Our Cooperative Care Program is designed to help dogs overcome fear, anxiety, and stress related to handling, grooming, and veterinary visits. Many dogs become fearful when touched in certain ways, handled by unfamiliar people, or exposed to sounds and tools they associate with discomfort. This can lead to reactive behavior, increased stress, and an inability to receive proper care. Our program uses positive reinforcement to gradually build your dog's trust and confidence, helping him stay calm during grooming or vet procedures like nail trims, ear cleaning, or physical exams. We move at your dog's pace, ensuring each step feels safe and rewarding. With consistency and patience, we help create a more positive experience for your dog, and a less stressful one for you and your care providers.
Skills We Can Improve
- Scissors / clippers near his body or face
- Nail clipping or grinding
- Having the dryer blowing on him
- Brushing
- Touching parts of his body such as face, tail, or feet
- Being on the grooming table
- Being in a grooming enclosure
- Being in the lobby and/or grooming room
- Riding in the car to the groomer
- And more
Example veterinary skills we can work on:
- Full body exam / touching different parts of the body such as ears, feet, tail, etc.
- Stepping on a scale
- Receiving an injection (we use fake needles)
- Being on the exam table
- Being in an enclosure / cage bank
- Interacting with staff, including who have on a lab coat or X-ray vest
- Being in the lobby and/or exam room
- Riding in the car to the vet
- And more
If you don't see a skill on the list, just ask us!
How the Program Works
These situations can be highly stressful for dogs, and they often require physical restraint and the risk of being bitten.
The goal is that he learns that these environments or actions are no big deal, and he can handle them with relative ease. For example, he can be taught to hold out his paw to receive nail clipping.
This creates a much safer environment for you, the veterinary staff, the grooming staff, and even your dog. It will improve your relationship with your dog, and can even help with other fear-based behaviors such as leash reactivity.
The room includes state-of-the-art equipment that your dog would likely experience in the real world.
An example program might be six sessions and three Happy Visits. In this instance, the total cost would be $1,050.
You can request your consultation by clicking here and choosing "Training", then "Vet and Grooming Anxiety Training."
FAQs
Does the training take place in the grooming room?
The training takes place in our training facility, where we have a special room set aside that is quiet and has all of the same tools and equipment. We want to help build up your dog's tolerance and acceptance in a low-stress environment. Once your dog is able to handle it, we can start to venture into the grooming room together, including for getting in the tub and even getting treats from the groomers.
Is it a big problem if my dog is stressed by going to the vet or groomer?
Yes, this can become a big problem for you, and one that you probably want to address right away. For example, a dog who is highly stressed in these environments could have a serious heart issue, can become reactive and bite you or a handler, and can develop worse behaviors at home. Your vet or groomer could also say they can't take him any longer due to the risk to himself and the staff. Further, it may become very difficult or even impossible to provide proper care at home, such as eye drops, injections, and more.
Is it possible to have the trainer come to my vet's office?
Yes, that is possible and could be advantageous for at least a few of the sessions. There would be minor travel fee, and the vet must be in our service area. You would want to clear this well in advance with your vet, but they should see it as being very helpful, if your dog is creating a risk for their staff.
How long will it take to make progress?
That answers depends on you and your more than anything. Our trainer is going to show you a number of home exercises, plus recommend various tools to buy (e.g., fake syringe). In between sessions, you will need to practice with your dog each day for at least 30 minutes. If you do this, come in for Happy Visits in between sessions, and follow the trainer's guideance, your dog should hopefully start to show progress. Your dog's trust should also start to build, because he is giving consent instead of you forcing something on him. Some dogs start to get over their fears rapidly, some take longer.
Am I able to keep a prong collar or choke chain on my dog?
Your dog cannot build up trust in you or the process if being controlled by a tool such as a choke chain or prong collar. This program is the opposite - your dog will learn to give consent on his own, and our trainer is going to show you how to create results in a more positive way, which will also include treats or other rewards.
What if my dog is trying to bite the trainer?
That would be up for discussion. We cannot put our trainers at risk of injury. However, we can also show you how to safely teach your dog to wear a muzzle, and that level of safety may be sufficient for working together. In addition, the trainer is going to be showing you the exercises, and doesn't necessarily need to be the one interacting with your dog during the sessions. Hopefully over time, once building up trust, your dog will learn to stop trying to bite.
What if my dog is too stressed to come to your facility?
If this is the case, the trainer can come to your home if you live in our service area, or could have your sessions through Zoom. There wouldn't be major equipment such as the grooming table, but we can try to make do with what we can. By building up your dog's trust, it may be possible to come to the facility in the future if necessary, starting with Happy Visits.
What if the program isn't working?
First, it takes lots of practice and patience. You may have to give your dog a lot of time to get over his fears and anxiety. If it seems like progress is just not possible due to his state of panic, we can discuss potential medication with you, in conjunction with your vet. This can dial dogs' anxiety levels down to a manageable level so they can think more clearly. We would want to explore these paths before discussing a refund. If a refund is agreed upon, it would be for any upcoming sessions, not for any that have already occurred.
Featured Trainer
Allison Ginsburg, KPA CTP
Our Lead Cooperative Care Trainer
Allison Ginsburg, KPA CTP leads our Cooperative Care training program.
Allison has a specialized certification in Cooperative Care, and is Fear-Free Certified. She also graduated from the prestigious Karen Pryor Academy, a worldwide-recognized program that teaches and certifies trainers in positive reinforcement.
Before becoming a dog trainer, Allison spent 23 years working as a Marine Mammal trainer with dolphins and sea lions, including at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. After that, she spent years working as a zookeeper, training species such as polar bears, tigers, lynx, coyote and parrots.
She successfully used positive reinforcement and cooperative care techniques in all of her work.
Fear Free Certified
Our entire grooming staff is Fear Free Certified. This means that everyone on our team is devoted to helping the process be as stress-free as possible. As an example, they will be as gentle as possible, can use treats to communicate that everything is OK, will not brush too vigorously or for too long, and will not continue the grooming process if your dog is overly stressed. All of this is because we believe that your dog's well-being is of the utmost importance.
Many of our trainers are Fear Free Certified as well, including Allison.
When you enroll in our Cooperative Care Program for grooming anxiety, our trainers can work closely with our groomers to make sure the process goes as smoothly as possible, and that they are trying to implement the strategies discussed in your sessions.
Positive Reinforcement Methods
Tucker Pup's only uses positive reinforcement methods. We do not use prong collars, choke chains, shock collars, poking, yelling, leash popping, or other aversive methods. Dominance can easily cause your dog to distrust you, and to only comply in order to avoid a negative outcome. This isn't truly learning, and can cause your dog's behaviors to become much worse.
Positive reinforcement is much more effective for creating long-term learning and a stronger relationship with your dog. Dogs love training when this style is being used, are much more responsive to their owners, and are much happier in general. In short, positive reinforcement gives you the best chance of success, and can be the fastest way to get results. If you are hesitant, please trust us on this one and feel free to ask us questions.
Positive reinforcement combines an encouraging tone of voice, clear instruction, relaxed body language, the use of rewards (e.g., treats, favorite toy), patience, and empathy.
If you are concerned about giving treats, keep in mind that they work very well for most dogs, you can phase them out at your discretion, and it is possible to use something else that your dog values, such as a favorite toy.
Success Story
Grooming Anxiety Success Story
Customer Reviews
Yelp has listed Tucker Pup's as one of the top 100 local businesses in the country in 2025. We are the only pet business who made the list from Chicago, and the only pet resort / training business who made the list nationally.
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Neighborhoods We Serve
Tucker Pup's is located in the West Loop / Fulton Market District neighborhood. People come to us from all over Chicago, especially from Bucktown, Gold Coast, Lake View, Lincoln Park, Old Town, River North, River West, South Loop, Streeterville, Ukrainian Village, University Village, West Town and Wicker Park.
