Ramsey

Ramsey sadly needs to wear a muzzle in public (through no real fault of his own). He has very negative associations from having the muzzle put on without any training to help him feel comfortable. He is also rather uncomfortable about having a harness put on.

We need to go slowly and build up his confidence and positive associations. We quickly saw that just holding a muzzle in our hands caused him to quickly move away and avoid us so to begin with, his muzzle was hung on a hook opposite his kennel. It then had no meaning for him.

The next step was to introduce the muzzle in a positive way so we used lots of squeezy paste and avoided holding the muzzle in hands. 

You will see his progress in the video below where he pushes his face in to get the paste. Afterwards he grabs a toy which he uses to soothe and calm himself.

You can see his progress from the next video below. I am now holding the muzzle and he happily engages with it.

It is essential to NOT try and push it on his face yet while we build up the positive association and his confidence. Afterwards - toy time. Can you see the paste on his face?

In between his muzzle training we also just have quiet sessions of enrichment and play with toys.

Ramsey is one of the dogs with German Shepherd Welfare Fund and is kenneled in Lincolnshire.