What are your thoughts??? Muzzle or Cage

Since i have had banksy, he has been caged whilst i have been at work.

However i have just moved into my mums and ever since one day i ran a bath and the smoke alarm went off, Banksy went absolutely crazy and bent his cage so that he could get out.

He since then randomly (after realising he was able to escape whenever he needed to) decided to pop out of the cage and chew a chair and other bits up.. even though he has like 3 rawhides and other things to chew lying around.. (HE LOVES FOAM/FLUFF etc)

So my mums suggestion.. which has been in place since Monday is that the cage has now gone, and when i am at work he is left in my room to roam free but with the muzzle on.. He's not overly happy with it but surely he will be happier being free but with it on than being caged without it on?



The happy boy himself.. ignore pink bedsheet its to go over mine so idont have to sleep on his rawhide goo!

I would say cage still....u need to make him realise that the crate is safe again. Go right back to basics with the crate training gradually building up the time he is left etc....We have Kaos's crate re enforced with metal zip tie things as he worked out how to actually unlock it him self lol

The thing is i want to be able to leave him out of the cage, i dont want him to be caged for the rest of his life :s but i see the muzzle as a copout of training, really id like to leave him out without it .. he just ruins things!

I wouldn't leave him alone with a muzzle on - for a start he won't be able to pant properly in that muzzle, but he could also get it caught on something & may panic. I notice you also have a collar on him. Again I would advise against leaving a collar on when he is alone - he could easily hurt himself with it.

I would go back to crating him for the time being, at least until he's forgotten the incident with the smoke alarm!

Do you have any spaces that you can cordon off and leave him in? Violet has a bit of the landing that we've put baby gates up on so that she isn't crated, but she still has a bit of space without anything she can cause trouble with.

I'm hoping they grow out of being so destructive, especially now that she has just emptied the contents of my handbag all over the floor and chewed my headphones to bits But until then, she can't be trusted around the house herself.

I feel your pain really lol kaos is 2 in june and i still cant leave him out of his crate when we go out....last time i tryed it for half an hour and confined him to the hallway he ripped the wallpaper off the wall and chewed straight through my oil filled radiator, electricuated himself and blew the fuse box. Ty on the other hand who is 3 in september has been left to roam since he was 1ish and has never been a problem apart from sitting on my sofas (which is knows is not allowed) lol but i can forgive him that!
Is there a room he could be confined to or something like that? I have a fairly large porch on the back of my house which has access via dogflap to a small enclosed paved garden which is kaos proof so if we go out for the day kaos can go there....

how many walks is he getting and how long for?

He gets at least 1 2hour walk a day aswell as trips around the block, and every now and then my mum takes him out on her 3-4hour walks , hes out at lot more now as my mum is at home mon, tues and wednesday.. so its only really thurs and fri he'll have the muzzle for like 4hours and i still will go home at lunch and walk him as before.

I do remove his collar when he's left alone though, i'd just got back from a walk..

Unfortunately at the moment theres nowhere he can be without ruining everything.. in a month or so when im financially better i might look into building something in the garden for him like a big kennel or something and a run for him.

the thing is he didnt escape through the doors he just squeezed his way out another gap he's very persistant and scratched all his belly and sides in the process of getting out!! I dont want him to hurt himself doign so again.

a tired dog is a good dog and untired dog is a problem dog.....

he need 2/3 walks a day everyday for a hour plus each time

linzy wrote:
I'm hoping they grow out of being so destructive, especially now that she has just emptied the contents of my handbag all over the floor and chewed my headphones to bits But until then, she can't be trusted around the house herself.

My girlfriend feels your pain he destroyed her iphone headphones and destroyed her blackberry the day after she got it (although it was her fault for leaving it on the sofa where it fell on the floor without us realising and then only when we wondered why he was being so quiet we realise why!!)

Steve wrote:a tired dog is a good dog and untired dog is a problem dog.....

he need 2/3 walks a day everyday for a hour plus each time

He does get walked quite often, my mum is a walk freak.. however its not always possible to walk him 3 times a day for more than a hour a time due to work etc..

If you are going to muzzle him don't use the fabric ones use a basket one so he can pant properly and can drink

ella wrote:If you are going to muzzle him don't use the fabric ones use a basket one so he can pant properly and can drink

Yes, the one you have is totally unsuitable.

I would still recommend you don't use a muzzle, though.

He can still drink and eat using this muzzle, although i agree i dont think he can pant , will have to have a look over weekend

i would never use a muzzle even if they be came laws

I can sympathize with you..my Jethro who is nearly 13 has been destructive all his life...mostly when he gets scared he can and does do anything! I remember when our smoke detector batteries went flat and started giving off that low beep... you would think world war three had erupted!! We live on 10 acres so he has always had heaps of exercise but some dogs just never grow out of it..but I hope your boy does!
Winston is just over a year old and so far he has been a very good boy ( well apart from rolls of toilet paper..but hey I can live with that!! ) I was so worried Winston would pick up on Jethro's moods and destructive nature..but so far .. so good... phew!
Good luck!! I know I have raved on about them before, but have you thought about trying a thunder shirt for him? They can help with seperation anxiety issues etc as well.... might be worth a try.

Actually can't believe i'm reading this. You're leaving a muzzle on all day so he won't chew?!

i would try and go back to the cage training again,start with short periods of time to begin and see how he is,i wished i had with sasha she was a big chewer when she was younger but she did grow out of it,hope you get it sorted what ever you decide

Banksy wrote:He can still drink and eat using this muzzle, although i agree i dont think he can pant , will have to have a look over weekend

There is absolutely no way he would be able to drink properly with that muzzle on. Neither would he be able to pant properly.

I would also not use a muzzle or collar indoors and unsupervised. He likely is just having seperation aniexty or has excess energy. Try exercising him right before he has to be left and slowly increading the time he is left alone.

If you had read it properly instead of jumping to conclusions you would see its only on for a 3-4 hours at a time and not every day, just thurs and fridays.

He is excercised before in the morning lunch and again a couple times at night . Its not that he doesnt like his cage, because he goes in it himself and its not all the time he gets out, i can assure you he can drink properly because i have seen him drink , and eat.. the muzzle is not even on tight i leave it quite loose and he could probably get it off if he tried but he doesnt seem that bothered by it i agree on the panting which is why im having a rethink . I was asking for advise not grief.

Thanks everyone else who gave advice without jumping down my neck.

Will look into the thunder shirt , also has anyone tried them plug in things? Im not sure its seperation anxiety as hes used to being in cage and doesnt go crazy when i leave or come back, i think he just likes to chew foam etc..

I'm sorry for jumping down your throat but I feel leaving a muzzle like that on a dog alone for 3-4 hours is a very bad idea and should not be done. Lock him in the kitchen or perhaps bathroom if its large enough . That is my advice.

yes I have used a plug in pheramone thingo for Jethro.... sometimes it works but other times it had no effect on him ( but he is not your average dog !! )

definitely worth trying though, alot of people have had great success and swear by them....and I would try the thundershirt as well as it does seem to settle Jethro.

I've heard good things about those shirts but again would it be ok to leave him alone in one in case it got caught on anything?

Thats the problem with the muzzle and also why collars are a no no when they are left alone, its the risk of them getting themselves caught on something and causing themselves some real damage or all out panic attack if they cant get loose.

I use the plug in's for my cats and that does help with them when they are having a stress scratch at my furniture, haven't needed it for Tinsel as yet, we crate trained her from early on so that she's fine no matter what in there when I do leave her. Previous dog was a stress head as well though, and she didn't grow out of chewing furniture for 8 yrs (we didn't know as much then as we do now lol) so u need to find something that works for you, she had to be confined to kitchen always.

Hope you can figure out what's going to work for you soon, good luck

I leave the thundershirt on Jethro when he is inside the house, and I always leave the radio or tv on as well.

We had a dog once that figured out how to get out of his crate. We used cable ties around the sides and he soon learnt he couldnt get out that way any more.

Also I wouldn't leave him with a muzzle on. It is not safe for the dog and, in my experience, they wont stop him chewing if he wants too. When I was younger my mum had two german shepherds. They were left alone together. Out of the blue one day one of them attacked the other. Under the vets advice mum left the other with a muzzle on. She got back a few weeks later and there was blood everywhere. The muzzle had stopped her killing the other dog, but she had still caused serious damage. If your dog wants to destroy something even with a muzzle on it will.

Haven't been on here for a while, but the muzzle did not last long. I ordered the thundershirt and it has been working very well , theres been the odd thing like ive come back and hes took fluff out of duvet and he destroyed his extendable lead.. but there not big deals like walls and furniture so its going well!!

Thank you for recomending the thundershirt

Heres some pics






Thinking he's king


How he fell asleep other night..

and one more without his thundershirt looking handsome !

Love the pics, he is a stunner and great to hear the progress he has made

Glad there's been an improvement!

Love this pic - he has to air himself!

Banksy wrote:[
How he fell asleep other night..

Very pleased to hear the Thundershirt is working for you and thanks for letting us know how you have been getting on with it. Thanks also go to Vanessa for the recommendation.

Glad alls going well

Thunder shirts are fantastic, mum uses one for her JRT and it works wonders, Maz has one but its still in packet I got it for her thunder/fireworks fear, but she went deaf a few months ago so doesnt react anymore

i would try and somehow cordon off a room or just shut the door to the living room but leave him to roam free in the hall way , you can also buy sprays that deter chewing they dont like the taste of it , had to use it when Trouble was a pup cos he liked the taste of the wallpaper and the skirting board