Start Buttons for Cooperative Care Training: What are they and why are they important?
One thing about us is that we love cooperative care training, and we love to talk about making cooperative care training more accessible and achievable. One of the questions we get asked the most about cooperative care is this:
What is a start button?
A start button is a behavior that our dogs can do to cue us to initiate the care task or the training. This gives our dogs choice in the cooperative care process, allowing them to opt-in or opt-out when they feel uncomfortable or nervous.
This idea also hinges on the idea that training is a two-way street. We communicate with our dogs - and we should listen to them when they communicate with us.
The start button “order of events”
The dog does the start button behavior
The human does the grooming or husbandry behavior
Mark (“yes!'“ or click)
Give the dog a treat
Repeat as long as your dog continues to offer the start button behavior
Examples of start button behaviors:
Your dog places their chin on your lap to cue you to touch their ears
Your dog places their chin on a chair to cue you to lift their paw
Your dog targets a paw station to cue you to wipe a paw with a cloth
What do you do if your dog opts out?
One of the most important pieces to cooperative care and start button training is honoring your dog’s “nos.” This helps to build trust, communication, and consent for your dog.
“No” can look like:
Hesitation to return to the training area
The dog doesn’t offer the start button behavior
The dog offers the start button behavior, but they do it slowly
The dog starts to “throw out” other, unrelated behaviors
When your dog says no, you can:
Toss treats away from you to reset
Give your dog a treat scatter and take a break from training
Put any tools (like nail clippers, wipes, etc) away
Mark and reward your dog for opt-ing out
Ask for a few reps of an easy behavior like a nose touch
If your dog does opt back in to training, ask for an easier rep of the care task
We know it can feel counter-intutive to reward your dog when they say “no” during training. It makes such a big difference in cooperative care training, though! When you listen to and reinforce your dog for opting out, your dog will most likely start opting in more.
P.S. Enjoyed this article and want a little something extra?
Download our Big Feelings Dog Checklist to get practical, low-key tips you can start using right away to support your dog. It’s full of our favorite simple strategies to help your dog feel safer and more at ease.
