How to Pick Up a Dog? – Itsaboutdog

How to Pick Up a Dog

Summary

To safely pick up a dog, support their body weight properly. For small dogs, place one hand under their chest and the other under their rear. For medium/large dogs, kneel, supporting their chest with one arm and hindquarters with the other. Be mindful of their comfort and body language. If injured, use a muzzle. Pregnant dogs need support under the chest and back legs, avoiding belly pressure. For hip dysplasia or older dogs, support the chest and abdomen, minimizing hind leg stress. Train your dog with positive reinforcement and a “lift” command. For heavy dogs or those with health issues, seek assistance or consult your vet for tailored techniques.

How to Pick Up a Dog?

This segment is all about the ways that you should follow to pick your dog up so that they feel comfortable.

Using the Chest Cradle

The first picking method that you can always try is the chest cradle. Remember, this works best with medium to large-sized breed dogs. You can use one arm to secure the front chest and the other hand to fortify the back legs, thigh, etc.

Now place the body of the dog against your chest and pick gently. But it would be best to make sure they kneel and rise while lifting so they feel safe.

Besides that, you can also apply this other lifting method where you secure the front chest with one hand and use the other hand to secure the waist area. But this process may disturb the comfort level.

Using Ribcage Pick-Up

It would help if you placed the hand beneath the ribcage to fortify the dog’s front legs so that it can pick up the cage. In the meantime, could you pick up the elbow and cuff it well? Now, use the other hand to support the dog’s back legs.

Now, this will help cover the whole ribcage portion of the dog. Just be sure you press your dog tightly and support her hips well so he can fit snugly.

Alternative Picking-Up Methods

If you want to pick them up smoothly, lure them to a sofa or ask them to ride on your bed and slowly pick up your dog.

The following method that you can apply is simply calling the dog to get inside the crate or into a laundry basket and then picking that up.

Now, remember this picking-up process works well when you intend to carry small dogs.

One more thing that you can always do is train your pet to jump over to your lap when you are in a sitting position.

This will also help you pick up the dog efficiently. Just pick her up once your dog does so by pressing her tightly.

For small breed dogs, carrying them in backpacks specially made for them would be easier than placing them in your arms.

Easy Hacks to Lift Your Dog

Here, we will enlighten you on some valuable and easy hacks to help you lift your dog without any trouble.

Training

First of all, you can resort to training. It would help if you made your dog feel comfortable and easy with the picking process through training. Try to induce a positive connection so that they can do their way.

Conditioning

If you are unfamiliar with the lifting process, you must start with the conditioning process. Once again, it would help if you stressed creating a connection with your dog.

Lifting Process Break Up

Remember that lifting your dog in a single day is impossible. You need to break the whole pick-up process into mini-steps.

For example, introduce every single step each day. To make the training steps exciting, you can always reward him with some valuable treats. But again, make sure the treat does contain only a few calories.

Going to Your Dog

It would be best to approach your dog with a treat to start the process. Hold it and only offer it if they accept the training.

Make sure that you repeat the process until the dog gets eager. Then, move on to the next step, like tapping their head gently and feeding the treat.

Pick Them Up

Eventually, you reach the last step, where you can pick up your dog easily because they get ready.

Things to Remember While Picking Up Your Dog

  • While doing the above-said process, remember to use the word like a lift. It is because dogs are easy to catch words with, so if you use them in such moments, it becomes easier for him or them to relate.
  • Next, you need to learn their behavior. Also, try to read the signal your dog shows. If your dog is positively participating in the training, then you are moving in the right direction.
  • Now, you will see that your dog will show certain moves that prove they willingly participate in the picking-up process. Ultimately, your goal should be making your dog do everything, but that activity should become fun for them.
  • After reading the signal, you make the gesture of picking them. But if your dog resists doing the same, that shows they are uncomfortable. In that case, don’t try to pick your dog up from there; instead, reposition and try once more.
  • Now, you need to check whether or not your dog is repeatedly turning down your offer. If yes, then you need to look for an alternative answer. You can pick up the dog without prior approval if your pooch suffered any injury or was somehow wounded.
  • Here, to be on the safe side, you can use a muzzle because there is a chance that the dog can bite you the moment you try to pick it up. As per the animal control experts, you can also put a leash on the dog if you don’t have the muzzle handy. Also, you can use both while lifting, but be careful to secure the leash safely.

How to Pick Up an Aged Dog?

If your dog is older but not too weighty, you can lift them yourself only. You need to offer support around the legs in the back portion with one hand. Then, use the other hand to support the dog from beneath the neck or the chest.

You can even pick him up by holding the neck as well. Now, this is to prevent him from biting your hand. In addition to that, you can use a lead to have complete control over his head.

How to Pick Up a Weighty Dog?

If your dog weighs more, you can always look for a second help. In that case, you can support the front portion of the leg and cover up the chest and neck. Then, call the second person to safely secure the dog from the back and support the dog’s back legs.

Please keep your dog in a hold position briefly because it may stress his neck. Also, it will cause pain in the back of the dog. So, could you not pick them up unnecessarily? Just pick them up only when it is necessary to do so.

How to Lift a Dog with a Back Issue?

Dogs also encounter many back issues, so you need to be extra cautious while lifting them. Just put one hand between the frontal legs and place the other hand to support the rest of the body. Now, this will reduce any kind of strain on his back portion.

How to Lift a Dog During Her Pregnancy?

It would help if you were more attentive here than usual, especially when picking up a dog during her pregnancy. Whenever you pick her up, ensure you don’t touch her belly because that tends to put pressure on her tummy.

Just use one of your arms to secure the back legs and the other hand to support her by holding her chest surrounding the front legs.

How Will You Pick Up a Dog with Hip Dysplasia?

Hip dysplasia is one of the most common problems in dogs. And because of this, often you need to pick up the dog and carry them. Remember you must pick up, especially while taking the dog out and into the car.

Make sure that you don’t put any strain on the hind legs. Instead, use one of the arms to support the tummy and one arm to secure the dog’s chest.

Hence, you understand that picking a dog with health or weight issues is tough. In this context, we hope this article has helped you answer the question of how to pick up a dog.

Picture of Aapt Dubey
Aapt Dubey

Aapt Dubey, a devoted canine enthusiast and experienced dog Owner, brings boundless passion to our team. With a heart full of love for our four-legged friends, Aapt is dedicated to sharing insights on dog care, behavior, and training to make every pup's life happier and healthier at ItsAboutDog.com.

Know More

Recommended For You