Nylon muzzle?

frogstar

Hi

Due to an incident I need to muzzle my new dog (collie cross, 4 years old)

He attacked a dog quite badly so I'm thinking of a muzzle to prevent this happening again while we are out.

I hate the conventional muzzles that make your dog look v dangerous (I know he did attack a dog!)

So came across the nylon ones that look much nicer for both the dog and for me and other people to look at, don't look as dangerous.

But, are they any good? They look lightweight but can they prevent him attacking a dog again?

Thank you

maggiepip

Ive no experience of using muzzles but I definitely wouldnt use those nylon muzzles as the dog cant open his mouth properly and cant pant properly with them. If I had to use one Id use the ones that give their mouth space to open.

ppink

i used the nylon ones for a while and the dogs were very distressed wearing them, especially in the heat as like maggie says they cant pant properly, or drink properly either.

Also funnily enough our old GSD got really mad at a collie one day and managed to rip the muzzle apart opening his mouth!
Now I use the black plastic muzzles, they dont look as bad as the wire or light brown ones as the match the colour of our dogs.

frogstar

maggiepip wrote: »

Ive no experience of using muzzles but I definitely wouldnt use those nylon muzzles as the dog cant open his mouth properly and cant pant properly with them. If I had to use one Id use the ones that give their mouth space to open.

Thanks, yes I've just looked into it more on the net and they seem to only be for grooming etc...

Ah I'm so confused. Have only had this dog for two weeks. He was my sisters dog for four years but out of the blue attacked another male dog who ended up in vets. He's not neutered (rang vet yesterday to sort)

On Sunday he attacked a male dog I brought home (resident stray that follows me home). Then today he attacked a dog while out walking with my partner and pinned it down. Partner had to drag him off.

Lead walking is not an option as he will not walk on lead (nearly drags me out on roads) bu he's good off lead, Well apart from this

tk123

frogstar wrote: »

So came across the nylon ones that look much nicer for both the dog and for me and other people to look at, don't look as dangerous.

Tbh you need forget what people might think of the muzzle and use what's most comfortable for your dog while you work on the problem. If your dog is uncomfortable in the muzzle it could just add to the problem? Have you contacted a trainer/behaviourist at all?
My guy gets stressed in the nylon ones but is fine in the basket one.

ppink

Are you keeping him? If I was you I would be getting a good behaviourist to assess the dog and help you, it should save you a whole load of heartache to get a professional to help and figure why he is doing this and why he wont walk on a lead too.

maggiepip

frogstar wrote: »

Thanks, yes I've just looked into it more on the net and they seem to only be for grooming etc...

Ah I'm so confused. Have only had this dog for two weeks. He was my sisters dog for four years but out of the blue attacked another male dog who ended up in vets. He's not neutered (rang vet yesterday to sort)

On Sunday he attacked a male dog I brought home (resident stray that follows me home). Then today he attacked a dog while out walking with my partner and pinned it down. Partner had to drag him off.

Lead walking is not an option as he will not walk on lead (nearly drags me out on roads) bu he's good off lead, Well apart from this

There might be a problem with muzzling him and allowing him to antagonise other dogs - he will probably still try to fight and will then have no form of defence if the other dog fights back.

Could perhaps try him on a long lead where he feels he has more freedom?

frogstar

ppink wrote: »

Are you keeping him? If I was you I would be getting a good behaviourist to assess the dog and help you, it should save you a whole load of heartache to get a professional to help and figure why he is doing this and why he wont walk on a lead too.

Sister planned on rehoming, but i know there is no demand out there. So more than likely he would have been pts.

It was completely out of character when it first happened so I offered to foster until a home was found as I didn't want to commit (job security etc..). He gets on great with my girl so was/am happy to keep

But these two incidents, on Sunday and today have me completely torn. I really don't understand it as he never dd this before and is actually better behaved than mine.

Don't think a long lead is workable as he runs after my girl. We live by the beach and walk at about 7am so usually haveit to ourselves. I would always put back on lead when we meet other dogs but partner couldn't this morning as he didn't see them coming.

Unz13

Hi Frogstar,

Was the dog okay to walk on lead for your sister? It sounds like maybe he hasn't been trained and socialised? Dogs can be trained, even at 4 years old and neutering will definitely calm him down. You will have to work at disciplining him though. If he is pulling very badly on the lead, you could look at putting him in a harness. There are also leads available with a loop that goes round the dog's snout which help prevent pulling as well.

With regards to muzzles, don't worry about what it looks like. You will have to go for a basket / cage muzzle as the nylon ones are very dangerous and cannot be used while dog is excercising. I had an incident where my dog collapsed after wearing one for 10 mins. Thankfully she was okay after a rest and some water but it was quite scary at the time.

I now use a cage muzzle. They come in different colours and she doesn't love it but it doesn't restrict breathing and also has the added benefit of preventing her from eating junk she finds in the park and from drinking from puddles! Good luck:)

Whispered

It is not safe to have a dog aggressive dog off lead, even if he's muzzled. In my opinion, you need to work on lead training. If I was in your situation I would think - It's not good enough to just say he doesn't like the lead, he will have to learn to put up with it.

If your dog starts on another while he is muzzled, he will get very seriously injured and you put another owner into the situation where their dog is attacked, defends itself but does serious damage in the process.

Please have a look at training your dog to walk on a lead, if you can't do it yourself (and I am sure it would be a challenge, I'm not suggesting it'll be easy) then a good trainer could help. Once you manage to have your dog walking on a lead you can safely start to socialise him with other dogs, hopefully working towards him being trustworthy enough to go offlead again.

A no-pull harness will help you. One of my dogs is strong enough to pull me off balance if he gets it into his head, but with the sensi harness he's much easier to walk.

You could also consider a group training class, there you will be able to learn how to teach him to walk on a lead, and you'll be able to observe his reaction to other dogs in a very controlled environment. Just be sure to speak to the trainer first to let them know as they may advise lead work on a one to one basis first.

Good luck. And don't give up!! It can be frustrating but once you come up with a plan and implement it the change in a dog can be so quick!

frogstar

You see that's where I am confused. He did go to training and is / was socialised.

He was fantastic with other dogs, just going to say hello and then coming back. These three incidents in the space of 4 weeks (he is four) are completely out of character

Previous owner tried for 2 years to train on lead. he has no problem going on it, but when he is on it he will pull unbelievably, I'm not joking when I said he nearly pulled me out on the road. Previous owner would then have him walk off lead to beach and he would just walk at his side and stop at the road.

My next step is to get him a muzzle, get him neutered and then see where we go from here. I am completely torn, as said, I was taking him in until we found a new home (which I know would be v slim) but then decided that we coule probably keep him but with this happening I'm not sure but I don't want to rush into anything.

Thanks for the advice, I'm sure I'll be back for more!

Edited to say, yes I will have him on a lead from now (even though I may break my shoulder!), it sounds from my post that I'm not going to do that but I don't want to be in that situation again. I just don't understand why he attacked these three times

SillyMangoX

If he's pulling that badly you might want to invest in a head collar or harness designed specifically to stop pulling. With the head collars, if they pull it turns their head, so they learn if they pull they won't go forward, and with the special harnesses it lifts their front paws off the ground so they learn if they pull they won't walk!

DamagedTrax

frogstar wrote: »

He was fantastic with other dogs, just going to say hello and then coming back. These three incidents in the space of 4 weeks (he is four) are completely out of character

have you had him checked by a vet. out of character behaviour can often be the result of an underlying medical issue.

for the muzzle i'd go for the baskerville ultra. loads of room to breath, eat and drink in them. they're also designed for a much more comfortable fit than the original basket muzzles. and have a collar hook as well as an over the head strap.

RubyGirl

Op, I would agree that if it's out of character for him to attack another dog I would get him checked over by a vet.

He need's to be on a lead so I would start off at home with a lead attached to his collar. I use a http://www.dogmatic.org.uk/ dogmatic head harness on my dog. I would'nt be able to walk him otherwise.

frogstar

Thanks for all the replies. Will pick up muzzle and collar tomorrow.

I did think about an underlying medical issue. He'll be getting neutered shortly so will raise this with the vet.

If only they could bloody talk and tell us whats up!