Hello, My Name is “Don’t Eat That!”
- Lorena
- Apr 30
- 5 min read
Updated: May 1
We all love our dogs, and we do what we can to keep them healthy, happy, and safe. We put them on leashes when out for walks, we make sure our gates are shut in our backyards to prevent them from getting out and getting into a dangerous situation. We take them to the veterinarian regularly to do as much as we can to keep them healthy. It’s all part of being a dog parent. But what about the unexpected: what can we do if our dog gets hurt and they need our help before we can get them to a veterinarian?
Just as having knowledge of what to do in an emergency for a fellow human being, we can also prepare ourselves with knowledge to help our dogs if they ever find themselves in need of it. Pet First Aid is a real thing and is something that every pet parent should take a course on. You can consider it part of our responsibilities as dog guardians.
Dogs are not Human
To quote my kid: “Duh.”
I think we’ve all figured that one out. While we can argue that in many cases, they are better than humans and have many traits that would make us better humans were we to emulate them, they are still a completely different species. Which means that their physiology varies enough from ours that we have to take this into consideration when thinking about applying First Aid to them.
The great people at Fear Free® Happy Homes say that it is important to understand these differences so that we don’t make things worse for a dog in distress. As examples, they cite:
The position in which a pet needs to be in when receiving CPR: while humans receive it when lying on their back, pets receive it lying on their side.
Blowing too hard when giving life-saving breaths can actually rupture a pet’s lungs.
These are only two examples of why it’s critical to receive training in these techniques so that we can help our pets safely were they ever in the position to need this from us.
Where can we find Pet First Aid Courses?
There are some out there, but as always, it is important to check that they are the real thing. Some veterinarian-approved courses are listed below:
Online
In Person and Live, interactive video classes
An Ounce of Prevention and All That…
Now, what’s even better than knowing what to do in case of an emergency? Avoiding one altogether! Yes, I’m well aware that we can’t prevent every emergency (if we only could, right?), but we can set ourselves up for success in some cases. With that in mind, I have some tips on beginning to teach your dog to:
Drop it! (imagine cueing this in a happy, playful voice, not a big scary one)
set the stage
Have the following handy:
About a cup’s worth of small, yummy treats. And I mean yummy. Cut up hot dogs. Cut up string cheese, or boiled chicken.
A toy your dog likes to put in their mouth, especially if they enjoy tugging on it with you.
A great attitude, ready to have fun 😃
action!
Put one of the treats in your hand and hold it behind your back
Entice your pup to take the toy in their mouth
Play for about 3-5 seconds
Bring the treat to your dog’s nose and wave it back and forth as you would if it were smelling salts
The moment your dog spits out the toy, say “good!”
Immediately let your good pooch eat the treat.
Wash, rinse, repeat. Play this game about 5 times and then take a break. You can say something like “All done!” in a happy voice and put 3 treats on the floor in front of your dog. If you have more than one dog, work with one at a time (let’s avoid having any arguments over food on the floor).
Play this game about 2 more times.
During this time, once you notice your dog “gets” the whole point of the game, it’s time to start adding a cue to it. Most people say “Drop” or “Drop it”, but I encourage you to use something else, like “Yuck!”. For one, it’s a lot more fun to say. But more importantly, it’s a bit harder to say “Yuck!” in an angry, command-like voice, and that’s a good thing. A dog will hear you just fine and using an angry voice can taint this game with an unpleasant feeling, which can then result in your dog running from you when they grab something with their mouth. We want this to be a game, so your dog is more likely to engage with you and play “spit the thing out of my mouth for a treat!” when you say “Yuck!”.
So, when you bring the treat out from behind your back and your dog is about to spit the toy out in anticipation of said treat, say “Yuck!”, then say “good!” when the toy is spit out, and reward with the treat. Within a couple of play sessions, start to say “Yuck!” right before you bring your “treat hand” out from behind your back. Pretty soon, puppy will understand that when you say “Yuck!”, it means “give up the goods for an even better thing!”.
Once you see that your dog is doing this consistently, about 80-90% of the time, start playing the game with “real life objects”, like a dirty sock, or a shoe, or any other object that they tend to pick up.
Practice (or, should I say, play) this game often, and always treat it as a game- have fun with it! Before long, your pup will happily drop an object when you ask them to.
Lorena Patti co-owns Waggers Dog Works LLC and has been a Canine Behavior Specialist in Orlando, FL for over 20 years. She holds multiple internationally-recognized certifications, and is Certified Training Partner with the Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training and Behavior (KPA CTP). She is also a founder of the Florida Force Free Veterinary Behavior & Trainers Network (www.ForceFreeFlorida.com), regularly assists at veterinary conferences and courses, and presents to veterinary clinics throughout Central Florida.
You can reach Lorena via her website at www.WaggersDogWorks.com.
Sources
What to do if You and Your Pet are in an Auto Accident, Sandy Robins, January 18, 2021. Fear Free Happy Homes website.
Take the Panic out of Handling a Pet Emergency, Arden Moore, April 1, 2019. Fear Free Happy Homes website.
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