Most dogs don’t enjoy wearing a muzzle for the first time – it can be an odd feeling and may make them even more anxious when going to the vets.Īllow plenty of time to muzzle train your dog to ensure they’re comfortable wearing it. If your vet asks you to muzzle train your dog don’t be offended – it’s to ensure the vet, your dog and you are kept safe.
If you feel your dog may growl, snap or bite, or you’re just not sure, get your dog used to wearing a muzzle. Some dogs may resort to growling, snapping or biting to show they’re uncomfortable, worried or scared. Going to the vets can be a scary time for your dog, particularly if they’re in pain – it can be hard for them to understand what’s going on. Another important reason for wearing a muzzle is for veterinary procedures.
With a properly fitting basket muzzle in place, that risk of damage, of litigation, and threat to public safety greatly diminishes.They might eat things out on walks that upsets their stomachs, they might have the unfortunate habit of eating the poo of other animals, they might be a risk to wildlife or they might be worried about the close proximity of strangers or other dogs. Remember: Desensitization and counterconditioning help a dog to enjoy wearing a muzzle and realize that muzzles predict snacks, walks, and a myriad of other good things in life. By pre-training a non-aggressive, socialized dog to love wearing a muzzle, guardians can act to prevent additional suffering if their dog has an emergency, instead of stacking a new stressor onto an already stressful situation. The chance of a bite increases manifold when a dog is in pain or injured. He doesn’t need a muzzle.Įvery dog has the ability to bite. Eliminating chances of a bite helps vets and technicians perform a more thorough examination, reduces the need for anesthesia for certain procedures, and also opens the door to do further desensitization and counterconditioning to all types of procedures and restraint. Instead of having to wear a cloth muzzle, guardians can bring the dog’s usual muzzle – the one loaded with positive associations – with them. While muzzle training will not erase the fear of various veterinary procedures, it is still a critical component to any fear-free vet training program in that training a dog to love his muzzle lowers one of the many stressful components of a vet visit. The fact that at many veterinarian’s offices they need to be taken “to the back” to be restrained and muzzled for various procedures, often adds to that fear. Many dogs are afraid of the veterinarian. Most puppy classes now focus on desensitization to nail clippers, brushes, vacuum cleaners, and more. While puppies don’t need muzzles, the socialization window is a prime opportunity to form early, long-lasting positive associations with a muzzle and handling around the face. Often, muzzle training is left out of the socialization mix. The goal is to prevent future behavior problems by giving the puppy positive, safe experiences with as many different people, dogs and stimuli as possible. Puppy training is all about socialization. Muzzle training does not take the place of a thorough desensitization and counterconditioning protocol - as well as possible pharmacological intervention - to help reduce a biting dog’s fear and aggressive behavior, but it does prevent unnecessary suffering. If a dog has already bitten another dog or human, muzzle training should be the first priority. If he bites again, I’ll muzzle train him. It also protects the aggressive dog from developing a bite history, which carries ramifications that can severely limit quality of life. On the contrary, it ensures both dogs and humans stay safe in the event of management failure. Signals can happen extremely quickly and may not always be noticeable, so why wait for a bite to occur? When conducted properly, muzzle training will not create additional stress for a dog or interfere with an aggressive dog’s training plan. These signals may be obvious, such as snarling or growling, or more subtle, such as ‘freezing’ or a quick flick of the tongue. Most dogs display various warning signals prior to biting.
The following scenarios illustrate why muzzle training is important for every dog: AggressionĪll dogs have the ability to bite. How wonderful would it be if dogs were conditioned to love wearing their muzzles early on so that if they needed to wear one later in life, it would not be an aversive event for them?
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