How to get a dog to lie still for an MRI (train, medium)

[no kudzu]

I often wondered how this is done.

Dogs Lie Perfectly Still in a Scanner for a Seeming Eternity

[suzy_q2010]

Originally Posted by no kudzu

I often wondered how this is done.

Dogs Lie Perfectly Still in a Scanner for a Seeming Eternity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0Y-GU3JqiQ

[oregonwoodsmoke]

The dogs are tranquilized.

[twelvepaw]

[quote=suzy_q2010;46977521]



Yes. This group in the video trained using reward-based clicker training. I love the twist at the end of having another person give the hand signal.

Another research group in Budapest used both reward-based training and social learning to train.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.50dfc86c76a3

The dogs are willing participants; they are awake, alert, and focused on the handler at all times.

[suzy_q2010]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

The dogs are tranquilized.

Absolutely not.

[no kudzu]

Drugging them would not give them the results they are looking for which is how they react to certain stimuli.

[spencgr]

My dog just had an MRI, and she was under anethesia.

[simplepeace]

[quote=twelvepaw;46984502]

Originally Posted by suzy_q2010

Yes. This group in the video trained using reward-based clicker training. I love the twist at the end of having another person give the hand signal.

Another research group in Budapest used both reward-based training and social learning to train.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.50dfc86c76a3

The dogs are willing participants; they are awake, alert, and focused on the handler at all times.

This is really wonderful stuff. The more we learn the better our relationships with our pets and working partners will be.

For those who didn't read the articles or watch the video. This is not about MRIs

[Dashdog]

I think when you are doing an MRI for medical reasons your dog is sedated as MRI's take time and tend to be loud.maybe when using them for research you can take the time to train a dog to lay still that long. CT scan is much quicker then an MRI and most animals needing one for medical reasons require sedation as the slightest movement can distort the picture, In past dogs I have had both Ct's and an MRI done and they were sedated.


Some people require sedation too as there are many reasons they can not hold still enough for the tests.

[suzy_q2010]

The dogs are not sedated because the procedure being used is functional MRI. It tells how the brain is reacting to stimuli, not just deriving an anatomical picture of the structure of the brain. Sedation would defeat the purpose of doing the test.

For those who are interested, Dr. Berns has written a book, How Dogs Love Us, in which he gives more detail about the training. It's an easy read, fun and informative.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Dogs-Love...dp_kinw_strp_1