The Joy of Muzzles
Hawkeye, a young German Shepherd likes his muzzle so much that he brings it to the vet’s himself!
In the thirty years I have been working with families and their dogs, perhaps the most difficulty I have is convincing my students and the public about the joy of muzzles. As soon as I mention the word muzzle, people seem to have the reaction of “oh, no….I bet she thinks my dog is horrible!”. Let me assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. All of my own dogs learn how to wear muzzles from the time they are very young and when we need them, they are all willing to wear one. Let’s break down the what, why, when and how so that you can understand what the fuss is all about.
Muzzles are pieces of equipment intended to keep the dog’s mouth from contacting anyone or anything with their teeth. There are a wide variety of muzzles out there. To begin with, there is the groomer’s muzzle. It is a simple piece of canvas that prevents the dog’s mouth from opening. It needs to be fit very snugly, and on a short nosed dog, there is a risk of overheating. Dogs should never be left unattended with a groomer’s muzzle on. Then we have a wide variety of metal, plastic and leather basket muzzles. Most of these are designed to permit the dog to bark, pant, and open their mouth.
Groomers muzzles are often used for things like toenail clipping, bathing, and grooming, but they are also used in the veterinary clinic for a wide variety of other purposes. I have seen them used for vaccinations, physical exams and occasionally during procedures. Once, when John and I brought an elderly dog in to the vet’s office in severe respiratory distress, our dog was panting so much that the vet could not hear his heart, and any time we tried to restrain him, he wiggled out. A grooming muzzle for less than a minute allowed the vet to listen to his heart and save his life. If your groomer or your vet suggests a muzzle always say yes, and remember that this may in fact save your dog’s life.
Pimm is comfortable wearing a plastic muzzle.
Basket muzzles come in several styles. Some of them keep the dog’s mouth fairly closed, but others are designed to allow the dog to bark and mock bite. These wide mouthed muzzles are sometimes used to train dogs in the police or military in a live action situation where the “target” may not be able to wear protective clothing, or where we want the dog to learn to bark but not bite. You need to take great care with wire muzzles; I have had a number of dogs catch toes in the wire basket and that can be incredibly painful for the dog. Plastic muzzles can sometimes crack in the cold. By far, my favorite muzzle is the Jafco. This is made of a solid sheet of thick vinyl with air holes punched in. I have seen older versions of this made of leather. These muzzles allow dogs to breathe, pant, and even take treats, while not being able to bite and cause damage.
Perhaps the most common reason that people use a muzzle is to keep the dog from using his mouth, but the goal may not be entirely expected. Sometimes we use muzzles to prevent dogs from picking up or consuming things. Many years ago we had a yellow lab in our care who would eat ANYTHING on a walk. In the house he was fine, but out on the trail, he would eat dead anything (there was that time he ate a dead crow after rolling in it!) and poop (weasel, fox, dog, cat, bear, anything). He was constantly at the vet to be treated for worms, and gastro-enteritis. After the second round of gastro-enteritis, including vomiting and bloody diarrhea, I decided that there was a fate worse than muzzle. He wore his muzzle very happily and we stopped having twice monthly vet visits.
The reason most folks use muzzles is to prevent their dog from biting people. This is perhaps the most common reason I recommend a muzzle. I also often use a muzzle at the vet clinic. My dog does not usually need a muzzle at the vet, but if the only time I use one is when my dog is likely to bite, then he is going to think that the muzzle predicts a situation where he will be uncomfortable, unsure, or threatened. We just use it randomly and that means that when he was in a lot of pain and needed an uncomfortable exam, I could just put it on him and he didn’t associate it with something bad happening.
Hawkeye wears a clear plastic Jafco Muzzle while Dr. Flint of VCA Canada Kortright Animal Hospital looks in his ear. Look at how relaxed Dr. Flint is!
People sometimes don’t want to use the muzzle at the vet’s office either because they think the vet staff will think their dog is mean, or that the vet should never do anything to a dog that would cause the dog to need to bite. Let me address the first point first. In my long experience, the vet staff will never judge anyone who brings their own muzzle. I always say that your vet did not go to school for all those years to worry about if your dog is going to bite. Make it easy for your vet; they should be thinking about your dog’s health, not about their own safety.
Taking the second point, veterinarians sometimes have to do things that are uncomfortable, scary or painful to dogs, particularly in an emergency. I remember once taking a dog to the vet late at night with a lacerated foot. Before doing anything else, the vet needed to take a look at the cut. I put my dog’s muzzle on, we asked him to lie on his side and then she gently lifted his foot. He squealed and drew his foot back. We tried a second time and she was able to see that he had cut himself down to the bone. I cannot imagine how much that hurt! I am glad that I had his muzzle with us, because that meant that we could take a proper look and decide what to do. If I had been that dog, I can promise you that biting the vet would have been on my mind! I often recommend using a muzzle to help a young dog to learn better manners when interacting with other dogs. Many young dogs go through a phase as adolescents where they behave like bullies. With dogs like this, I will recommend using a muzzle when I think what they need is more exposure to other dogs and to play without the risk of anyone getting injured. This is especially helpful when you have older, level headed dogs (some of whom wore muzzles during the same developmental stage!) who don’t take the posturing seriously, but who would respond if that young punk of a dog were to use their mouth inappropriately. This allows the older dogs to set the tone of expectation when they have a young dog who is not always making good choices in the group. My experience is that if we remove this younger dog from the group, they struggle to reconnect with the good social skills they had as puppies. This is exactly what we see when we see teenaged kids misbehave as teens, but then grow up to be normal adults. People sometimes worry that the dog will feel vulnerable because they cannot bite, but this is not what I have observed. I have seen hundreds of dogs over the years on muzzle in a social group, and if the muzzle has been properly trained, the dogs don’t seem to care. In fact, the other dogs in the group often relax when they realize that the adolescent might still be a bull in a China shop, but he no longer uses his mouth to bite.
If you are worried that your dog will not be able to defend himself in a fight, I would encourage you to rethink the group you are allowing your dog to interact with. Also, if one dog attacks and the other dog does not retaliate, injuries are usually less significant to both dogs. It is safer for your dog to NOT use his teeth in a scuffle, even when the other dog does. The biggest advantage to this sort of a situation is that your dog won’t start an altercation.
Zeron on the left and Hawkeye on the right are running towards the camera while wearing their muzzles.
An alternative I have found to muzzling when I have an adolescent takes significant preplanning, but it does bear mentioning because it can be a good solution. I teach all my young puppies to carry a toy when walking in a group (as well as teaching them to wear a muzzle). The problem with this is that it takes months to train to reliability, and if your dog is also a resource guarder, this can make matters significantly worse. When you have a dog who will preferentially choose to carry his toy when playing, then you know that as an adolescent, he may be a pain in the neck, but he will not be using his mouth on other dogs.
When people think about using a muzzle, they often think about it as a failure. If I had been a good enough trainer, could I have guaranteed my vet’s safety when she was looking at my dog’s lacerated foot? Maybe. But I would not want to bet on that. And how about when the vet needed to listen to my dog’s heart and he couldn’t? Nope! How about the dog who was eating dead things and poop? I assure you that he got my best work, and I wasn’t able to teach him to leave everything alone.
Hawkeye and Zero sometimes have to share a crate when travelling. To do so we choose to use muzzles to make sure that there will not be any squabbles due to the cramped quarters.
People also worry that their dog won’t be comfortable in a muzzle. There are two things we can do to address this. First is to ensure that the muzzle is a good fit. Different muzzles fit differently so it is a good idea to get some coaching (this can even be done via video!) if you are not sure. Basically, muzzles should not cause rub injuries or impair the dog’s vision, and should then either prevent the dog from biting or prevent the dog from picking up things you don’t want them to pick up.
Perhaps the biggest concern people bring to me is public perception. What will your vet, trainer, and classmates think if your dog is wearing a muzzle? Most of us will think “great job! You are helping your dog to succeed”. And if anyone thinks anything else, we all need to remember what my grandmother would say-you are not important enough to end up in the society pages. In other words, don’t worry about what anyone else thinks of your choices and actions. And I assure you, you will have the respect of more people than you realize.
The final word about muzzling is how to train your dog to love their muzzle. I like to start with a large coffee mug or a yoghurt container and teach my dog to lick sticky things like peanut butter, liver paste or soft cheese from the bottom. When your dog is excited about doing that, then you can switch to his muzzle and start the process on the actual piece of equipment you will be using. When your dog is happily shoving his face in there, start holding the muzzle up and stick a straw of cheese or hot dog through the front to get him to put his face in before the treats start. When he will dog that, prepare the muzzle so that the strap is done up and sitting on the top of the muzzle as you offer it. When your dog shoves his face in, skip the loose strap over his ears and then feed a treat. When you can do that easily, start tightening up the strap before feeding. Then use your muzzle when you do on walks, for play dates and for other fun activities.