at the very end of the blood draw. I reinforced him. Very proud of our duration under new conditions with the muzzle as an added criterion.
10) He then looked back at Kelsie (that face!) but did not walk away, so I reinforced him. I think it is important to let Santino use his senses to explore his environment. Take a look at Kelsie, honey!
11) Ping-ponged with a few basic cues, stretched a bit, let him move around the exam room (us, too).
12) We did a follow up tactile position after the blood draw, so the actual procedure was not the last approximation.
13) Then we practiced a few voluntary weights. He kept hopping up on the scale!
There are many more videos. Just getting through them all in recent weeks. Thanks Santino! I've said it before, and I'll say it again. You are one of my best animal teachers!