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Ok I get you about muzzles.. I don't know anything about them ie different types and when or why they are used. When I suggested a soft muzzle I meant something that wasn't going to hurt the poor dogs face or stop her being able to drink and pant properly. Personally I am against them and think they should be banned but then certain dogs have be muzzled when out in public by lawQUOTE, Barnyboy:
...I myself would not like to have to do it to my dog but... a soft muzzle.
Maybe try using it for short spells, while you are in the house, but not in the same room. As long as she can DRINK and not get it caught on anything, ... it might help ...
I have a dog, and luckily managed to stop the chewing before it really started (if you know what I mean). I know puppies will chew, especially when they are teething, but if I saw him chewing as a young puppy, I used a lemon...
every time he started to chew anything other than his own chewy toys, I would dab his lip with the lemon. Hey, presto, he stopped.
...
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A few brief notes on safety & muzzles:
- no muzzle is COMPLETELY safe, whenever a dog is unsupervised... but SOFT muzzles, AKA “groomers’ muzzles”, are never, ever safe, supervised closely or not.
They HOLD THE MOUTH CLOSED, either fully closed with elastic, or reduced to a mere slit like a postbox slot with inelastic fabric or mesh. In all cases, the dog so confined cannot pant adequately, as their airway is restricted & they can’t open their mouths fully to COOL OFF, or even to maintain a safe core temp.
Dogs can quickly die when they overheat, & reducing their airway or restricting their ability to pant is one way to kill them.
- BASKET MUZZLES are the only relatively safe muzzles.
The dog must be able to fully open her or his mouth, unrestricted, to pant, to vomit if need be, to cough or gag if they choke.
- even basket muzzles should rarely ever be on the dog when they are solo.
Accidents happen, & deaths have occurred despite careful forethought.
- when no one is home, a crate is the safest way to prevent destructive chewing, trashcan foraging, pee or poop indoors, & other undesired behaviors, or simply to confine a sick or injured dog safely.
Shipping crates are better designed than wire show-crates, as the protect dogs from floor level drafts while providing plenty of ventilation, plus they are virtually inescapable (unlike show crates), & have solid lower halves (no leaks, no spills).
Missed one, sorry:
Dogs wearing “soft” AKA tube muzzles cannot drink- nor eat, pant, etc.
Dogs wearing box-muzzles need a bucket of water, secured so that it cannot tip & spill, b/c to drink they must plunge the muzzle into the bucket, & lap “inside” the submerged muzzle.
Re chewing
Chewing is a natural behavior, & like it or lump it, part of a pup’s development. It has mental, physical, & even emotional long-term effects. Among other things, just like human infants, a pup needs to explore their environs orally & learn about objects, living things, non living things, what is edible or inedible, what’s chewable & what’s nasty.
PUNISHING a puppy for chewing is IMO not only harmful to the pup, but wrongheaded, as the puppy will associate the person who punished them with “bad feelings”. Destroying a pup’s sense of trust in me as an owner, or even as a trainer, petsitter, or dogwalker, who is part of their life only for short interludes, is not worth saving anything from puppy teeth.
Confining a pup with a crate, babygate, tether, or in a safe puppy-proof area where s/he cannot get to anything they shouldn’t is the RESPONSIBILITY of the owner or of the human adult who is caring for that pup; if the puppy gets ahold of some precious object, it is NOT THE PUPPY who is to blame.
IT IS THE HUMAN who is at fault, & if anyone gets punished, it should be that human.
The same rule holds for not-yet-housetrained pups or dogs:
If they pee or poop in the house, it is NOT their fault; they are entirely blameless, & whoever was the human that was supposed to mind the pup, or who should have confined them to a crate, or who failed to get home within 4-hours, or whatever the cause, THE HUMAN, not the puppy or dog, should be punished.
Punishment causes distrust, & while dogs are too forgiving for their own good, they can’t wipe the slate blank. They do remember, & U cannot erase the damage done; it’s a one-way trip.
- terry
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I just thought it an idea that some sort of soft muzzle which could prevent the dog from chewing up things she shouldn't even be able to get her teeth into may be a deterrent as long as the owner is in the home.
I am with you regarding not punishing a puppy for doing something that is only natural to them but we all look at forms of punishment differently, I used the lemon trick on my daughter (she is now 40) when he went through a nasty stage of biting other children, it worked and she did the same when her own daughter started biting....
I would never put my dog in a cage/crate for being naughty no more than I would a child...back when I was a child if we were naughty we got a smack and I remember a rolled up newspaper was used, tapping the pup on the nose if it was naughty...I take it that is now looked upon as animal cruelty...as smacking a child is now called child abuse...I was a child protection officer with the Met Police for 35 years but still think that a smack never did a naughty child any harm but it is now frowned upon.
A puppy is like a child and I think most of the time should be treated in the same way. Luckily we all have our own opinions.