Shamas has developed a sore on his nose from the muzzle.
I thought perhaps it was from wearing it for so long yesterday, as he was having a good day as far as his issues go...so on the way home from the vets, I let him have his head. I let him lead me around for a good hour and a half before he stopped and said he was tired and all done walking. I knew when I gave him his head that there was a good chance he'd stop too far from home to walk, so I planned on calling a cab to get back. Called for our cab, and told the driver he was trained to sit in the trunk of an SUV, or the back seat of a car. The cabbie, who drives a beautifully detailed new SUV, was quite pleased to put him in the far back of the vehicle, where he could lay on the floor and not the leather apaulstry.
I did have to lift him in, as he couldn't make the jump on his own...but he was quite happy to settle down in the back for the ride. I also lifted him down, given his dodgy wrists. He's a good boy, and is quickly getting the hang of being helped in and out of vehicles. We're considering one of those harnesses meant to lift handicapped dogs--it goes on the front, and also one for the back hips, with a lifting strap between them.
I rechecked his muzzle today, and it looks like what happened is that where I clipped the safety strap to the collar, then clipped the collar to the leash, when the collar spins, it pulls the muzzle down to rub his nose. So we'll probably want a collar separate from his normal one, for walking. Perhaps I'll get a new Martingale- he's always walked beautifully on those, but his leather one got too tight when he put on weight.
I also called a trainer that the vet suggested after I expressed my frustration at treat-based training. This trainer is working with one of the staff members, and she comes to the house--which I feel is what we need, since historically, Shamas makes progress in the controlled environment, but it not only doesn't translate to the real world, but he gets more reactive after sessions. PAwsitively was working in the studio with him, but the dogs coming in and out of the studio drove him batty in the parking lot. Once in, he was fine--barely reacted to their dog. But it's a controlled environment, and he's used to going to Petsmart, and stores, where he does come across dogs indoors. Dogs indoors don't pose a threat to him. Dogs on my block do.
From talking to the new trainer, we agreed to pay by session for start-see how he responds to her style before committing to a plan. She's got her own dummy dogs, and can arrange situations where he'll see them, while responding to and treating his issues. She'll take the lead to guage how much of his reaction is him, how much is me, and how much is the two of us together. She'll be focusing on leash manners, and confidence-building so that he doesn't feel the need to react.
What I'm looking for is a relaxed walk, where he can see, and ignore other dogs on the street. He's gotten much better over the last year, and I think we're starting from a good point. The puppy's helped--I usuallly swing wide with Shamas while her owner walks right on past and Angel does her wiggly puppy thing. He's seen that nothing happens to her when she walks right up to other dogs, and his threshold is much less than it used to be. I only need swing about 15feet now, rather than all the way over the road. She wants to see how he does without "safety in numbers" since I have been able to pack walk him in parks, and on trails without issues. Then she was talking about moving from sidewalks to parks, once he can handle her hand-picked dogs in normal settings.
