Chin Rest on a Surface
Positions · 17 steps · by @allison
Your Dog will learn to walk up to a prop, such as a washcloth on the couch, rest their chin on it, and hold it there for 10 seconds on the verbal cue 'Chin'.
A surface chin rest frees up **both** of your hands, which is a big help for eye drops, ear cleaning, grooming and vet checks. It also gives Your Dog a clear way to say "go ahead": chin down means ready, and a lifted head means not yet.
**Where most dogs get stuck.** Luring the chin down is easy. What's hard is getting Your Dog to offer it without the lure. Most dogs learn that *you* are the thing that pays, so they come back to you and wait for the next lure. This plan fades the lure in small pieces, and it has hidden rescue steps that build value for the prop itself if the offer won't come.
**Three habits that make it work:** - **Set the prop at the right height.** It should sit where Your Dog's chin would be with their head relaxed and a little lowered, so resting on it is the easiest thing to do. If they have to reach up or stretch down, raise or lower it. - **Reset through the prop.** After each rep, toss a treat a short distance away, and stand right beside the prop so that coming back to you means arriving at the prop. - **Feed low and slow, in position.** Bring each treat to Your Dog's mouth while their chin stays on the prop, so their head has no reason to come up chasing your hand.
If Your Dog already knows the hand chin rest from the Chin Rest plan, the surface version usually comes quickly. You can keep the same word for both, so it means "chin on whatever I'm offering."
Training steps
Lure the chin onto the prop
Setup: Your Dog is standing or sitting in front of the prop. You are beside it with a treat in one hand.
Hold the treat at Your Dog's nose and slide it along the top of the prop, toward you, so their chin comes down onto it rather than reaching over it. Mark and feed the instant their chin lands. Toss a reset treat a short distance away.
Success: Your Dog's chin lands on the prop.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Feed from the other hand
Setup: Your Dog is in front of the prop. You have a treat in your lure hand and more treats in your other hand.
Lure exactly as before, but when their chin lands, mark and feed from your OTHER hand while the lure hand stays still. Your Dog learns that the payment comes after the chin lands, not from the hand they're following.
Success: Your Dog's chin lands on the prop and stays there until the treat from the other hand arrives.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Lure with an empty hand
Setup: Your Dog is in front of the prop. Your lure hand is empty and your treats are in the other hand or your pouch.
Make the same sliding motion along the top of the prop with an empty hand. When their chin lands, mark and feed in position from the other hand. Reset with a short toss.
Success: Your Dog follows the empty hand and their chin lands on the prop.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Point to the prop
Setup: Your Dog is in front of the prop. Your hands are empty and still.
Shrink the motion to a small point or tap on the prop, right where the chin goes, then take your hand away. Wait a few seconds. When their chin lands, mark and feed in position.
Success: Your Dog's chin lands on the prop after a point or a tap.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Look at the prop
Setup: Your Dog is coming back from a reset toss. You are standing still beside the prop, hands at your sides.
Wait. The moment Your Dog looks at or turns their head toward the prop, mark and place the treat on the prop, right where the chin goes. You're building value for the prop itself, not for you.
Success: Your Dog looks at or turns their head toward the prop within 5 seconds.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Head dips toward the prop
Setup: Your Dog is coming back from a reset toss. You are standing still beside the prop, hands at your sides.
Wait for Your Dog to lower their head toward the prop, even a little. Mark and place the treat on the prop, right where the chin goes.
Success: Your Dog lowers their head toward the prop within 5 seconds.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Offers the chin rest
Setup: Your Dog is coming back from a reset toss. You are standing still beside the prop, hands at your sides, no lure and no point.
Wait quietly, up to 10 seconds. When Your Dog rests their chin on the prop on their own, mark and feed in position, then reset with a short toss so they come back through the prop again.
Success: Your Dog rests their chin on the prop without a lure or a point, within 10 seconds.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Feed a few treats in a row, chin down
Setup: Your Dog is coming back from a reset toss. You are beside the prop.
When Your Dog offers the chin rest, feed three or four small treats in position, one after another with a beat between each. If the chin comes up, the treats stop straight away. Reset with a toss.
Success: Your Dog keeps their chin on the prop through three treats in a row.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Mark, then feed after 1 second
Setup: Your Dog is coming back from a reset toss. You are beside the prop.
When the chin lands, mark, then wait about 1 second before bringing the first treat to their mouth. Feed low and slow, in position.
Success: Your Dog keeps their chin on the prop until the treat arrives, about 1 second after the mark.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Chin rest for 2 seconds
Setup: Your Dog is coming back from a reset toss. You are beside the prop.
When the chin lands, count two quiet seconds, then mark and feed in position. Reset with a toss.
Success: Your Dog keeps their chin on the prop for 2 seconds.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Add the verbal cue
Setup: Your Dog is coming back from a reset toss. You are beside the prop.
As Your Dog heads back toward the prop, when you're sure they're about to offer, say 'Chin' once. When their chin lands, count 2 seconds, then mark and feed in position.
Success: Your Dog rests their chin on the prop for 2 seconds after the cue.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Only the verbal cue
Setup: Your Dog is beside you, one step away from the prop. You are standing still, hands at your sides.
Say 'Chin' once and wait, without pointing or stepping toward the prop. When Your Dog goes to the prop and rests their chin, count 2 seconds, then mark and feed in position.
Success: Your Dog goes to the prop and rests their chin on it for 2 seconds on the verbal cue alone.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Chin rest for 3 seconds
Setup: Your Dog is near the prop. You are beside it.
Say 'Chin'. When the chin lands, count 3 quiet seconds, then mark and feed in position.
Success: Your Dog keeps their chin on the prop for 3 seconds.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Chin rest for 5 seconds
Setup: Your Dog is near the prop. You are beside it.
Say 'Chin'. When the chin lands, count 5 quiet seconds, then mark and feed in position.
Success: Your Dog keeps their chin on the prop for 5 seconds.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Chin rest for 10 seconds
Setup: Your Dog is near the prop. You are beside it.
Say 'Chin'. When the chin lands, count 10 quiet seconds, then mark and feed in position.
Success: Your Dog keeps their chin on the prop for 10 seconds.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Prop in a new spot
Setup: Move the same prop to a new surface at the same height, such as a stool in another room. Your Dog is near it and you are beside it.
Say 'Chin'. When the chin lands, count 2 seconds, then mark and feed in position. The hold goes back to 2 seconds because the place is new.
Success: Your Dog rests their chin on the prop in the new spot for 2 seconds.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
A new surface, no washcloth
Setup: Take the prop away and use a bare surface at the same height, such as the couch arm or a chair seat. Your Dog is near it and you are beside it.
Say 'Chin' and pat the surface once where the chin goes. When the chin lands, count 2 seconds, then mark and feed in position.
Success: Your Dog rests their chin on the bare surface for 2 seconds.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Well done! Your Dog can now go to a prop, rest their chin on it for 10 seconds on the cue 'Chin', and do it on a new surface too.
From here, make it a habit rather than a drill. Before an eye drop, ear clean or brush, ask for the chin rest, do one small piece, feed, then let Your Dog lift their head and offer again. A lifted head means not yet. Wait, and don't handle until the chin comes back down.
To fade the prop, keep moving to new surfaces, and in the end try the bare surface with the washcloth taken away. For the full consent routine around handling, follow on with Start Button: Chin Rest.