“My dog would never keep those on!”
We often hear dog owners say that their dog could not/would not learn to wear Rex Specs, but here’s the good news: with the right steps, getting your dog to wear protective eyewear doesn’t have to be a challenge. The key to success? Patience, plenty of rewards, and a step-by-step approach to building their confidence in new gear. The results of training your dog to wear them can be a game changer for protecting their eyes when out exploring, and can even be a fun bonding experience for you both! In this guide, we’ll break down simple tips and tricks to help your dog not just tolerate, but love wearing their Rex Specs.
Wait, Why Goggles?
Before we get into our step-by-step training tips, it’s important to understand why we’re gearing our dogs up.
Rex Specs are designed to shield your dog’s eyes from impact, debris, and harmful UVA/UVB rays. Whether you and your pup are hiking rugged terrain, high tailing it down trails, flushing birds in the fields, or simply enjoying a drive with the windows down, eye protection can keep your dog exploring the world safely and more comfortably.
They look cool, too!
Let’s Get Started!
You just unboxed your dog’s shiny new pair of Rex Specs Dog Goggles, and you’re itching to get out and go. Hold on! Don’t just shove those goggles on your dog. Creating a positive association with their new gear can make your dog more comfortable in the long run.
Remember: all dogs are different. Some might take to their goggles in a few training sessions without much effort, while others need a few days or weeks to feel comfortable. There’s no right or wrong time frame for goggle training. Go at your dog’s pace!
Step 1: Introducing the Goggle
Start by removing the lenses from your goggle and grabbing your dog’s favorite treat or kibble. Reward them for any interaction they make with the goggle. This might be done by holding it out and encouraging your dog to sniff or interact with it. Dog sniffs goggle, dog gets reward!
Once your dog is keyed in and knows that treats are available, start slowly bringing their goggle into the path of them coming to your hand for a treat. Try to let their face touching the goggle create the reward!
Pro Tip: We recommend choosing a marker word, such as “Yes!”, to say each time you give them a treat.
Step 2: “Gear Up!”
Now that your dog is excited to interact and comfortable with the goggle in their space and touching their face, start encouraging them to stick their nose in the straps. Keep in mind, we don’t want to shove the goggle on their face; we want the dog to choose to bring their face towards it.
Making sure that the lens is removed, loosen the straps wide enough to accommodate your pup’s muzzle. Use treats to encourage your dog to stick their nose through the straps. You may need to lure them into the goggle with food to start. When your dog sticks their nose through the goggle straps, give them a reward!
Once your dog understands and enjoys this game, start attaching a cue to it. We like to use “Gear Up”! Say that new cue before initiating the pattern of the game.
Watch Work Your Pack Teach the “Gear Up!” Phase
Step 3: Adding Duration & Buckling Straps
Once your dog is consistently offering to put their face into the goggle after hearing “Gear Up!”, start to lengthen the amount of time the goggle spends on their face. Don’t forget to reward them intermittently while doing so.
As they become comfortable feeling the goggle sit on their face, add in the straps! Here’s how: get your dog interested in food in your hand, give them the “Gear Up!” command, and slowly lower your hand to the ground, giving them the treat. Repeat this step a few times while holding the goggle to their face. Once they are comfortable with this motion, release the food onto the ground and gently buckle the strap behind their ears.
Make sure to repeat this process to give your dog time to adjust. By now, the aim is to have the goggle be associated with eating food and having fun!
Step 4: Get Moving!
Thanks to your hard work (and treats), your dog now understands the advantages of wearing their goggles! Now it's time to get moving!
Here are some of our favorite ways to encourage movement and keep your dog engaged with the goggle on:
- Follow a trail of treats on the floor
- Feed a tasty treat
- Practice their favorite tricks or obedience
- Play luring games
- Take a short, leashed walk
- Play on leash recall games
- Give them a chew
The main goal is to add duration and mobility to their time wearing the goggles. The goggles are there, the dog doesn’t care! If your dog is pawing at their goggles, take it back a step or two and allow them to adjust for a longer period of time.
Step 5: Adding Lenses
By now, your dog should be digging their Rex Specs. They know there is an advantage to wearing them and they can move around with them on - indifferent to their presence!
Pop in the Clear Lens, and start right back at Step 1. Your dog may not have to go as slow as they did in the beginning, but jumping back to square one will help ensure that the presence of the lens does not dramatically change how comfortable they are in their new gear.
When adding lenses, we recommend starting with the Clear Lens first.
Time to Adventure!
Once your dog is comfortable being active with lenses in their goggles, it's time to hit the ground running! We recommend starting out with simple, leashed walks and working your way up to off leash freedom. You’ll be tearing up trails and bounding through fields in no time!
Watch our step-by-step video guide made by @workyourpack here.
Got training questions? Email our team at info@rexspecs.com!