Senior Dog Comfort & Care

A chin rest is teaching your dog to place their chin on a target and hold their head still. The target could be a rolled-up towel on a chair, on your lap, or at a comfortable height for your dog. By training this cue on your lap or towel, you’ll have two free hands to use for giving medicated eye or ear drops, checking and cleaning ears, and more. It’s also a useful trick to use at a vet exam, where your dog can rest their chin in your hand or on your lap while the vet handles their body.

To start, pick a soft towel that you’ll always use as the chin target. Place it on your lap if you have a taller dog or on a low platform for smaller dogs. Have a treat in a closed hand to use as a lure. Hold the treat in front of your dog’s nose and slowly lure them so their chin is lightly resting on the towel. Say yes and give them the treat. Repeat!

In the next session, see if your dog will put their chin on the towel without the lure. If they do, yes, and treat! If they don’t, simply go back to luring them into position. Don’t worry about adding duration until they are happily placing their chin on the target without a lure. Once they are, say yes after they’ve held in place for two seconds. Then three, and so on.