Muzzle Up

I know that I have become known amongst all of Mom's friends and followers as the "bad" dog. I don't like people, I'm afraid of almost everything, and I don't welcome new dogs into my home. But this week, it became clear that there's another bad dog in the house when Fenway tried to bite Dad while he was giving her the weekly don't-be-allergic-to-humans vaccine.

Now, many dogs never need one, but it's really important that every dog be muzzle trained when they are puppies. You never know when an injury or fearful event may cause your usually sweet best friend to react with a snap. Thus, it's important to train each dog to tolerate a muzzle when nothing scary is happening to him or her so he or she won't be afraid to put one on when it's necessary.

I was never muzzle trained as a puppy, but Mom trained me to tolerate one when it became clear that I was never going to like veterinarians, no matter how many treats they gave me. So she bought me a basket muzzle, smeared peanut butter on the inside and said "muzzle" when I put my nose in it. She repeated that a lot of time with different types of treats. When she's training, she sometimes even has dogs eat their meals out of it! The key is to say "muzzle" each time they put their nose in.

After many, many positive repetitions, she held the strap behind my ears -- the first feeling of being stuck in the muzzle. As soon as I stopped struggling, she let me out and gave me lots of treats and praise. I love treats and praise! So I forgot about being scared. Eventually, very slowly, after many practices, she fastened the muzzle and then built up the amount of time I had to wear it, up to two or three minutes.

Now, no matter how scared I am, every time I hear the command "muzzle," I know I have to stick my head in that muzzle. Soon, Fenway is going to learn that command as well!

Love, Muggsy