Teaching Dogs to Tolerate Ear Cleaning: A Cooperative Care Approach

Many dogs resist routine care like ear cleaning, leading families to skip necessary procedures or resort to force. A recent study explored whether everyday caregivers—not professional trainers—could teach their dogs to accept ear cleaning using cooperative care principles. This matters because building tolerance before problems arise may prevent years of fear and struggle for both dogs and their families.

What Is the Research Question and Why Does It Matter?

Many dogs struggle during vet visits and home care, including ear cleaning. When a dog fights, hides, growls, or tries to escape, families may skip care or use more force. Both raise safety risks and can damage the dog’s welfare and the caregiver’s trust.

A key clinical problem: many owners want to help but don’t know how to teach medical skills safely, step by step.

The research question was straightforward. Can a clear, caregiver-run teaching plan help dogs learn to tolerate ear cleaning at home using cooperative care? Here, “cooperative care” means the dog can signal “yes” or “no” during training. If this works, it gives clinicians and trainers a structured option that may reduce the need for restraint—at least for some dogs.

This matters because ear cleaning is common, yet many dogs have little practice with it. Teaching the skill before it becomes urgent or painful may prevent a long history of fear and escape. For clinicians, the key questions are whether typical caregivers can follow the plan accurately and whether dogs can learn without significant stress.

What Did the Researchers Do?

The researchers recruited adult dog caregivers online and included only non-professional trainers in the final analysis. Dogs were screened to reduce risk and complexity. Those with bite history, current painful ear problems, strong fear, or extensive ear-cleaning experience were excluded. This means the protocol was tested mostly with dogs who were safe to handle and didn’t already have major ear-cleaning trauma.

Caregivers followed a website with written steps and short videos. They ran sessions at home and recorded them. Each session had five short trials, scored as “success” or “not success.”

The dog’s “yes” signal was a chin rest on a small mat placed on the caregiver’s lap. The “no” signal was lifting the chin or not returning to rest—either stopped the handling.

Training happened in phases. First, dogs learned the chin rest and to tolerate hands near and on their ears. Then came ear wiping with a cotton ball and cleaner. Some teams continued to an ear drops phase. Steps increased in difficulty slowly, and caregivers moved forward only after very high success—two full sessions at 100%. Independent observers checked caregiver accuracy and scoring agreement; both were high for pairs who submitted videos.

How to Use This in Clinical Practice

Use this protocol idea when you have a dog who is low bite-risk, takes treats easily, and doesn’t have current painful ear issues. This is a prevention and preparation tool, not a crisis tool.

If a dog already snaps during ear handling, won’t take food during training, or has an active infection, don’t jump straight to this plan without extra supports and veterinary input. In those cases, your job may be to first stabilize medical pain, build safer management, and consider medication support or in-person coaching.

Build a Clear Start Button

Start by teaching a “start button” behavior the dog controls—like the chin rest used here. The practical takeaway isn’t that chin rests are magic. The dog simply needs an easy, repeatable way to say “go ahead.”

Teach it like any stationing behavior: dog targets and rests chin, you mark, then deliver the treat in a way that creates a short break between trials. That break resets choice and helps the dog learn that cooperation leads to predictable starts and stops.

Keep the Stop Button Real

If the dog lifts the chin, turns away, or otherwise opts out, handling stops immediately. Then wait quietly for the start button again, or end the session if the dog is done.

Many caregivers accidentally keep reaching, keep talking, or try to “finish the job.” This teaches the dog that opting out doesn’t work. If you want assent-based care, the dog has to see that “no” changes the environment.

Teach the Marker and Treat Delivery Carefully

Your movement shouldn’t become the cue for the dog to pop off the station. In this study, caregivers marked first, then reached for the treat.

This prevents a common problem: the dog learns “hand moves toward treat container equals snack” and lifts the chin whenever hands move. That matters because later you need your hands to move toward the ears without the dog thinking it’s treat time yet. Coach caregivers to keep hands still during the behavior, mark, then deliver.

Plan in Small Steps

Expect one or two sticking points. In this study, several teams needed extra mini-steps at the start of the ear wipe phase—like just showing the cotton ball near the ear before touching.

Write flexible step rules ahead of time. If the dog fails, shrink the step, lower duration, increase distance, or change the angle, then rebuild. Don’t let caregivers grind through failure. Repeated “almost” trials can build frustration and avoidance.

Set a Realistic Schedule

Caregivers who practiced more often finished in fewer total days. For busy families, recommend short sessions—maybe one to three per day—rather than long sessions that create burnout.

Five trials can be enough if steps are small and the dog stays willing. If a family trains only a few times per week, help them plan for a longer timeline and keep goals modest.

Be Honest About Limitations

Many enrolled pairs dropped out or never sent data. Only a smaller set finished all phases. Even a well-made plan won’t fit every household. Treat follow-through as a main clinical target, not an afterthought.

Dogs with strong prior fear, bite risk, or painful ears were excluded. You cannot assume the same outcomes for those dogs.

Use Flexible Success Criteria

The study required two sessions at 100% before moving forward. This protects dogs from being pushed too fast but can slow progress and frustrate some owners.

Keep the spirit of the rule—require clear stability before advancing—while using clinical judgment. If you loosen criteria, add safeguards: watch for rising avoidance, reduced treat taking, and longer latencies to re-engage.

Track More Than Completion

Have caregivers note how quickly the dog returns to the start button, how often the dog opts out, and whether the dog chooses to stay nearby.

The study measured some stress-like behaviors from video, but patterns varied between dogs. Treat each dog’s signals as individual. If the dog is still “succeeding” but opting out more often, taking treats less eagerly, or needing more prompting, make the step easier or end sooner.

Don’t Oversell the Experience

The plan still involves exposure to sensations that may remain unpleasant. The goal is often “tolerates with choice,” not “loves it.”

Your clinical goal should be dignity and safety: brief exposure, clear communication, and enough reinforcement that the dog keeps choosing to participate. If a family needs full ear treatment right now, they may need a different approach—vet-administered care with pain control, short-term medication, or alternative methods—while you build cooperative skills for the future.

Plan for Both Ears

This protocol only trained one ear. In practice, plan a second-ear training track rather than assuming generalization. Some dogs may handle the other ear differently.

Tell caregivers upfront: “We taught the skill, and now we’ll teach it again on the other side—likely faster, but not always.” This expectation prevents rushing and protects the dog’s trust at the end.

Works Cited

Waite, M. R., Kodak, T. M., & Whang, A. J. (2025). Development and validation of a caretaker-implemented ear cleaning teaching protocol for companion dogs. Behavior Analysis in Practice. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-025-01135-z