Question: Will I need to do anything special to get my dog to use them?
- Introduce the CrittEar products to your dog, associating them with treats. Show them the dog earplugs and provide a few treat. Repeat this until your dog knows they will receive a treat every time they see the CrittEar product.
- Roll one CrittEar (Calm) dog earplug between the thumb and forefinger of your dominant hand to compress them into a cylinder shape for insertion into your dog’s ears. Doing this gets you comfortable with the product as well as allows your dog to see you handle the CrittEar dog earplug.
- With your free hand, firmly hold your dog’s ear flap, one finger, closer to their skull than the floppy end, and lift your dog’s ear upward, and touch the inside of your dog’s ear flap (without tickling them). This is to allow your dog time to acclimate to something touching the insides of their ears. You need to lift the ear such that the entire ear, not just the flap, are angled fully upwards. Some dogs will have no problem, while others may try to pull away. Don’t stop them if your dog pulls away – just redirect with more treats. Continue this step in the training process until your dog doesn’t react to your touch.
Once your dog is comfortable with one ear – repeat steps 2-3 until they are comfortable with both inner ear flaps being touched. Go back and forth between ears to keep your dog accustomed to the feel.
4.
Roll the other CrittEar product (as you did in step 2) and replace your finger (from step 3) with a rolled dog earplug. Pull your dog’s ear flap upward and firmly (yet gently) insert the CrittEar dog earplug, starting with the narrow side, into your dog’s ear canal at a slight downward angle – once in, hold in place for 5 seconds. This allows the CrittEar product to naturally expand and give way to a custom fit. Repeat this step with your dog’s other ear. And, don’t forget to continue providing treats.
Viola – all good! Now keep practicing and using the CrittEar dog ear plugs in various situations. This allows for your dog to become used to the noise reduction and comfort that they provide.
Once trained, you can freely insert the CrittEar product as needed to address situations.
Go to CrittEar’s youTube channel to watch and learn more!
We specialize in dog hearing protection – because we love dogs! Here at CrittEar® we are serious about your dog’s hearing. Building on a career in audiology, our founder wanted to use her knowledge to help dogs with noise anxiety, aid dogs with firework fear, therapy/service assist working dogs who serve and protect, provide ear protection to hunting dogs, and assist every dog with noise anxiety management. Because once a dog loses their hearing – it’s gone. We’re passionate about helping dogs – that’s why we make the only patented dog earplug on the market.
CrittEar®: Protecting Dogs Ears, Calming Dogs Fears