TRAINING FOR A THROAT SWAB
Training animals to allow a sample to be collected from the mucousal membranes in the throat is another option for collecting a sample to test for the corona virus responsible for COVID-19.
In order to collect a sample using this approach, an open mouth behavior that is held for duration is required. You can use the method described at the beginning of this course and seen in the sea lion and giant panda video below.
Listen to this podcast on training an open mouth behavior for additional ideas on how to train this behavior. You can also see some nice examples of ways to get open mouth behaviors started in this Facebook live-stream recording from my weekly YOU be the Behavior Consultant series. For members of www.AnimalTrainingFundamentals.com the recording can be found here.
Henrik Sonne Futtrup demonstrates collecting a sample from the throat of a sea lion.
Nadja Viftrup Søndergaard demonstrates collecting a sample from the throat of a giant panda.