Cooperative Care Training
What if your pet actually cooperated at the vet?
It’s not a pipe dream. Cooperative Care teaches your pet to be a willing participant in handling, grooming, and vet visits — instead of a four-legged flight risk.
Most pets aren’t thrilled about nail trims, vet exams, or having someone poke around their ears — and honestly, that’s pretty normal. What’s not normal is the assumption that your pet just has to white-knuckle through it. Through gentle, consent-based techniques, your pet learns to signal when they’re ready, when they need a break, and how to participate in their own care — rather than just enduring it.
We work through the handling situations that matter most to your household: nail trims, grooming prep, vet-visit handling, medication routines, and general body handling. Sessions happen in your home, one-on-one, in the environment where your pet actually lives. You’ll learn the same skills your pet learns — so after our time together, you’re not dependent on me to get through a nail trim. You’ve got the tools.
Works for dogs AND cats.
What we actually train.
- Nail trims — at home and at the groomer
- Ear cleaning and ear drops
- Medication administration (pills, eye drops, topicals)
- Muzzle introduction and conditioning
- Vet visit handling: restraint, exam table, injections
- Grooming handling: brushing, bathing, blow drying
- Body confidence: touching paws, mouth, ears, tail without stress
Two programs. One goal: handling that doesn’t feel like a battle.
Cooperative Care Foundations — 6 Weeks | $649
For pets who resist handling but aren’t completely overwhelmed by it yet. We work systematically through your pet’s handling priorities over six weeks — with clear milestones, progress check-ins, and a plan you can maintain long after our sessions end.
→ Starts with a Paid Consultation ($199, credited toward program if enrolled within 7 days) → An intake form is required before the first session
Cooperative Care Complete — 10 Weeks | Starting at $1,199
For pets with significant fear or stress responses, multiple handling challenges, a bite history, or strong avoidance behaviors. This includes cats, highly reactive animals, and pets who’ve had difficult experiences with past handling. If your pet has ever sent a vet tech running or you’ve given up on nail trims entirely, this is where we start.
Same consent-based, force-free approach as Foundations — but with more sessions, more gradual progression, and more time to build the kind of calm that actually holds up in real life. The $199 consultation fee is credited toward the program if you enroll within 7 days.
→ Starts with a Paid Consultation ($199) — the most important session of the whole program → An intake form is required before the first session
Add-on sessions available.
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Add-On
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Price
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Vet visit rehearsal (in-home prep)
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$125
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Nail trim finish session
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$85
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Cat carrier jumpstart
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$85
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Vet visit attendance (I come with you)
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$250+
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“Cooperative Care isn’t just about getting through a vet visit. It’s about your pet feeling safe — and you feeling confident. That changes everything.” — Theresa Cahill, A Paw Forward Retreat
Heading: This is for you if…
- Vet visits or grooming appointments are a source of dread (for both of you)
- Your pet has been flagged as “difficult to handle” by a vet or groomer
- You’re struggling to give medications or do basic home care
- You have a new puppy and want to build good handling habits from day one
- Your cat needs nail trims, and it’s currently a two-person wrestling match
- Your pet has a bite history or has shut down completely around handling
Let’s make handling something your pet can handle.
No t sure which program fits? Start with a free 15-minute call.