2Nd Greyhound + Muzzling While Away

[Guest Rebeccas09]

Hi there. My husband and I have a 6 year old male that weve had for 3 years. He is on the shy side and after some morning zoomies, he is super sleepy the rest of the day. We decided to adopt a second grey (yay!). Things have been going really well and they get along great. Right now we have them muzzled while we are at work so that they get used to each other and the new routine.

 

My question is- is it possible to ever be without muzzles while we are away? Mon-Fri, they are in our kitchen only and have no access to food or toys, so there is nothing to get worked up about or space to chase each other. Plus they get to go run around outside and play with squeaky tennis balls for about 20-30minutes plus a short walk all before work to get it out of their system. The first guy doesnt seem to care but the new girl hates the muzzle. She rubs it up against the kitchen window and hard enough on the baby gate that she could knock it over or hurt herself. We have left them alone for only an hour at a time without the muzzles with no issue. I just dont know if that will be possible moving into an 7-8hr work day. Thanks!

[rsieg]

I think you would be fine leaving them unmuzzled. My two male greyhounds never wore muzzles when they were alone, and never had any issues.

 

My guess is that when your two are alone for 7-8 hours, they will sleep for 7-8 hours, especially if you are tiring them out with exercise when you are home. When nothing interesting is going on, greyhounds sleep. If they were to get into a fight it would be over some high value item they both go for at the same time. So, no treats or bones or anything else they value highly should be out while you are gone. Sounds like you already have that covered as you indicate they have no access to food or toys. (But of course they should have water available). Another thing, where do they sleep in the kitchen? I would have two dog beds, one for each, located at opposite sides of the kitchen to the extent possible.

 

Another piece of advice I have seen is that you never muzzle only one dog, as that dog would be defenseless. Muzzle both, or neither.

 

One thing I would worry about, if the new dog is recently off the track: My Logan was fresh off the track, and was extremely adept at getting into the kitchen pantry. Kitchens tend to be difficult to "dog proof", so think about where things are and remove anything you would not want them getting into. My worst event during Logan's "break-in" phase was when he got to an alfredo jar, knocked it to the floor where it broke. So the question was: Did he get scared and leave it alone, or go back and lick up some alfredo sauce, maybe along with glass fragments? All was well, but it was scary for a couple days, so try to think about anything like that and take preemptive action (though in practice it is impossible to anticipate every possibility).

Edited January 16, 2018 by rsieg

[greysmom]

It's going to depend a lot about the dogs, IMO.

 

I would probably muzzle them for several months after adopting a new dog. It can take that long (or even longer) for that new dog to really relax and for her true personality to emerge. The new aspects could be significantly different from what you see early on.

 

For instance. we adopted a new girl in June. She's been perfect for us - sweet and loving, no particular faults like space issues or resource guarding. But about 8 weeks or so ago - or about 5 months after she's been home - she's started guarding toys and treats. Growling at us, barking at the other dogs, and generally being a butthead about it. We are working on this, and for the time being she's not getting anything she considers high value. My point is that there was no signs of this for 5 months at all, and if one of the other dogs had tried to take a high value toy away from her while we were gone, it could have had very bad consequences.

 

Some people just muzzle all the time anyway - the risk isn't worth it for them. We only muzzle when we feel it's needed (like now), though we will probably stop at some point (they are all always muzzled outside for playing). Some never muzzle when their dogs are left alone. It depends on your sense of how they do together, any space or guarding issues that come up, how they act together, and your comfort level with any and all of that.

 

Don't let your new girl fool you about the muzzle either - greyhounds are very used to wearing them, even for extended periods. You can use some mole skin or thin, adhesive backed flannel, or other padding inside the nose piece if it's rubbing on her nose. They can eat and drink and carry around toys and lick Kongs and even bite each other with a muzzle on, but the effect will be much les than if they were not muzzled at all.

 

Congrats on adopting a second, by the way! Having two is a lot of fun!

[BatterseaBrindl]

We always muzzle our 3 if we both leave the property.

Small cookies are doled out and muzzles go on.

This is their routine and there are never any protests about being muzzled.

Your girl will get used to the routine too!

 

Our hounds are contained in our 12' x 25' mud room equipped with a comfy futon, blankies and dog beds.

NIxon is quite protective of his bed and it is not worth the risk of a fight starting.

 

We don't muzzle or contain them if we are just out in the yard/barn.

[robinw]

I wouldn't unmuzzle them yet. I would get to them better first and continue to watch how they get along.

[Remolacha]

I have never muzzled mine after the initial “break in” period. How long was that? Depended entirely on the dogs, but never for very long. I never hesitated to bring the muzzles back out if one of them (Cough cough Fletcher cough cough) started acting like a butthead. However, most of my dogs have been older, and bounces, not right off the farm or track.

[dante2zoe]

I learned the hard way - I now always muzzle when we leave. It is a very expensive mistake - financially and emotionally - and if my experience helps someone else, then yay! This is my version of paying forward, lol. Mine lived together for almost a year before something went awry. Thankfully, I happened to be there or I truly believe I would have lost one.

 

Congrats on your new addition!

[juliemac]

If you do decide to leave them unmuzzled, please make sure they stay familiar with wearing the muzzles ... you don't want to need them someday (say, if you have an injured hound or if you have visitors and want to let them all run freely in the yard) and find that they fight you because they haven't worn a muzzle in years. I like mine to wear their muzzles at least twice per month, even though they don't wear them for normal turnouts. When my friend has HER pups over for playdates, muzzles go on or the hounds go out separately.

 

Congratulations on your new addition!!

[Guest Rebeccas09]

Thanks everyone! Both greys dont seem to be alpha types so that is one reason we are talking about it. Most people I have talked to dont muzzle after awhile but it is those few cases that scare me. We know from first hand experience how fragile their skin is! But like I said, the new girl also just rubs her muzzle on the kitchens baby gate so hard that it looks like it might budge and fall over.

 

To add more description to our situation- both dogs have a bed and water in our kitchen during the day. We do muzzle when playing outside together

 

Thank you everyone again for the advice so far!

Edited January 17, 2018 by Rebeccas09

[Batmom]

We always muzzle or separate when away, including when we're out in the yard and the dogs are indoors. Cheap insurance as someone else said. FWIW, one of my previous dogs would put on a big display of muzzle rubbing if someone was watching. Nobody watching? She'd settle down and go about her business.

[Charlies_Dad]

We always muzzle when leaving the house. It does not hurt them in any way and yes while you may want not to do this, the results of an accident is traumatic and expensive. When we had three Greys, two boys and a girl, they never disliked each other, never growled at each and the boys were close buddies. Still we muzzled because if you look at the pictures of injuries and read the stories of some who have lost their pups due to an altercation, it's heartbreaking.

[XTRAWLD]

I had really good natured boys, yes easy to say as an accident can happen at any time, but I never muzzled either boy when not home. When Ryder came home he loved his crate, and when I wasnt home he was closed up in his crate and Kasey had run of the house. When it was time, I began just leaving the door open and not locking him up. He preferred to lay in there anyway, and when I noticed his preference was to spend more time out of the crate than in it (which took a few months), the crate went away and they coexisted peacefully for the rest of Kasey's life, both free roaming in the house. They had separate beds and separate feeding stations but everything else was shared. Good luck. Transition is always a nail biting time.

 

Edited to add: If i would have left a muzzle on Kasey in the house unsupervised I think he would actually hurt himself and probably cause damage to the house. He hated wearing it. If they were ever to be "confined" together though in a small area, say in a car side by side, muzzles were definitely on. Since you are just concerned with figuring out house rules, I think you are fine, but if you keep them in a smaller space where neither can really get away from eachother during the day (like in a car or a small room) would be a different story. They will figure out who is boss and they will have rules bounded by eachother and will be able to coexist. You have the added benefit of seeing how they act together when you are home, and I think if one was a huge alpha, you'd have more reservations about removing the muzzles than in your initial post

Edited January 17, 2018 by XTRAWLD

[robinw]

There was somebody who used to be on GT who had always muzzled her dogs when she went away. Once when she didn't, one attacked and killed the other. I have never, ever forgotten the pain and the guilt that she went through, and is still experiencing, even though this happened many years ago.

[Remolacha]

I remember the incident Robin mentions, and it was horrible. However, her dogs mostly tolerated each other, but one clearly didn’t much like the other one. With those dynamics, I would never, ever leave them alone unmuzzled. I have also read horrible stories from people who had dogs who got along fine with their cats, and one day came home to a dead cat. I still don’t muzzle my dogs, could something terrible happen? Sure, but I think the risk with these particular dogs and cats is very, very low. Other cats, other dogs, might be different.

 

You have to do what you are comfortable with.