Eye Care
Grooming & Handling · 19 steps · by Push Drop Stick
Your Dog will learn to enjoy having the area around their eyes handled and wiped, and to accept eye drops calmly.
Wiping tear stains and giving vet-prescribed eye drops use the same handling: steady the head, tip the chin up, gently part the eyelids, and deliver a drop or a wipe. This plan teaches all of it in one place, starting by building a happy association with the bottle, then the handling itself, then putting the two together.
**Always approach from above or behind**, never straight at the eye. A bottle coming head-on is alarming and risks poking the eye. Resting your hand on the head and coming down from above is calmer and safer.
**Eyes are delicate:** the dropper tip should never touch the eyeball, and you only ever wipe the skin around the eye, not the eye itself. Use a fresh cotton pad for each eye.
A solid **Chin Rest** makes this far easier, since a steady head does half the work. Train that first if you can. Because eye care needs both of your hands, it especially helps to teach the chin rest on a surface, such as a stool or chair, rather than in your hand. The Chin Rest plan covers both.
**One thing the chin rest does not cover:** a chin rest holds the head down and forward, while a drop goes in with the muzzle tipped slightly up, so the last moment lifts out of the rest rather than staying in it. That is why tipping the chin is trained here as its own small piece of handling. Use the chin rest for everything else, the approach, the steadying, the wiping, and treat the tip-up as the one part that asks Your Dog to leave it.
**High-value treats:** Have something Your Dog really loves on hand, delivered from your other hand right after each bit of handling.
**Puppies:** Getting your puppy happy about having their eyes handled and wiped is wonderful socialization during the puppy window (around 4 to 16 weeks), when puppies learn what is safe and normal in their world. Because a young puppy usually has no fear to undo and soaks up new experiences fast, you can often run this plan in **proof mode** (proof levels 1 and 2, the harder review steps) so your puppy breezes through it faster than an adult dog might need. Keep every rep positive and let your puppy set the pace.
**Split:** If Your Dog reacts to the cotton when it first appears near the wipe steps, drop back into the cotton splits to build a happy association with the sight of it before it touches the face.
Training steps
Pair the sight of the bottle with treats at a distance
Setup: Your Dog is nearby.
When Your Dog is not expecting it, show them the eye drops bottle from a distance, then toss a generous handful of tasty treats so they can eat without coming closer to it.
Success: Your Dog eats the treats.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Pair the sight of the bottle with treats
Setup: Your Dog is nearby.
When Your Dog is not expecting it, show them the bottle, then surprise them with a generous handful of treats. Stay where you are and let Your Dog choose to come get the treats, so they approach the bottle on their own. Between reps, sit together without feeding and keep the bottle out of sight. That contrast builds anticipation, so Your Dog starts thinking, 'Where is that bottle? I want it back because it means great things happen!'
Success: Your Dog approaches and eats the treats.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Put the bottle on the floor and sprinkle treats around it
Setup: Your Dog is nearby.
When Your Dog is not expecting it, set the bottle on the floor, sprinkle a generous handful of treats around it, and step back so Your Dog can approach and find the treats with no social pressure.
Success: Your Dog approaches and eats the treats.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Touch the cheek below the eye for 1 second
Setup: Your Dog is in any comfortable position.
Gently touch the cheek just below Your Dog's eye for one second, then quickly feed a treat from your other hand.
Success: Your Dog is happy and calm during handling.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Stroke the area around the eye for 3 seconds
Setup: Your Dog is in any comfortable position.
Gently stroke the area around the eye, the cheek and brow, for three seconds, feeding treats from your other hand while you do. Avoid touching the eye itself.
Success: Your Dog is happy and calm during handling.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Rest a thumb above the eye for 1 second
Setup: Your Dog is in any comfortable position.
Rest your hand on top of Your Dog's head and lay a thumb gently on the brow above the eye for one second, then feed a treat. This is the hand position you will use to steady the head for drops.
Success: Your Dog is happy and calm during handling.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Steady the head and rest a thumb near the eye for 3 seconds
Setup: Your Dog is in any comfortable position.
Steady the head with your hand on top and rest a thumb near the eye for three seconds, feeding treats while you hold.
Success: Your Dog is happy and calm during handling.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Tip the chin gently upward for 1 second
Setup: Your Dog is in any comfortable position.
With a hand under the chin, tip Your Dog's muzzle gently upward for one second so the eye faces up, then feed a treat. This is the position drops go in from, and it is the one moment that lifts out of a chin rest rather than staying in it.
Success: Your Dog is happy and calm during handling.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Part the eyelids for 1 second
Setup: Your Dog is in any comfortable position.
Steady the head, tip the chin up, and use a thumb and finger to gently part the eyelids for one second, then let go and feed a treat straight away. Be gentle and never press on the eye. Feed after rather than during: chewing moves the head just when you need it still.
Success: Your Dog is happy and calm during handling.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Hold the head tipped up and gently part the eyelids for 2 seconds
Setup: Your Dog is in any comfortable position.
The same handling, held for two seconds, then let go and feed. Be gentle and never press on the eye. Still feed afterwards rather than throughout, since a chewing dog is a moving dog. Two seconds is plenty here, longer than a drop actually takes to deliver.
Success: Your Dog is happy and calm during handling.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Bring the bottle near the eye from above for 1 second
Setup: Your Dog is in any comfortable position.
With the head steadied, bring the bottle toward the eye from above or behind, no contact, for one second, then feed a treat. Never approach straight at the eye.
Success: Your Dog is happy and calm during handling.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Hold the bottle in the drops position above the eye for 1 second
Setup: Your Dog is in any comfortable position.
Steady the head, tip the chin up, and hold the bottle in the drops position above the eye for one second, then feed a treat. The tip never touches the eye.
Success: Your Dog is happy and calm during handling.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Hold the bottle poised above the eye for 2 seconds
Setup: Your Dog is in any comfortable position.
Steady the head, tip the chin up, part the eyelids, and hold the bottle poised above the eye for two seconds, as if you were about to deliver a drop, then feed a treat.
Success: Your Dog is happy and calm during handling.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Place a drop into the eye
Setup: Your Dog is in any comfortable position.
Steady the head, tip the chin up, and place a single drop into the eye from above, then immediately feed a few tasty treats. Let Your Dog blink it in. That is normal. If you only need to wipe and not medicate, use a drop of saline here.
Success: Your Dog is happy and calm during care.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Pair the sight of the cotton with treats at a distance
Setup: Your Dog is nearby.
Show Your Dog the cotton from a distance, then toss a generous handful of treats so they can eat without coming closer. This builds a happy association with the sight of the cotton before it ever touches the face.
Success: Your Dog eats the treats.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Put the cotton on the floor and sprinkle treats around it
Setup: Your Dog is nearby.
Set the cotton pads or wipe on the floor, sprinkle a handful of treats around them, and step back so Your Dog can approach and eat with no pressure.
Success: Your Dog approaches and eats the treats.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Touch a cotton pad below the eye for 1 second
Setup: Your Dog is in any comfortable position.
Touch a cotton pad or soft cloth to the skin just below the eye for one second, then feed a treat.
Success: Your Dog is happy and calm during handling.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Wipe away tears or discharge below the eye
Setup: Your Dog is in any comfortable position.
Steady the head and gently wipe away tears or discharge on the skin below and around the eye, wiping outward and away from the eye, then feed a treat. Never wipe the eyeball, and use a fresh pad for each eye.
Success: Your Dog is happy and calm during care.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
The full eye routine, start to finish
Setup: Your Dog is in any comfortable position.
Put it all together: steady the head, tip the chin up, place a drop, let Your Dog blink, then wipe around the eye. Finish with a jackpot of treats and praise. These same steps cover vet-prescribed eye drops.
Success: Your Dog is happy and calm throughout.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Congratulations! You now have a dog who is happy to have their eyes cared for.
Keep the association strong by giving Your Dog a high-value treat every time you wipe their eyes or give drops.
If Your Dog starts avoiding eye care, that is completely okay. Simply Drop back to a step they are comfortable with and work through the plan again. Go at Your Dog's pace.
One caution: an eye problem can be an emergency. If you notice squinting, redness, cloudiness, a lot of discharge, or Your Dog pawing at the eye, skip the training and see your vet promptly. Conditioning waits; a sore eye does not.