When I first rehomed Terral, he came with his fair share of quirks.

He’d freeze mid-walk, bark when left alone, and wouldn’t go anywhere near a car, let alone hop into one. I thought, “That’s okay—these are things we can work on at our own pace. No rush, no pressure.”

But then there was the bigger challenge: Terral had troublesome ears (yes, that’s the technical term) and needed daily medication. Yet the first time I picked up the ear treatment bottle, he bolted to another room, visibly shaking. Administering the drops turned into a two-person job, with my husband holding him firmly while I applied the medicine. It was stressful for all of us, to say the least.

This was a much more complex behaviour issue to tackle.

Can you see the difference between this and his other quirks? While I could take my time addressing things like avoiding cars or barking when left alone—finding alternatives like home exercise or not leaving him solo—there was no way to avoid giving Terral his medication without risking his health.

From Terral’s perspective, imagine him keeping a mental scorecard of our relationship. Each time I restrained him to deliver the treatment he dreaded, it was like losing 10 points from our trust account. “Bad Rosie,” he’d think. To make progress, I needed to ensure our training sessions added as many trust points as possible—that was the only way forward.

So, what was the plan?

I knew I needed to tailor my training sessions to Terral, ensuring every step was effective and stress-free. So, I approached this challenge the same way I handle all behaviour issues, asking myself:

• What’s the goal? What end behaviour do I want from Terral, and how can I break that down into small, manageable steps for us both?
• How can we communicate? Can I give Terral a way to whisper his discomfort (“Psst, this is tricky for me”) rather than shouting his distress (“Nope, I’m out of here”)?
• What motivates him? What does Terral absolutely love that I can use to reward progress and keep him engaged?
• How can I give him control? How do I create a training setup that offers Terral choices, helps him feel in control, and encourages him to make the choice I’m after?

With these questions guiding me, I designed a plan that worked for both of us.

Here’s what we came up with:

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Terral now willingly accepts his daily ear treatment, letting me know he’s ready by calmly placing his chin on the towel—a choice he’s happy to make.

At his recent annual check-up at Woolton Vets, Terral allowed the vet to complete his examination and booster with ease, using this same approach. What could have been a stressful experience for us both has become calm and straightforward—showcasing the effectiveness of this type of trust-based training.