Raw Nose

Brenda wears a Halti (a harness around her nose and head) when we’re outside. It’s not a muzzle, but does allow me to close her mouth quickly if she lunged at someone on the street. It allows me more control over her and therefore I feel much more calm and safe with her in public.

Lots of dogs wear them, yet there’s a certain amount of stigma, because so many people think they’re only for aggressive dogs. That’s not true at all. In fact, more dogs wear them to stop pulling, barking and garbage-mouthing than for aggression.

What bothers me more than what other people think, is that the Halti rubs the top of Brenda’s nose raw—and I mean bloody raw. It’s not completely the product’s fault. I know a host of dogs that wear Halti’s with no problems at all. Brenda, however, is unique in so many ways. She is very fragile and just doesn’t heal well.

Since Ben walks her on a muzzle he doesn’t always use the Halti and before Belisa went to the West Coast for the month of December she went against my advice and walked her on only the Martingale collar. The problem, besides lack of control, with walking her on just the Martingale, is that if she pulls, the collar gets tight around her neck and gives her a very bad message—one of tension.

Now, I wash her nose with saline solution and put pad protection goop on it to keep it healthy, clean and unchapped. It’s not working so well, but Brenda never complains