Take a quick look at the cooperative care injection training I do with my dog Yuka to minimize the stress of getting a vaccination at the vet. It is composed of "three acts", which was adopted from Sara Owings' stimulus control class through Tromplo. Each act is composed of 2m of "training" followed by a 2m break. During Yuka's breaks she plays the game "find it" to decompress.

Within each "training act" we perform high probability behaviors on a 1 behavior to 1 treat ratio to keep the rate of reinforcement very high. This is known as behavioral momentum. Behavioral momentum refers to the tendency for behavior to persist following a change in environmental conditions. The greater the rate of reinforcement, the greater the behavioral momentum.

Huge thanks to our vet Dr. Phelps at Brooklyn Yard Veterinary Hospital for being so willing to participate in our training in this way. We could not have done this without her!

Additional thanks to Laura Monaco Torelli for mentoring us through this process. I could not have done this without your knowledge and support!

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