December 19, 2011
I'm thinking about muzzling my dogs while I'm gone, so they can have free roam of the house and not chew thinkgs up. Is it a bad idea to leave a muzzled dog home alone?
Full Question:
Cindy, hopefully you can help me with a simple question.I have two dogs, brother and sister, they are half American Bulldog and half Bull Mastiff. They are not aggressive towards people at all, as a matter of fact, they have never aggressed on a person.
I currently keep them inside a six sided pen inside my house when I go to work. But, I want to start leaving them inside the house alone, but I don't trust them not to chew the furniture/walls once they get bored and figure out that I am not coming home for a while. I basically don't want them penned inside when they can have free run of the house IF I can trust them. They are 2.5 years old and like to chew.
I am thinking of buying them muzzles and trusting that they will be fine alone inside with them on while I am out of the house.
Is it a bad idea to leave a muzzled dog home alone?
Thanks
Cindy's Answer:
You CAN leave a dog muzzled alone IF you do the proper muzzle conditioning so the dog is completely comfortable wearing it.
Personally, if I had a dog I felt the need to muzzle when I left them alone I’d likely just continue using the pen or a crate. Dogs can still get into a lot of trouble while muzzled, to me it’s just not worth the risk of damage to my stuff. If they got the muzzle hung up on something, used it as a battering ram to knock items off the counters or walls or figured out how to get the muzzle off, you would have a much bigger problem to deal with when you got home. Dogs chew because they are bored and anxious and a muzzle will not change that, it will only get better with time and training.
A much better idea is to gradually allow them more freedom in the house in tiny increments of time. In other words, don’t leave them alone in the house for an hour the first time you leave… 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc…
Some dogs learn to relax with repetition of this and building of duration, others will not. It’s a very individual thing.
Cindy Rhodes
Personally, if I had a dog I felt the need to muzzle when I left them alone I’d likely just continue using the pen or a crate. Dogs can still get into a lot of trouble while muzzled, to me it’s just not worth the risk of damage to my stuff. If they got the muzzle hung up on something, used it as a battering ram to knock items off the counters or walls or figured out how to get the muzzle off, you would have a much bigger problem to deal with when you got home. Dogs chew because they are bored and anxious and a muzzle will not change that, it will only get better with time and training.
A much better idea is to gradually allow them more freedom in the house in tiny increments of time. In other words, don’t leave them alone in the house for an hour the first time you leave… 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc…
Some dogs learn to relax with repetition of this and building of duration, others will not. It’s a very individual thing.
Cindy Rhodes
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