Muzzle Questions

[AEB]

Ok, this is the post I promised to do last night prompted by the other GTer's muzzle questions. Sorry it was delayed.

 

Kevin has been with us 4 weeks now. He just turned 3. He is nothing like Sadie, who we lost in July. She was so well behaved we never muzzled her. He likes to get into things and put things in his mouth. At least once or twice a day I go from thinking he's quiet and angelic to "oh no, what's he got now!" And the answer has been the doorstop that sticks out of the wall, a paperback book, pebbles from the driveway, lint, kleenex, etc. He has also "tasted" the stove knob, the side of a cabinet, the wainscotting, a knot in the flooring, this list goes on. He gets corrected immediately. Usually it's a one time thing. He gets told no. I give him something he is allowed to chew and take away what he is not allowed to chew. He refuses what he is allowed to chew and stares at me as if to say "why are you taking the good stuff?" The repeat offenses are kleenex (one of which he retrieved from the toilet) and displayed on the living room floor. Outside on walks he indulges in nature's raisinettes (deer poop) when he can find them, and picks up pine cones.

 

But I thought it was confined to inside the house and outside the house. What's left then you might ask? The car. I was driving and heard "crunch crunch" the other day- he was starting to munch the rear cigarette lighter in my car. Why? who knows, because he needs to put everything in his mouth. He has only gotten into something one other time in the car. When we first got him he managed to dig through the whole rear compartment and find the bunch of bananas, pull the bag onto the back seat, remove the bunch, peel the bananas and begin masticating them all over his bed in the back set. I was gone from the car five minutes. Impressive, I know.

 

So, currently he is crated when left alone. But eventually I want to be able to leave him loose in the house. But I am afraid of what I'll come home to. His foster mom told me he was left out sometimes and muzzled because of the cat. Well, when I put his muzzle on he runs around and rubs his face on every available surface. Walls, doorjambs. I relent and crate. I am afraid he will target antique furniture and other things you don't want scratched or slammed into by a 75lb charging hound. But it is becoming apparent that he may need to be muzzled in the car. If he munches my interior I'll be tempted to put him on a one way rocket to the moon. I assume if he gets bored he'll munch. But if I muzzle I worry he'll start trying to remove the muzzle using my upholstery.

 

So, do any of you have suggestions as to alternatives to the plastic basket muzzle?

And, do you have suggestions as to how to stop this rubbing behavior?

Any other suggestions based on this post as to how to handle the situation(s)?

 

PS- my husband thinks I'm being harsh. He doesn't think Kevin will rip apart the car. I think it's too early to tell and he's watched too closely.So do others out there have hounds that mouth everything and destroy nothing? I will say Kevin is very puppy like.

[Wonder]

Diamond hurts me because he gives love bites so he's muzzled at night. He's very affectionate in the morning so that's why I muzzle him when we go to bed.

He's also muzzled when I'm not home because he will chew and he loves stuffies (eating them).

 

None of mine rub much but they are used to wearing muzzles.

 

Good luck

[TheFullHouse]

Try taking something along in the car that he can chew on. A kong filled with treats, some stuffies, anything you think he would like as an alternative to the car. If that doesn't work, muzzle him in the car. It's not mean, it's cheaper than fixing the car. Muzzles are used as a tool, not punishment.

 

Once a pup is used to wearing a muzzle, they don't tend to rub as much as when they don't wear them and you try and put them on them.

Edited January 9, 2011 by JillysFullHouse

[Walliered]

My second grey, Huck, did all that you are talking about when I first adopted him. I have had him about 3 months now and all of it has stopped. It reminded me of a little baby having to put everything in his mouth. But, he is not baby as he is 5 years old..LOL

[AEB]

Oh, I hope I did not imply I thought muzzles were punishment. I have no problem with muzzling him. I just have a problem with how he acts when he's muzzled. Like a runaway train trying to rip off the muzzle. I just hate to have the house destroyed in the process. I guess I can try leaving it on everyday when i can watch him and make sure he doesn't destroy anything important.

 

Stupid question- can he drink with the plastic basket muzzle on?

 

 

Oh, I can't believe I forgot what he put in his mouth today! My husband was laying in bed this morning and Kevin came over and tried to take off with his nipple! We wondered if it was nitting, but we're pretty sure he thought it was a piece of food. Kevin quickly realized a mistake had been made of enormous magnitude and retreated!! Hysterical.

[Wonder]

They can eat, drink, play with stuffies with their muzzle on (just don't have the stool guard on)

[AEB]

Oh, BTW, he is a very strong and aggressive chewer. So if he decides to chew it, it's toast.

 

He doesn't like the really durable nylabones. The not so durable ones, and other chews, he destroys in seconds and starts to consume the bits so we have to take them away. Stuffies meet their maker in minutes. Once he decides to stop squeaking he starts chewing. It takes seconds and they are de-limbed and the squeaker is dead and a hole is open. We have had to remove them. He found Sadie's old dental rings under the couch (who knew they were there) and he had a field day. He loved them. What a battle to remove those. We got antlers for him. Occasionally he chews them. Kongs he likes but everything we can stuff into them gives him wicked gas!!

 

So if they can eat and play with stuffies can they chew-up books and furniture, etc?

[kamsmom]

Can they chew books and furniture... yes. Some do, some don't. I leave lots of options for my dogs. I used to save up old shoe boxes and newspapers and leave a few out. It was a mess to clean up but it was better than furniture being torn up. I also muzzle and mine was able to shred a shoe box with her muzzle on and she was delighted every day to get a new box.

 

The antlers are good to chew on, try smearing a little peanut butter on them.

[AEB]

He licks the peanut butter off and loses interest- at least on the nylabones. Haven't tried it on the antlers yet.

 

Would a stool guard reduce the ability to seek and destroy?

 

I must admit I have considered trying to spy on him to see how he acts and if he gets into things at all when we're not around (because he seems more anxious when he can't get to us but we're around than when we leave and he's crated- if I had to guess), but we don't own a video camera.

[TheFullHouse]

A stool guard will help in stopping the destruction but the only draw back to those is, if he becomes sick and vomits into the muzzle, he could choke. I have stool guards in all my muzzles but then I'm here all the time. I have had on occasion one or two of mine get sick and vomit into the muzzle and have had to remove it right away. These guys can chew anything. One of mine has chewed up remote controls, cell phones, PDA's back when those were used and now his favorite thing is dog beds and pillows. If your guy doesn't mind a crate, I would go that way for a while until he's used to living in the house. I'd let him out uncrated when you are at home so you can immediately correct him when you see him chewing on anything inappropriate.

[Guest june]

Is there a room where he can't destroy anything important? For example, I have what I call "the dog room" where there is nothing that I can't live without, nothing that is not replaceable. If you have an area like that you might try muzzling him in that area without a stool guard to see if he chooses to chew anything up. Just a thought. I have a girlie who, when I got her, chewed on anything wood, but with the muzzle on she left everything alone.

 

The other thing is you can work with your boy to accept the muzzle. Put the muzzle on - give a treat - take the muzzle off. No treats without the muzzle and he will soon associate the muzzle with good stuff. It will take time, but it can be done.

 

Good luck,

june

[AEB]

Thank you for all the suggestions! For now I have been taking the watch him when I'm here and crate when I'm not approach. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll be like Huck and in another two months be through this phase.

 

I will try June's suggestion re: associating the muzzle with good things. But right now I don't really have a good "dog room". We had a flood this Spring in New England and we have to re-carpet the finished downstairs. Once we do that (could be another 6 months), we'll have an eligible room. But he does seem to panic when confiined to one room. If I close him in the bedroom because I want to keep an eye on him he gets ancy. If the door is closed and my husband is not in the same room we're in he does these little barks (I call them puppy barks). but leave the house open and he doesn't seem panicky.

 

-April

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

I would strongly suggest obedience classes, with the classes being greyhound breed specific. Your boy needs to learn self-control. The command that you need is "leave it". Leave it can be the toy in his mouth, could be the licking that is keeping you from sleeping, could be the seatbelt in the car that he is chewing on. Leave it is probably the most useful command you will ever know with your hound. Your boy has never had to exhibit self-control, he needs to learn it. You and your hound will learn a lot in obedience classes, and it will probably tire him out so that he has less inclination to chew on inappropriate things. As far as the muzzle, if you want him to be able to eat and drink, then you should not use a stool guard. They still can drink with the guard in place, it just becomes very messy as water is trapped in the cup and carried around the house.

 

Chad

[AEB]

Thanks. We're working on "leave it" everyday. He's making a lot of progress.

 

As for greyhound-specific obediance - I'm not sure if it exists anywhere near me. If anyone knows of a class in CT or RI, please let me know. When we got Sadie I took her to a local place and she had to go to the puppy classes because she did not know basic commands. She did not enjoy it. We watched and then worked on everything at home. She was a well-behaved hound. Kevin would be much better in that kind of environment but needs something different, I suspect.

 

We had an incident last night with Kevin, a toy and my husband. I will start a new thread.

 

 

[GeorgeofNE]

The command "leave it" only helps if you're home to give it! And I don't think there's anything greyhound specific about this behavior.

 

Maybe you should try lining the inside of the muzzle, the part closest to his eyes, with a bit of mole skin? You can generally get that at CVS in the foot care section. If the muzzle is more comfortable, he might be less inclined to rub.

 

Now, how much exercise is this dog getting?? He sounds like he has a lot of excess energy and might be bored. Yes, we just got walloped with snow--but with the proper winter clothing, walking is still possible (I have no choice--no yard!).

 

When I first got George, I had to change my morning routine entirely because he NEEDED to be worn out before I left him. Now it's just his routine! We get up early and we do a 45 minute walk (yes, in the dark and the cold!) before I go to work. This helps him enormously--a sleeping dog isn't anxious or bored or destructive!

[AEB]

The command "leave it" only helps if you're home to give it! And I don't think there's anything greyhound specific about this behavior.

 

Maybe you should try lining the inside of the muzzle, the part closest to his eyes, with a bit of mole skin? You can generally get that at CVS in the foot care section. If the muzzle is more comfortable, he might be less inclined to rub.

 

Now, how much exercise is this dog getting?? He sounds like he has a lot of excess energy and might be bored. Yes, we just got walloped with snow--but with the proper winter clothing, walking is still possible (I have no choice--no yard!).

 

When I first got George, I had to change my morning routine entirely because he NEEDED to be worn out before I left him. Now it's just his routine! We get up early and we do a 45 minute walk (yes, in the dark and the cold!) before I go to work. This helps him enormously--a sleeping dog isn't anxious or bored or destructive!

 

I will try making the muzzle more comfortable. I think there is a little makeshift lining in there.

 

Exercise. Well, he gets what he is willing to do. He was named Kevin after the character on "The Office" who loves food and hates exercise. We have a yard for him to run in. But he hates the cold. We try to toss a toy for him. Occasionally he will run once across the yard and he's back at the door. He hates the cold being right off the track in FL. He is bundled up but he thinks he's on the Bataan Death March when I try to walk him down the road. I put on two coats (one with snood) and usually he refuses to leave the front yard. He statues. If I get him to walk we get around the corner and he freezes at the top of the hill. We're going lunchtime today. We'll see what happens with the snow. He ran outside a little yesterday.

 

But usually even if I can get him to do the whole street (so down and back is a mile) it does not seem to change his behavior much. I think it's just how he is.