Checkers is an Appenzeller, and we are working with his issues of jumping on guests, eating sticks, and biting things that have wheels. He is very smart, and quite a character, and I really like him. Checkers has a lot of energy.
One of the skills his humans, Audrey and Steve, wanted to work on, was training him to wear a muzzle – for vet visits and just for safety's sake. You never know when you might be in a situation where wearing a muzzle is necessary.
Checkers did very well with the first session of muzzle training. We started with him putting his nose into a yogurt container, with the bottom cut out, to get a treat. Then started working with the muzzle, where he enthusiastically stuck his head in to eat some tasty snacks. Eventually we were able to loosely fasten the straps. It looked like Checkers was going to enjoy wearing his new head appliance.
The following week, Checkers got excited when we got the muzzle out, and happily stuck his nose right into it. We picked up right where we left off the week before. Audrey said, “You know, we didn’t really work on this very much. He really remembered. I can’t believe how well he’s doing.”
I replied… “It’s called muzzle memory.”