No Longer in Denial

Ben has been wearing his muzzle for 3 weeks now. And what a difference it has made. I think its made a difference in me, which has helped him. I feel so much more relaxed, even my friend commented that she felt more relaxed on one of our walks.

The other day we were in the woods, and two people with spaniels saw Ben and put their dogs on leads. I moved Ben to one side so they could go past and I said thank you to them. It felt good and Ben was calm and looked at me for his treats.

I so wish I had muzzled him as soon as he had injured that first dog all that time ago, Even though I have been careful with him, the muzzle gives me more confidence. I am not worrying that he could bite another dog, although he hasn't for well over a year, I guess the risk is always there. I don't think I wanted to admit this to myself.

On todays walk, he only tried to rub it off very briefly a few times. He seems more accepting of it when I put it on him when we arrive for a walk too. Even though we did not see one other dog this morning, I felt relaxed and really enjoyed the walk, just me and him. We played 'find it' with treats, as he has learnt to pick them up with his muzzle on now which is fab! I also got him a nobble ball which is a ball with bits sticking out of it which he can actually grab through his muzzle, he needs a bit more practice with this so it is a work in progress! He does love to play fetch so if you have a dog that loves this game but needs a muzzle, it is still possible!

I think its important to note that Ben could still cause damage to a dog, particularly a smaller one even with his muzzle on, so I still walk in quiet areas at quiet times, and if I see a dog then he is put on lead and we move to one side if we can or change direction. Just because he cannot bite, I don't want to over expose him to dogs, causing him to go over threshold, or make another dog scared of other dogs if he were to have a go at them.