September 22, 2011
My dog destroys stuff at night while we are asleep. Can you recommend a muzzle that he can't escape from?
Full Question:
We have a 110lb. Doberman. He is a 2 y.o. At night after everyone goes to sleep he goes through the house and tears up everything. We put out dozens of toys and rawhide chews to keep him busy but to no avail. During the day he has a half acre fenced yard to run in and when I am out working on the farm he has run of all of our acres. We tried the nylon fabric collars that Petco and all of the stores sell but he pulls them off within minutes and destroys them. This time I hooked the clasp around his leather collar so that he could not pull it off. This worked for 4 days but on the fifth day I awoke to find that he had removed it and destroyed it. He also went up on my desk and grabbed some pens which he chewed up all over our new rug. Needles to say the rug is destroyed with ink stains. He is not ever an aggressive dog, in fact just the opposite he is quite cowardly to everyones amusement. All of this only takes place after we all go to sleep. This week he is banished to sleeping outside but with the cold weather coming this won't do. Can you recommend a muzzle that he can't escape from?Frustrated,
Fred
Cindy's Answer:
I probably wouldn’t recommend a muzzle for an issue like this, but crate or kennel training the dog would be my first choice.
A dog that behaves like this is probably going to panic if muzzled and left alone in a large space, do the dog a favor and teach him to be calm in the crate. Start with our groundwork program.
Pack Structure for the Family Pet
We have directions on how to measure the dog for a muzzle on this page. There is no guarantee that a determined dog will not be able to get a muzzle off, I really don’t like recommending muzzles to be used without direct supervision.
My guess is that the dog is suffering from a form of separation anxiety when everyone leaves him alone at night, we also have a Q&A section on separation anxiety that may help you.
Cindy Rhodes
A dog that behaves like this is probably going to panic if muzzled and left alone in a large space, do the dog a favor and teach him to be calm in the crate. Start with our groundwork program.
Pack Structure for the Family Pet
We have directions on how to measure the dog for a muzzle on this page. There is no guarantee that a determined dog will not be able to get a muzzle off, I really don’t like recommending muzzles to be used without direct supervision.
My guess is that the dog is suffering from a form of separation anxiety when everyone leaves him alone at night, we also have a Q&A section on separation anxiety that may help you.
Cindy Rhodes
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