Muzzles

I said I would be honest in this blog, so I will be honest and say I HATE muzzling my dog. I have spent a lot of time getting Ben used to his muzzle around the house and on walks. He is better than he used to be with it. Before he would not walk and would just drag his head on the ground trying to get it off. Now I can walk him on lead with his muzzle on without him trying to rub it off. If he is off lead in his muzzle he will spend a lot of the walk rolling around trying to get it off, he has pulled skin off his nose on a few occasions when doing this. It makes me so sad to see him doing this, so much so I have found myself crying on walks. He is a different dog in his muzzle, he shuts down in a way as if to punish me. I know he isn't, dogs do not have that mental capacity but I cannot help feeling that way, I cannot help feeling guilty. As soon as the muzzle comes off he comes to life again. I have observed that most of the times he has reacted have been in his muzzle and on his lead.

Another issue with the muzzle is I cannot throw treats on the ground, which is my main distraction technique. Ben cannot pick treats up from the floor with the muzzle on. I have cut a piece out of the front of the muzzle so I can give treats through the muzzle easier but even with a hole in the front, he cannot eat them off the ground himself.

So how do I combat the problem of making sure other dogs are safe and Ben is relaxed? I have touched on it a bit in this blog already. I will bullet point below;

• 5am walks
• Walking places that are big and open where I can see far ahead
• Avoiding places with corners, if we go round a corner and a dog is there it can pose a problem
• Street walking followed by a game of fetch on the garden
• Walking with family/friends so they can go ahead to other dog walkers to tell them to put there dog on a lead
• Being conscious of the time of day Ben is walked, weekday afternoons are great, most people are at work and I avoid people walking their dogs before and after work
• Avoiding popular dog walking areas
• Taking Ben to a fun swim session instead of a walk

A mixture of these things ensure that the majority of his walks are problem and reactive free!

I have met up with new people and their dogs on occasions. It is very kind of people to help me socialise my dog in this way. Ben will always be muzzled initially when meeting any new dog, and I observe his body language and his reaction to the other dog. I do find that Ben is always brilliant on group walks of maybe 3 or 4 other dogs, I am not really sure why this is.

Lastly, just to finish off this post, I would like to stress that Ben is not a dog that will run around attacking and biting dogs. He does not want to fight, no dog wants to fight. Ben is scared and sometimes he thinks the only way to deal with this threat is to react and scare the threat away. My job is to teach him he doesn't need to do this, I am there to protect him. In the early stages of the counter conditioning (feeding treats upon him seeing another dog) Ben was always muzzled, now that he is improving he is not muzzled as much. I carry the muzzle with me should there be a need for him to wear it but by following the bullet points above I rarely have to use it.

Some dogs do need to be muzzled and on lead at all times depending on the severity of their issues. A Baskerville muzzle is the best kind of muzzle to use as the dog can pant and drink wearing one. The material muzzles do not allow this and are generally for a dog that may bite a vet or a groomer in that situation so its a temporary measure.

Here is a great video on how to get your dog used to wearing a muzzle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FABgZTFvHo&noredirect=1

There is nothing wrong with a dog wearing a muzzle, its nothing to be ashamed of.