Muzzle and halti type collar - what goes best?

UKTigerlily

I am wondering if temp mutt is an EBT? I'm not sure Baskerville's fit those but you can find basket muzzles for the breed online & a headcollar should go with any of them. Pics pls?

elsien

Thanks. I agree the basket type is better, but she is an ebt which the Baskervilles tend not to fit, and I need something urgently. She hates other dogs. All the ones I've googled seem to be American sites.

starrystarry

I tried a Halti on my EBT but they don't fit properly. EBTs have the wrong shaped head (:p). They don't really have a nose for it to sit on. Mine could get out of it too easily.

elsien

Halti worked on mutt, but temporary mutt got rid in about 10 seconds flat, so that one's going back to PAH tomorrow.
I've been recommended a gencon all in one for bullies, so that's next on the list to try. I have to do something as I'm quite scared to walk her at the moment in case she pulls away from me and gets hurt. She only heard a dog barking this morning, didn't even see it, and she went into full freak out mode. Not good.

And in addition, the clever little madam took less than a minute to get the baby gate open. I was quite impressed with that one.

starrystarry

elsien wrote: »

Halti worked on mutt, but temporary mutt got rid in about 10 seconds flat, so that one's going back to PAH tomorrow.
I've been recommended a gencon all in one for bullies, so that's next on the list to try. I have to do something as I'm quite scared to walk her at the moment in case she pulls away from me and gets hurt. She only heard a dog barking this morning, didn't even see it, and she went into full freak out mode. Not good.

And in addition, the clever little madam took less than a minute to get the baby gate open. I was quite impressed with that one.

An intelligent EBT. You're in for some fun with that one :rotfl:

I've always been thankful that mine's dense. He might be stronger than me but I can always outsmart him

krlyr

I would perhaps take some time to do some training in the house that will help your walking issues, rather than walk when feeling unsafe. Not only do you put her/yourself/others at risk, but it will make her feel on edge if you're nervous, plus if she's constantly over her threshold then a) she will get more and more on edge (see trigger stacking here http://www.dogster.com/lifestyle/how-are-dog-bites-like-tetris ) and b) she will keep practicing the undesirable behaviour.

Contrary to popular belief, I don't believe dogs need a walk every day, and in some cases I think it actually benefits a dog NOT to be walked.

In your position I would probably give her several 'days off' from walking to allow her to calm down, let her adrenaline dissipate. I would occupy her with mind-games and exercise in the garden. Possibly some exercise outside of the house if you could drive her (without her reacting - so if she'll react to the sight of a dog outside of the car, transport her in a covered crate) to places you guarantee you won't meet other dogs/triggers.

I would then work on some key commands for reactivity. "Watch me", "Look at that", "Let's go" and so on. http://www.youtube.com/kikopup and http://www.youtube.com/pamelamarxsen should, between them, cover some key commands for a reactive/fearful dog.

This should buy you some time to get the proper equipment, in terms of safety and suitability. Then once you've got those commands down then I'd probably carefully select some places she'll be exposed to other dogs at a distance. Preferably with some control from your end - so if you could meet up with a friend with a dog and have them walk at a set distance, that could be good. Alternatively, if there's a park you could walk around so know that the dogs inside were contained by a fence, that's another way to control your environment somewhat. Make all these exposures to other dogs very positive, start counterconditioning her emotional respond to dogs as a positive thing and so on.

It might also be a good time to start her on some calmatives like Zylkene or similar, look at her diet, introduce some general settling techniques to relax her in your home (teaching a proper "settle", for example, is different to a "lie on your bed" - the former, you aim to actually teach the state of mind rather than just to position herself in a set area), to relax on a mat/other marker (some people will train a dog to relax on a lead placed on the floor, so they can use this cue whereever they go), you can then use this in the garden, the driveway, an empty park, etc. and slowly build up to teaching her that she can relax in the outside world.
A snug fitting t-shirt can be used like a Thundershirt to calm a dog too - might help if she's a very edge-y dog.

elsien

Thanks. Some good ideas in there which I'll have a look at.
Unfortunately I can't think of anywhere round here I can go which is likely to be dog free, or where all dogs will be on a lead, so I'm not sure where to start on that one. And next door have a yappy dog, so garden time is having to be limited to when it's quiet outside.
On the positive side my mum thinks she's lovely (- I think we're talking about different dogs!) Temp mutt is clever though - we're having a lovely time testing the boundaries and pushing our luck. You can see her do something then look at you to see what your reaction is going to be. :rotfl: Good thing we both like a bit of character in a pooch.

bagginslover

Have you looked at Dog Games harnesses? They can be supplied with a D-ring on the chest, as well as on the back, to help control strong pullers (works the same way as a halti, by turning them around when they pull). Harnesses can have a similar effect to thundershirts too, by 'hugging' the dog.