Lunging and barking at strangers, bit a neighbor

[7121548]

I have problems with my girls lunging at dogs and people, and Sage has a crazy prey drive. I just ordered the prong collar and am anxiously awaiting their arrival today. I'm going to get two small carabeners to link to the prong and their collar as Jeff from Solid K9 Training suggests as a back up plan.

Please keep us updated on how the prong works for your girls!

 

[7121548]

I wasn't able to snap a pic of Dozer wearing it (he wouldn't wear it long enough for me to adjust it properly and was able to paw it off his head). Here are photos of the muzzle itself though:

 

[Hector]

Holy crap, is that a muzzle for a lion???? lol

 

[7121548]

The circumference is 24", which the customer service rep told me was too big! But it fits snug around his mouth and wrinkly flaps. Which one were you thinking of getting for Hector?

 

[season]

Holy crap, is that a muzzle for a lion???? lol

You beat me to that one

 

[Hector]

The circumference is 24", which the customer service rep told me was too big! But it fits snug around his mouth and wrinkly flaps. Which one were you thinking of getting for Hector?

I was thinking of getting the same one. The ones that just wrap around the muzzle to keep it closed has a big opening for feeding, but the dog can't pant. The openings on the one you have might be too small to push food through, but I'm still getting that one.

 

[JuneBugg]

I think I have the same muzzle! Haha.

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[Hector]

The circumference is 24", which the customer service rep told me was too big! But it fits snug around his mouth and wrinkly flaps. Which one were you thinking of getting for Hector?

I'll wait for a pic of Dozer wearing it because it's hard to believe lol.

 

[7121548]

Ok, not the best pictures, but I tried. He kept moving around trying to get it off.

 

[Hector]

Holy moly! Thank you. The muzzle doesn't squish the bottom of his eyes does it?

 

[7121548]

Only when he runs into things trying to get it off. Otherwise, it fits fine and doesn't push against his eyes. There's a little extra room inside the muzzle above his nose, but I think that's probably ok.

 

[traumaunkie]

Thank you! I'm usually hyperaware of people and dogs and will try to avoid them, but sometimes they're just coming from all directions. And when he sees something of interest to him, he'll stare and freeze, then it becomes difficult to turn him around or have him focus back on me (even with treats). I know teaching him to ignore will take some time, but after this bite, I guess I'm overly eager for it to happen! I think a muzzle for safety reasons is a good idea; it might be too risky to not have one at this point.

Haven't read everything yet---but really inspect your "hyper aware" if it tends toward nervousness of any sort, he will pick up on that and become nervous also. Because of the nature of the breed- he will be on guard, which spells trouble. My old shepherd, Metro, was attacked several times on walks by our jerkwad neighbor- this resulted in a nervous mommy on walks. He always maintained his cool. This nervousness translated to Sabo and went right down the leash= DA freak puppy. Took me a while to really chill out and in turn he chilled out. To be honest- it also took my calm as a cucumber daughter to really nail in the polite walking lessons.


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[7121548]

Haven't read everything yet---but really inspect your "hyper aware" if it tends toward nervousness of any sort, he will pick up on that and become nervous also. Because of the nature of the breed- he will be on guard, which spells trouble. My old shepherd, Metro, was attacked several times on walks by our jerkwad neighbor- this resulted in a nervous mommy on walks. He always maintained his cool. This nervousness translated to Sabo and went right down the leash= DA freak puppy. Took me a while to really chill out and in turn he chilled out. To be honest- it also took my calm as a cucumber daughter to really nail in the polite walking lessons. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The nervousness definitely travels down the leash onto the dog! I think it just took a little bit of time for me to relax after the initial shock of the bite. The suggestions in this thread also helped a lot. He's much improved! People will always stop to admire him and take pictures of him, but I don't let them get close.

 

[tmricciuto]

Today was officially day 3 of walking with the prong and they both did amazing...walking separately of course. Bella likes to hold the leash while she walks so we are working on breaking that nasty habit. She is getting much better and requires very little correction actually.

I ended up taking out a link on Sage and the prong stays up much better. I actually think the carabiner to their collar is the culprit as it seems to make it drop down a bit. Anyway, Sage did very well. She realized quickly to stay with her shoulders at my leg or even further back. We did encounter some distractions (3 sets of people) and all I did was a quick correction when she started to look and a No to go along with it and she straightened right out. The first time there was a jogger and I did have to put her in a sit and make her focus on me.

I know that we are not 'There' yet but we are definitely making progress and I actually feel proud walking my girls and know that I am walking them and not the other way around.

 

[7121548]

Today was officially day 3 of walking with the prong and they both did amazing...walking separately of course. Bella likes to hold the leash while she walks so we are working on breaking that nasty habit. She is getting much better and requires very little correction actually. I ended up taking out a link on Sage and the prong stays up much better. I actually think the carabiner to their collar is the culprit as it seems to make it drop down a bit. Anyway, Sage did very well. She realized quickly to stay with her shoulders at my leg or even further back. We did encounter some distractions (3 sets of people) and all I did was a quick correction when she started to look and a No to go along with it and she straightened right out. The first time there was a jogger and I did have to put her in a sit and make her focus on me. I know that we are not 'There' yet but we are definitely making progress and I actually feel proud walking my girls and know that I am walking them and not the other way around.

That's awesome! So happy to hear your girls are making a lot of progress. It sounds like they're pretty sharp and learn quickly. Keep up the good work!