Our Vet nurse recommended a 'gentle muzzle' which goes around his nose. She said it will take 4 weeks for him to get used to it before can actually attach the lead. She also said to make sure he doesn't see it as a bad experience and any time he tries to paw it off we should immediately remove it. Good advice However we have put it on Maxx 4 times and he immediately freaks out, lies on the ground and starts frantically pawing at it. He HATES it. But he is going to be a very big dog and I want to be able to take him for walks (not the other way round). Is there any wise advice that anyone can offer please? We've tried treats and for once he ignores them Maxx is 18 weeks old Thanks
Do you mean a muzzle (that prevents biting/eating random stuff) or a Gentle Leader headcollar (that prevents your dog from pulling - other brands are also available)? I suspect the latter. My view is that these are totally inappropriate for puppies. You need to teach your pup to walk nicely on his lead, that's all. It can take a while and in the meantime you should have him in a harness so that he doesn't hurt his throat when he pulls. As you have seen, most dogs really dislike the headcollar. The fact he won't take food means he's very distressed. Anyone who does choose to use one - and similarly with the harness - should introduce it VERY slowly with a high rate of reinforcement. Have the dog choose to interact with it rather than just putting it on him and then trying to feed treats. Here is a little video of my young puppy going through the first stages of desensitisation to her harness: https://thislittledoggy.com/2017/01/08/desensitisation-to-the-harness/ Luna is very strong and here in Andorra, we have a lot of ice on the roads. The combination isn't great. But I have put in the training time since she was a very young pup to get her walking nicely. Here is another blog post talking about some of our early training. There's a video at the bottom that shows her walking nicely. She's five months old in this video. https://thislittledoggy.com/2017/03/25/5-months-old-a-training-journal/ She's not intrinsically a "good dog" - I've just put in a lot of hours with her! She still has her moments - when we first came back to the mountains after a summer in Spain, she was besides herself with excitement because of the snow and she started pulling, something she hadn't really done before. I put her in her harness for a few days, using the front clip which helps control her power, and re-addressed her training. Within a week, she was back to walking beautifully on a flat collar again. Personally, I would never use a headcollar on any of my dogs. I think they have their place for certain dogs who have already learnt to pull and are at risk of injuring themselves or their owners, but never ever for a puppy.
Maxx is still very young, so if you really get cracking with the lead training now, you should be able to crack it without resorting to a head collar. It takes A LOT of training and patience - hundreds of hours if I'm honest - but you've got a youthful pup on your side. Find somewhere with lots of concrete and that's quiet - school playgrounds, tennis courts, carparks are excellent for this - and get training. Eventually you'll be able to move onto the foothpath outside your house - up to the neighbour's drive and back, gradually getting further and further as he gets older and less pully. Xena was 12 months before I felt comfortable moving out of our very small neighbourhood (I had a circuit that I stuck to) but the effort paid off - I can now walk her on new footpaths with confidence. There's still the odd lunge when an amazing smell appears, but she's pretty good.
Thanks....we actually discussed this last night and had serious doubts whether something so obviously distressing could possibly be good for him. It is the nose collar, not one that prevents him from eating. But it's going in the bin and we will get a harness.
What is it with vet nurses/receptionists and their obsession with pushing head collars onto people? I had the same thing when Xena was wee. And a dog walker who was also there stuck her oar in and told me that I should get one, she was very pushy. I just smiled and nodded and said I was making great progress without one. The amount of dogs I've seen at training who are rolling around on the ground trying to get their head collars off, it's sad. I know that they have their place, but they shouldn't be pushed on puppies.
This particular vet nurse has another alias: 'Saleswoman of the Century' Thanks for your help and advice
My previous lab (a dozen years ago) didn't mind his gentle lead at all. He was perfectly fine with it and it helped. My current pup hates it too, so I put mine in the bin as well. I decided it wasn't worth torturing my pup and she is much happier and doing well with a normal collar and good training.
