John asks: "Why don't you just put a muzzle on Buddy so you can take him on walks and to the park, etc.?"
Answer: Good question John, and one I am sure many others have.
For those who don’t know, before you put a muzzle on a dog you first need to condition the dog to the muzzle. If you force a muzzle on the dog this will backfire on you and cause the dog to view the muzzle as a bad thing. He will fight you when you try to put it on and the dog will not be comfortable wearing it causing him to paw at it in an attempt to get it off. So before you put a muzzle on the dog, be sure to take the time to condition the dog to the muzzle so he will see it as a good thing that causes good things to happen when he sees it and wears it. All of Buddy’s previous owners told me they would just shove the muzzle on him and as a result, he had a very bad association with it. It took me 5 months to undo all that damage and condition him to the muzzle. Now Buddy sees it as a good thing and when I hold the muzzle out he comes to me and puts his face into it and allows me to clip it on.
Regarding why I don’t muzzle Buddy at the park, there are several reasons:
First, while I do have a muzzle for Buddy, it is not a properly fitting muzzle, so his muzzle can be on him for only very short periods of time such as when he is at the vet. The muzzle I use for him is the best fit I could find, and believe me when I tell you, I have made an exhaustive search and I have considered every muzzle on the market. Unfortunately, Buddy is one of those dogs who needs a custom made muzzle in order for it to fit him properly and comfortably and allow him the proper amount of room to be able to pant, etc. It is only recently that a company came on the market that can custom make the type of muzzle that will work for Buddy’s needs. In order for me to order the muzzle, I need to take some detailed measurements of Buddy’s head and mouth along with photos of me taking those measurements. This will not be possible to do safely unless Buddy is sedated. Buddy’s vet and I plan to take these measurements when Buddy is under anesthesia for his dental later this year and at that point I will be able to order the custom muzzle.
Once we have the custom muzzle, this may open up more opportunities to work with Buddy in public settings, however there will still be limitations. Just because the dog is wearing a muzzle, this does not mean you can just take the dog anywhere and do anything to or with him. The muzzle does not prevent the dog from reacting, it only helps to prevent the dog from being able to inflict a bite onto someone if he does react (and no muzzle is 100% bite proof, there is always the possibility with any muzzle that there can be some sort of failure whether that be the muzzle somehow comes off, or breaks, etc.). You have to continue to work with the dog as if he was not wearing a muzzle because putting the dog in a situation that causes him to react will only reinforce the neural pathways to the fear and the aggressive behavior (see blog post “The Experience Bank” to learn why) and this will cause major setbacks in the dogs rehabilitation.
Second, just because the dog is wearing a muzzle, this does not prevent the unpredictable behavior that may occur from people in public. While there are many people who kindly mind their own business and will not interfere, there are unfortunately those who think they know more than they do and will insist on approaching and interfering no matter what they are told. When Buddy and I are at the park sitting in the car I often put up a sign in the window that says “DOG IN TRAINING - DO NOT INTERACT”. Many people kindly heed this warning and ignore us, however, there are many who read this sign and then come right up to the car to look inside and they stare Buddy right in the eyes and set him off?! Then comes their look of “disapproval” as they view this as Buddy and I being the problem. It is very difficult to get them to listen and back away and these people just don’t get that THEY are causing a problem. It just boggles my mind!
These “interferers” can cause many issues including harm to them, me, and Buddy, not to mention a serious setback in Buddy’s progress. So if I were to take Buddy out in public in a muzzle, it would be these same interferers who would run up to us and tell me “all dogs like me” or something similar, cause Buddy to react, and then they would blame me and Buddy for it. This would cause both Buddy and I to have to recover from the major setback they would cause. Buddy and I have worked too hard for me to allow this to happen.
Third, the muzzle is a safety tool to aid in preventing others from getting bitten, but it does not prevent the dog from attacking and biting, it is just a barrier preventing the attack and bite from doing harm. What needs to be done is the dog needs to be desensitized to whatever they are reacting to. Once that has been accomplished, the dog can be exposed to that thing in a normal public environment while wearing a muzzle so that in the event something causes him to go over threshold and he reacts, there is a safety measure in place to prevent harm as a result of the reaction.
Once we have the custom muzzle, I will likely be able to make more progress with Buddy’s rehab, but it will be done in extremely small steps and most likely this additional progress will be very limited due to the severity of the damage done to Buddy in the first 7 years of his life. It is simply unrealistic to expect a dog like Buddy to fully recover or even to be comfortable with more than just a few people due to the strength of the neural pathways to the fear and aggressive behavior which were created and strengthened during the first 7 years of Buddy’s life (again, read the blog post “The Experience Bank” so you can understand why).
Thank you for asking this question John, and do let me know if you have any additional questions regarding this.
Keep those questions coming! Just email them to BuddysDream1@gmail.com
Always remember, in behavior rehab,
Slow and Steady wins the race!
If you would like to support Buddy's Dream and our mission:
You can feel good knowing that every cent of your purchase goes directly to pay Buddy's rehabilitation expenses and to the cost of us providing help and resources to help other dogs.
If you don't want to make a purchase but still would like to help, you can make a donation here. Any amount helps!
Comments