One month to muzzle down!

carmel11

I have children coming to stay at October half term and have a month to accustom my dog to a rubber basket muzzle. This morning I left it on his blanket with some chicken inside which he scoffed. COuld anyone give me some more tips on what to do within this timeframe

carmel11

I can only do this in the daytime when oh isn't here- as he is not any use with this problem

krlyr

There is a good video by the behaviourist Chirag Patel on acclimatising a dog to a muzzle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FABgZTFvHo
Obviously a video is compressed to just a few minutes, but a month should be plenty of time to work with the dog, especially if there are no bad associations with a muzzle. Lots of short, positive sessions throughout the day, if you've done well and think "well, maybe I could go up a notch..." but you're not quite sure, don't risk it - it'll take longer to recover from a bad experience if you go too fast.

carmel11

Ok thanks will take a lookat that later

Person_one

Is the muzzle definitely necessary if he's never needed one before?

marlot

We adopted a GSD with some fear aggression issues.

We took the dog for a walk immediately the muzzle went on. We left it beside the front door when not in use, and within a week she would go and get it when we said it was time for walkies.

When we had children visiting the dog would initially wear the muzzle, then we'd give her some time with it off, closely supervised. Then muzzle on again and an immediate walk.

Not needed now - as the dog gained confidence it wasn't needed any more

Fosterdog

It may not be necessary but it can't be a bad thing to be prepared for just in case.

If you wait until a dog needs a muzzle you have a time where the dog is a risk to people or other dogs while you gently train them to wear one.

If the dog is already accustomed to one then if it's ever needed (which it may not be) then all you need to do is reinforce the good behaviour (wearing the muzzle nicely) instead of training from scratch.

It's the same as crate training, you may never need to use one but if the dog is accustomed to one then if for any reason they do have to be crated in the future it is a more pleasant experience.

Person_one

Fosterdog wrote: »

It may not be necessary but it can't be a bad thing to be prepared for just in case.

If you wait until a dog needs a muzzle you have a time where the dog is a risk to people or other dogs while you gently train them to wear one.

If the dog is already accustomed to one then if it's ever needed (which it may not be) then all you need to do is reinforce the good behaviour (wearing the muzzle nicely) instead of training from scratch.

It's the same as crate training, you may never need to use one but if the dog is accustomed to one then if for any reason they do have to be crated in the future it is a more pleasant experience.

Yikes, does everybody muzzle and crate train their dogs 'just in case'? I certainly haven't and have no intention of doing so!

zaxdog

Our dog was crated as a puppy at night (inside of his crate was more luxurious than our bedroom )

The idea of a muzzle speaks to be of an untrained dog.

Fosterdog

Person_one wrote: »

Yikes, does everybody muzzle and crate train their dogs 'just in case'? I certainly haven't and have no intention of doing so!

Probably not but if the OP is on here asking for advice on muzzling there is obviously a reason and a concern that the dog needs one, instead of waiting until it's too late to find out they are doing something about it now in preparation.

I've only ever trained two dogs to wear muzzles, both older rescues and the one needed a muzzle constantly when out. It would have been much kinder if I had time to get her used to it properly before needing to use it but that wasn't an option so it took a lot longer to train her to wear it.

As for crate training these days yes a lot of people do crate train just in case, especially if you take on a dog that hasn't been housetrained (puppy or older rescue)

krlyr

Both my dogs are used to muzzles (one needs it, one doesn't). Came in handy for the one without issues when she hurt her leg and was very sore and in obvious discomfort when being checked over by the vet, we were able to muzzle her just to be on the safe side (as a dog in pain is not a dog that thinks rationally) with no added stress to the situation because she is more than used to a muzzle.
I wish I'd introduced a crate to her earlier too as she's now a bit wary, never had room in the previous house to introduce one, will be spending some time next month getting her used to a crate just as a useful tool for possible future use (e.g. if she needs enforced crate rest - or if she has to stay overnight at the vet, she's used to being confined as they use metal cages too) as I'll temporarily have space to leave one up all the time. My other dog was obviously cratetrained in his previous home(s) because I popped the crate up when I bought it and he hopped straight inside and went to sleep!