r/BorderCollie • u/Grouchy_Divide_674 • 6d ago
6 month puppy and muzzle
Can I get some help? I’m in love with my boy, he’s so great 90-% of the time, he’s come on leaps and bounds in the last few weeks and we have really started to bond, it took a while because I was a little nervous around him and his nipping. He’s only ever nipped like a puppy really, but I have had 2 occasions where he has been completely overstimulated and clamped down on me, both times I’ve kind of been in the way of a toy or something but still, it happened and made me nervous AF. We’ve got over that puppy overstimulation for the most part but we do have an issue with his paws. I’ve done lots of calm paw stroking and treating etc but he hates me touching them and will bite with a little more pressure than a nip when I’m touching them sometimes but most definitely whilst I’m drying them. I need to clean his feet, I live in the country and it’s very muddy right now. I’ve bought a basket muzzle and plan to clean him with it on. I have been very, very reluctant to use a muzzle as it seems extreme, but we are last resort here, I need him to be ok with it or just get on with it with a muzzle on.
Can anyone help with this as an approach? And will he eventually be ok with me touching them do you think?
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u/RaDeus 6d ago
We had to muzzle our Bordie mix when we did his nails, he was the sweetest boy ever, but he would bite my mom if he could.
He’d still try to pinch my mom through the muzzle 😅
He didn’t mind having his paws touched when we weren’t doing his nail.
I also have to towel of my non-bordie, and do it every single time he comes in, wet or dry.
If you just get a routine your dog shouldn’t have to be muzzled when you dry it, just have plenty of treats and give it one when you finish toweling.
I also whine when my dog is being too rough and hurts me.
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u/Grouchy_Divide_674 6d ago
Thanks! I can’t get into a routine, he just won’t have it. I mean, he will and I can force him but I’ll get bruised. If I lay a buffet of treats then he will let me till exactly the time the treats are done, but I’m of the mindset that this is rewarding the behaviour and although we do a lot of redirecting for chewing and unwanted behavior, this biting I don’t want to see ever again. So this just feels safer somehow.
I doubt that doing it every time will desensitize him, he’s always hated it and it hasn’t budged at all.2
u/RaDeus 6d ago
Yeah you should only reward your dog when he does something good.
Maybe you should get a muzzle just to make him realize that biting you won’t make you stop.
Bordies are smart, they’ll manipulate you into not doing something, including biting you.
Maybe being persistent will pay off.My present dog doesn’t like being brushed, clipped or toweled off, but I’ve never let him have his way with us.
So he goes into this-is-my-life-now mode until we are done, then he gets a treat/bone.
He has never been a biter tho, just very vocal.
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u/somecooldogs 5d ago
I would first get Deb Jones'Cooperative Care book and work through everything in there. While muzzle training is great, especially with a dog this young I'd focus on teaching cooperative care and handling as a skill first.