Abstract: Method and device for treatment of a milk-yielding animal (10), in particular for milking an animal, in which a positioning device (16) transfers a treatment device (17) from a base position (7) to a reach position (1-S) in which an operator takes hold of the treatment device and then brings it manually to at least one teat (13, 14) of the animal to be treated. A secure reach position (6) for the treatment device and at least one comfortable reach position (1-5) for the operator are provided from which the actual reach position is chosen as a function of a characteristic parameter for a hazard potential. After the derivation of the characteristic parameter and the selection of a reach position, the treatment device is then transferred from the base position to the selected reach position.