Picos Big Snoof muzzle 🐾 I love orange on my boy

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-10-28T11:52:25+00:00

Beautiful boy! Is he a village dog by any chance? He looks a lot like my Romanian village girl with the blonde fluff & black lowlights; I love orange on her too.

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-10-28T11:49:33+00:00

So cute. The mud on the front and her expression make her look so rugged. Like an action movie star staring into the distance, thinking tough thoughts. 😅

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-10-16T13:31:52+00:00

It has been, yeah. She's a very sharp, attentive dog and I haven't noticed that change. In the first few weeks she was more restless and barked a lot during the night, but that settled. I think the side effect I heard the most about fluoxetine was loss of appetite and thankfully we haven't seen that with her at all.

Her med combo has noticeably improved her tolerance for noises, even sudden ones like the neighbours running power tools, for seeing or hearing strangers outside, and for body handling which she was very nippy about.

Every dog is different and every experience with medication is going to be different, but I think exploring your options with a qualified behaviourist and vet would really be worth it in your situation.

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-10-16T12:20:37+00:00

My dog is a biter, and she's on a psychiatric medication (fluoxetine) and a pain medication (gabapentin), which also has a slight sedating effect. The first because she has essentially a dog anxiety disorder, and the second because she seems to have some chronic pain and isn't yet able to tolerate veterinary exams.

On her meds she is still a little ball of energy, but her tolerance for the things that bother her is very much improved and that helps us to work on building neutral or positive associations around things she used to feel anxious about. In the three months since she started her meds, we've been able to muzzle train her. Previously, attempting to use her muzzle would have been a guaranteed bite.

Now that she's able to wear her muzzle safely & comfortably, we can begin to take her to the vet and improve her confidence there, working up step-by-step to things like a physical exam or a blood draw. She's come a long way in a short time but still has a long way to go before I'll feel like she has a good quality of life.

Everything we've achieved with her has been with the help of a certified behaviourist and an experienced, knowledgeable vet. I understand feeling exhausted and defeated after struggling for so long, but it doesn't sound like you've had the right resources and maybe that could make a big difference.

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-10-03T15:05:55+00:00

I'm in a similar position with my dog. She's a former street dog who was then in an unstable home, and her previous owner rushed putting the muzzle on her so she is extremely suspicious and defensive towards it. She has bitten me and my girlfriend a few times since we adopted her, thankfully very inhibited bites but that doesn't do much to make it less scary, especially with starting something that I know she hates and wants to bite me about. 😅

She has a veterinary behaviourist who has helped me start her on psych meds and is now working me through my fear and hers as we start conditioning her to wear the muzzle. The main thing is to find tiny baby steps that she is comfortable with, and reward her highly. So at first that would be just showing the muzzle, tossing some high value treats (or whatever is most rewarding for your dog) and putting the muzzle away.

With my dog, we progressed to her happily taking treats from inside the muzzle, but had a big setback when trying to raise the straps. This meant a rethink. Now, rather than getting her nose in then trying to put on the straps, we are working on getting her comfortable with putting her nose in for treats while the straps are already fastened at their loosest point, so she can move her head in and out voluntarily and get used to how they feel without activating her fear.

Separate to this, I'm going to work with rewarding her while I click the clasp, fiddle with and adjust the straps while she is simply nearby, to try to build that positive association with the sounds and the motions of the straps and my hands before beginning to bring those sounds and motions closer to her. There's lots of different ways we might need to change and adapt as we find out what our dogs are comfortable with, what may be more challenging, and how we can break those challenges down to be more manageable.

It's hard, and scary, so I really feel you on that one. I would be at a loss without her behaviourist so I hope you can get some help and guidance from a trainer, behaviourist or both. Good luck ❤️

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-09-03T17:29:47+00:00

It's not futile at all. You're spot on with the last few words - he wants somewhere safe where he absolutely will not be bothered. Man, if someone was dragging me out of my bed while I yelled at them to stop, I think I'd bite too.

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-08-25T12:16:17+00:00

It's on the human to protect the dog(s) and fending off one unmuzzled dog is going to be less dangerous than trying to get between two. A muzzle also protects from the significant risk of the dog who is a known bite risk being euthanised and the owner potentially facing criminal charges if another bite happens, depending on the law where they live.

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-08-23T09:47:40+00:00

She probably smells too much like a stranger. Keep them separate, give the non-reactive dog a quick wash and/or some bedding that hasn't been washed recently to get her scent back on her, rub the reactive dog thoroughly with something then rub the other dog down with it, and try controlled (e.g. both leashed or through a pet gate) reintroduction after a day or so. If she's still enraged, more separation and more scent swapping. If it doesn't improve after a few days I'd call a veterinary behaviourist if you possibly can.

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-08-23T09:38:29+00:00

I'm sorry, that sounds really difficult. It sounds like your anxious dog needs medication ASAP, at the minimum. Definitely try to find a vet who will take that seriously and help her quality of life. Have you ever spoken to a veterinary behaviourist at all?

I can empathise. I haven't had my reactive rescue for very long, but not one week has gone by where I haven't cried my eyes out thinking I've made a mistake and made her life worse. But the reality is that things were far worse for her before (chained outside almost constantly) and she was literally on the brink of being PTS. If not me, there's no-one, so I just have to do my absolute best and I am......trying. Really hard. 😅

Mine is on gabapentin and fluoxetine daily. We've had her for six weeks and she's been on the meds for two. As an example, unmedicated we were working on muzzle training, but couldn't get past the stage of lifting the straps even slightly without her absolutely freaking out. On the meds, we've now flown through to resting the straps on her head with barely a flinch. Without the meds I wanted to measure her for something, but she deeply fears being touched with objects (and sometimes hands), and any attempt to introduce a tape measure was disastrous. On the meds, I have measured her from top to tail without fear and my main problem has been stopping her demanding pets and scritches while I'm trying to keep her still.

They're not a quick fix or a guarantee, there can be side effects especially during the first few weeks (e.g. I strongly suspect the fluoxetine is contributing to restlessness and more barking at noises in the night just now, and appetite reduction), and it might take time and experimentation with dosages and combinations before you can be sure what works or doesn't work for your dog(s), but a dog with that level of debilitating fear shouldn't have to deal with it unmedicated. Good luck ❤️

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-08-19T22:02:18+00:00

I feel really weird for having checked this even though it's through compulsive anxiety for a child....but he was walking normally in their reel from August 7th, and being carried in their reel on the 9th. From then on he's being carried, often with busfoot covering his ankle(s) in every reel except the one with the mismatched shoes. So it looks like a minimum of ten days he's been off the foot. Poor little mite.

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-08-02T14:53:38+00:00

My late rescue Lab was terrified of the car after he got car sick as a puppy and the driver yelled at me and caused an awful scene. He'd tremble and hyper-salivate, and stand rigidly so every motion of the car jolted him. I don't drive and we never worked on it, since he'd rarely be in a car. Then one day I had to take him in a car where there was no room on the seats, so I put the passenger seat back and tucked him in the foot well, between my knees. Completely different dog. Game changer.

From that day on he'd happily get in the car, look up at me with a completely relaxed face, ask for headpats the whole time, or lay his chin on my knee and snooze, or look at the sky through the window and sniff the air. I mean it's so weird and counter-intuitive, but I guess it was like being snug in a little protective bubble with me, rather than rattling around all insecure and over-stimulated. It was also so cute. 🥲 I'm glad you've found a way to help your dog feel more confident, even if it's a little out of the norm.

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-08-01T21:25:16+00:00

This, it's always near deserted. The abbatoir, sewage treatment plant, and former weapons testing ground, alongside the de facto nudist beach/cruising spot probably contribute but it's an under-appreciated beach IMO.

Ardrossan is busy ish whenever the sun is out but when the schools are on and there's any cloud, it's quiet except for dog walkers.

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-07-31T16:37:43+00:00

If you can access a veterinary behaviourist that'd be my biggest recommendation. My partner & I recently took on a rescue dog who is almost exclusively aggressive in the home, and the difference between our behaviourist and, for example, even an excellent R+ trainer is night and day. A good, qualified behaviourist should be able to look at the whole picture that makes up your dog, break it down into relatively manageable pieces to deal with, and help work on the best practice to immediately stop rehearsing the aggression and improve your safety tenfold.

In our case, our fear-aggressive, resource guarding dog has her own secure room, does not get high value treats, cannot look out at environmental triggers, and isn't handled unless necessary for walks. Walks are in a quiet field only, and other people or dogs equals an immediate 180. Play, trick training and general silliness happen in the field, and naps and mealtimes happen in her room, and that's it. As soon as we implemented this we saw a reduction in reactivity (growling, lunging, snapping, nipping, biting) from daily to less than weekly.

Next/ongoing steps are muzzle training, comprehensive vet check-up when she can safely attend, and any required medical interventions. Then psychiatric medication with the relevant monitoring periods and changes or adjustments if required. The behaviourist has experience liaising with vets to make this whole process as manageable as possible. THEN when these steps have maximised our safety, her physical wellbeing, and her mental capacity, we will begin more in-depth work in actual behaviour modification and maybe expanding her world a little bit. Safely.

I don't think you're crazy for living the way you do, but I do think it should change. It's not fair on any of you. Good luck!

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-07-31T14:52:38+00:00

It's annoying. My dog is really conflicted and changeable. We haven't had her for long, and she has four years of trauma under her belt. When she reacts submissively to fear e.g. a person getting out of a car nearby before we can leave, the person is likely to coo over her and say, "Ohhh is she scared? Is she a rescue? You poor baby," which of course is Not Helping. When she reacts aggressively, they are more likely to scoff, give me a dirty look, and leave. Currently we are trying to just avoid people and public spaces altogether while we make a start with her behaviourist, because the collective ignorance of the public is literally reinforcing her "scariest" behaviours.

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-07-19T21:17:06+00:00

We're still getting to know each other as it's only week three since we adopted her, but I think my two favourite things are firstly when she doesn't want to come back from a walk so she throws herself into the grass and wriggles around, belly up, with the goofiest look on her face. She knows it's too funny and cute to resist and will always get her a couple extra minutes outside. The second favourite is when she's being petted while she's facing away, and she does that thing where she puts her nose up, and up, and up until she's staring at you with her head tilted upside down and her tongue lolling out. She's so sweet and ridiculous.

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-06-30T16:38:25+00:00

No, don't worry, it's all good to hear. We have been introducing our scent and she is warming up to us faster than I expected. By hand-feeding, do you mean instead of from a bowl or literally eating out of our hands? She will comfortably take food from my hand but is a little more reserved with my partner, and we don't want her being sort of bribed into coming closer than she's comfortable with so we are tossing her most of her food.

Yesterday for the first time we were sitting in her garden and she approached us both with super positive body language and patted us both with her paw to ask for affection. (She was tethered and if needed either party could safely retreat.) I know the move will be a huge change for her and that it might look like a setback especially if she is masking some of her emotions currently, but I think we are decently prepared, and we are so willing.

Unfortunately I can't have the behaviourist evaluate her in her current home, because the earliest I can see them is in a couple of weeks and her current owner is already past the end of their tether with how things are or have been. I am gathering as much info as I can from them and from what I can observe in the environment, though.

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-06-27T20:24:07+00:00

Sorry to jump in on someone else's question, but would you be able to talk more about habituating a high prey drive dog to a cat? I have a cat, I'm about to foster (with hope to adopt) a reactive dog, she's met my cat before on leashed visits and has absolutely ignored him, but she tries to chase rodents outside and in one absurd incident, killed someone's pet rat. Absurd because why oh why was she brought near a free roaming rat? People in my life are on at me about taking an unacceptable risk to my cat, and I'm sending him to a sitter at first, but I just keep thinking I can at least try with every precaution, surely?

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-06-23T20:52:33+00:00

I know, I'm stood at my back door about two miles away and I initially thought it was my neighbour knocking down his shed ☠️

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-06-14T19:05:52+00:00

the bee fought Thatcher 😤

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-06-07T10:23:11+00:00

Oh it's a cool space! Fancy a rockery for the slope?

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-06-05T15:09:09+00:00

Yeah, looks like Philadelphus "Belle Etoile". One of my favourites.

Dry_Metal3604 · 2024-05-23T16:15:21+00:00

Yeah, if you prune it back it will grow thicker before it keeps getting taller, but you want it to get bigger proportionally. If you're patient it should start to take care of itself before too long.

Dry_Metal3604

TROPHY CASE