Hannibal Chuckter
November 19, 2009 at 11:17 pm 5 comments
Charlie had his first veterinary appointment today. While he will cheerfully allow me to handle him any way I like, being handled by strangers is still a completely different story. So I brought him in by himself (I usually bring the dogs in as a pack, as they’re all very easy to handle). And I brought a muzzle.
The spectre of young Charlie wearing this lovely bit of apparel, along with the blinkless stare and completely even, 60 bpm pulse rate he maintained throughout the examination earned him the charming new nickname.
I’ll admit that the little shit looked astonishingly evil, even to me. When I took him back out to the van I left the muzzle on until I got him into the crate. Once he was safely inside, I slipped the muzzle off and shut the crate door in a single swift move (I may be a gimp, but I can still move pretty darn quickly when I need to). Once the door was closed, I was surprised – and quite pleased – to see a soft, happy, wiggly puppy on the other side. I opened the door back up and the vicious killer my happy puppy greeted me with a wagging tail and a flurry of soft, sloppy kisses.
I am so glad I spent all that time getting him used to wearing the muzzle.
Once we returned home, Charlie released his stress by viciously attacking wrestling with Audie.
Entry filed under: dog training, dogs, rescue. Tags: Aggression, English Shepherd.
Smartdogs' Weblog 
1.
Viatecio | November 24, 2009 at 8:41 pm
What a nice turn of events! Hard work does pay off, even if you get the “If Looks Could Kill” treatment. What did the vet think of him, for being a puppy mill dog and whatnot?
2.
SmartDogs | November 25, 2009 at 4:00 am
She was surprised at how tiny he is (Charlie’s exactly half Audie’s size and Audie is not a large English Shepherd) and she agreed with others that this is due to very poor pre- and peri-natal nutrition. She was pleased, but not surprised, to see how well he responded to my handling (her clinic sends me a lot of referrals). And – unfortunately she also verified my suspicion that he has a badly slipped patella.
3.
Mike D'Abruzzo | February 18, 2010 at 2:38 pm
That is great, more people should realize that a muzzle is many of dog’s best friend and can sometimes be the difference between life and death.
4.
Rob McMillin | May 10, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Audie: not evil at all!
5.
SmartDogs | May 10, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Oh – thanks for pointing this out! I knew his eyes glowed vivid green (always), but have been to caught up in other stuff to catch it.
And no, he is not evil at all. So with n=5, we begin to see a pattern. Time to publish!