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I sometimes go hang at my parents' place as a bit of a day trip (go over, drink coffee, come home), and more often than not the dogs come with. Thing is, you need to catch a boat (waterbus/ferry) to get to them, and all dogs have to wear muzzles. I'm not sure how the brain of my little monsters work, because while they are fine wearing the muzzle while we're getting on the waterbus, sitting down and travelling, it's getting off that's the issue. They somehow know which stop is ours, no matter which route we take. They get really excited and hyped up that 'Yay! We get off here!' .. and that's when it gets weird. Trillian then mopes and has to be dragged along, while Oddjob will drag his nose along the ground and paw at his face while we're walking up the aisle to leave, as we get off, and along the jetty until there's enough room to stop and remove the muzzles. I can't take them off on the boat and don't have the opportunity to stop and remove them as soon as we get off. At the moment I walk in front, half dragging and repeating 'Just keep walking', as they scurry between mopes to catch up. I've got a little container of these http://www.love-em.com.au/liver_treats.html which are like little liver crackers, broken up into teeny pieces which can be easily eaten with their muzzles on - they get a morsel every so often while travelling. Is there anything I should be doing to make them still be ok in the muzzles while disembarking? Should I just make them wear them during the day at home at random times to get used to wearing them off the boat? Is it just a mental thing - they know they get off and the muzzles come off.. so they want them off now not later? Should I feed them treats we we leave the boat too?
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Dec 31, 2010 08:08
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a life less posted:The thought of your two Cavs with muzzles on makes me laugh. I take issue with mandatory muzzling of dogs in public places -- it seems so much more likely to harm than help. But anyways... Unfortunately it's a policy on the boat. It's only been a recent development in the last 18 months. I think there were a few issues with it being a confined space and a couple of snappy dogs. The rule is: Muzzle, crate/carrier (if they're small) or, for the more dedicated, those dog pram things. I saw a fellow get on today from one of the other islands, he had bags in his hands and a little.. something.. I'll say Chihuahua/Min Pin.. laying across his shoulders (behind his neck) as he walked on. It moved to his lap once he was sitting. Thanks for your advice, I'll have to herd them down an aisle of dining room chairs every so often. Failing that, perhaps I'll have to rig up a donkey/carrot type muzzle attachment..
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Jan 2, 2011 13:57
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We've had some progress on the muzzle front. They are now fine wearing it while laying down or sitting and we're working on standing and walking - Oddjob still drags his nose along the ground to a degree but overall they're getting better. Dogs on the waterbus this morning. 
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Jan 27, 2011 00:55
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Kiri koli posted:We're working on muzzle training as well. Our trainer recommended that we go with a basket muzzle after we bought one of those, so we never used it. How do those muzzles work? Do they keep the dog's mouth closed? Can you feed them with those on? I can't remember what brand we ended up with but it's a velcro muzzle with mesh undercarriage and clip strap. I think maybe Kramar? We had to try a few different brands to find one that worked with their faces. The velcro makes it adjustable to fit different noses, the various sizes of it correspond to the overall size and length. They can't open their mouths fully, but can still pant (see the sticky out tongue in the earlier picture), drink easily and I feed them small treats through the opening. They can't eat kibble because of the open mouth chew they do, but smaller treat things are ok. A size S modelled by Trillian. Opened up:  You have the option of setting it to the right size and sliding it over the nose, or just clip it on open (like a collar).  Then pull up and close as required.  We don't put it on too tight.
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Jan 27, 2011 02:25
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