muzzling

as most of you know i have rehomed a staffordshire bull terrier and she is still really weary around my son would it be creul to muzzle her whilst she is getting used to him and until she understands we are not going to hurt her ? before serious damage could be done

I don't think so, better to be safe, your son has to come first x

Agreed. Choose a muzzle carefully, make sure it fits comfortably & that she's happy with it. You may have to put it on for a few minutes at a time just to get her used to it.

Also, make sure your son tries to stay calm around her (I know that isn't easy, I have a son myself!) and tell him not to look her in the eye as she may find that intimidating. If he wants to talk to her or stroke her, tell him to look at her ears or just over her head so she'll feel safer around him.

Oh, and the muzzle must be her 'safe place'. Tell your son not to touch or grab the muzzle. She'll soon get easier with him I'm sure.

when you say weary does she show signs ov aggresion or is she shying away from him.
as the rehoming centre should have done all the cheacks for sutability ????

She was rehomed privately & from what I can remember she is scared of the boy, not aggressive.

yee i remembered after posting about shay .
will muzzeling not make the situation worse caryll ie moreduebiuse around people.
it is a hard one as she needs to put her 2 year old first

she just shys away from him and trys to go to the higest point away from him we have decided on the cage muzzle as she is not restricted at any point yes she was rehomed privately but i know people judge you know a days for muzzling but t scares me to death some days as he has started to jump or her back but as you all now 2 year old boys are all very stubborn and they know best as much as we tell him not to he does it again and its for both of there saftey's at the end of the day but if she doesnt settle with him i think me and my husband are going to have to have a serious talk

staffies are smart she will catch on quickly i dont think you will be using the muzzle for long good luck

I don't think muzzling will hurt in the short term. However, although I know full well what a 2 year old boy is like (and a 2 year old girl, for that matter!), you MUST stop him from jumping on her. The muzzle must be there only to stop the possible nervous nip, not retaliation to a toddler jumping on her back - that will only frighten her more!

You must become a little tougher on your son for your dog's sake, or consider rehoming her again! If you do decide to rehome her, please consider a proper rescue kennel as they will make full checks on what sort of home she needs & will match her to a perfect home.

Hopefully it won't come to that & you can get across to your son that she is very frightened & confused & he must be gentle with her.

i defenatly wont use it for her to stop biting whilst he jumps on her back its just while we are teaching my son to be nice to her and so she can grow a bond with him and not to see him as a threat fingers crossed she wll be are companion for years to come

Good luck!

dont worry about people judging you over muzzling .. its you been a good owner by using correct restraint for the charactor of your dog! if more people did that there would be less dog attack news.
My old staff always wore his cage muzzle out on walks, he was never botherd by it after he got used to it, i prefer caged ones as they can still pant etc his wasnt metal tho i see some have metal ones and i think theyre uncomfortable on the nose, so i went with a kind of rubbery plasticy kind which had a strip for the top of the nose to stop rubbing.

staffy-lover89 wrote: his wasnt metal tho i see some have metal ones and i think theyre uncomfortable on the nose, so i went with a kind of rubbery plasticy kind which had a strip for the top of the nose to stop rubbing.

They're definitely the best ones - the metal ones can be hot, heavy & uncomfortable.

We have just brought her one of the brown ones as we wll still need it for outside due to her dog hate wth a passion lol bless her and like you said its not worth the risk and i will feel a lot more at hease walking her we have just found out she loves cheese so if i was to walk her with a few pieces of cheese to hand and use it when walking past dogs will she slowly start to walk past them with out stoppng and staring at them for bout 5 minutes after they have past so sorry bout all the questoin just bit new to all this or is it to early to start doing this

Using a treat (cheese is great!) to get your dog's attention is a great idea! Use a command word as well, such as "watch" or "look" so that eventually when you say the word you'll get your dog's attention without the treat.

thank you so much for your help it has be much appreciiated and sorry for harping on i wll leave all you lovely people be now .......untl another day haha

You're not harping on - we like to help if we can!

dannii wrote:thank you so much for your help it has be much appreciiated and sorry for harping on i wll leave all you lovely people be now .......untl another day haha

Thats what were here for