I have recently become a Certified Bite Prevention Educator (woohoo!), and with this comes more of a passion to ensure all of the doggies in our lives stay safe from having a bite history.

This can be such a sensitive subject to broach,
understandably,
as we never want to think that our beloved family pet may be able to cause harm to anyone.

But it’s time to end the stigma that a muzzled dog is a bad dog.

In reality, a muzzled dog may be muzzled for a plethora of reasons, and not one of them is ever because they’re a “bad dog”.
You all know I don’t even think there’s such a thing as a bad dog!

Personally, I think all dogs should have their own muzzles and be muzzle trained and this is my main reason why:

During my Canine First Aid and CPR Course, it was stressed upon us how often an injured dog is likely to bite anyone trying to help them, even if it’s their own special person/guardian. We never want to think about our dogs being hurt, but the reality is that it is something we should think about, just in case, like having a will or an emergency plan in place. You just never know what might happen in your dogs’ lifetime.

What I do know is that the absolute worst time for your dog to need to put on a muzzle for the first time is when they are already injured, scared, anxious, etc. This is my number one reason for owning a muzzle for each dog, and training them to wear one, and be comfortable with having one on, on a regular basis. It’s so that putting on a muzzle will be one less stressful thing your dog may need to do when they’re already stressed, hurt, and afraid!

Other reasons include, but aren’t limited to:

🐾 They eat rocks, socks, or other non-food items that can be toxic or cause expensive, life-threatening surgeries.

🐾 They are nervous (or over excited) around people or other dogs, so muzzles keep all the dogs safe. Every time a dog bites (or even air-snaps at) another dog (or person), it is considered to be a part of their “Bite History”, which can truly affect everyone’s lives, especially the life of your dog.

🐾 The muzzle can work as a signal to other humans to give the dog space. A lot of people feel entitled to see a dog and assume they can and should be allowed to touch them, regardless of the owners asking them not to. Sometimes the visual of a muzzle is enough to tell people to give the dog some space.

🐾 Some dogs get scared easily and will redirect their fear and anxiety on whatever (or whomever) is closest to them.

🐾 Some dogs are nervous during grooming sessions or vet visits, and will redirect that onto the nearest human, as well.

Not all muzzles are created equally, though, and finding one that is the exact right fit for your dog will go miles in ensuring their comfort while wearing and training them to wear one.

You all know how much I love giving resources, so I’ve collected some for you here to help in choosing, fitting, and slowly training your dog to wear a muzzle. (And, as always, I’m happy to help in person too! Just contact me if you want to set up some sessions to work on muzzle training!)

Muzzle Training | The Muzzle Up! Project

This is a great go-to website for all things muzzle related. I highly recommend taking your time and going through each page, blog, resource, and link.

You can never learn too much to support your pup!

The PDF on the right can be found on the Muzzle Up Project website, but it was worth embedding here for you all as it’s an excellent step by step how-to.

PDF in HTML

This is a sped up video but shows how many teeny tiny little steps the dog needs to take and be positively reinforced for before the muzzle ever even touches their face. The process of properly acclimating your dog to their muzzle may take even a month or two, don’t rush it.

Let them learn and be in control of how quickly they go through the steps. And remember that for every time we rush them or push them, we’ll need to go back steps for even longer, stretching the process even more.

So: baby steps.

Now, I have been recommending Mia’s Muzzles because I love to support small Canadian businesses, and also, these muzzles are beautiful, light, fully customizable, made to exactly fit your dog, and are easy to breath, pant, eat, and drink while wearing (which is really super important)

Mia's Muzzles

*I get absolutely nothing from recommending this company, I just really like them.*

Even if you choose not to buy a Mia’s Muzzle, her guide to measuring your dog for a muzzle is superb so I’ve embedded it below, but please do also give her website some traffic as well! Look at all the pretty muzzles she’s created, you’ll be happy you did!

(Note: embedding makes formatting screwy in mobile, so check this link in for the guide instead, if you’re on mobile.)

That’s it, that’s all.

Thanks for coming to my muzzle talk.

As always, please feel free to take a look at my other articles, check out my services, see my credentials… and have a Happy Dog kind of day!

Thank you to Mia’s Muzzles for granting permission to use your photo of the black and white dog wearing one of your muzzles