Muzzle Training
This is conditioning your dog to like wearing a muzzle.
Overview
Teaching your dog to enjoy wearing a muzzle is a great thing to train even if your dog is not a bite risk. There may come a time when for whatever reason you may be asked to muzzle your dog and we need to spend a few days up to a week getting the dog used to wearing one so you don’t want to have to put one on without them understanding what it is.
If your dog is reactive, having them wear a muzzle when outside will help ensure that they don’t end up escalating to biting someone and it usually cues other people to stay away which will help with the reactivity.
Videos
Types of Muzzles
Learn about the pros and cons of different muzzle styles.
Why Every Dog Should Wear a Muzzle
Learn why it’s important to wear a muzzle and how to condition it.
Calm Muzzle Conditioning
Learn how to have your dog enjoy the muzzle calmly.
Muzzle Training
Learn how to train the muzzle command without creating avoidance.
Types of Muzzles
There are a variety of types of muzzles and depending on your dog and situation you may prefer one over the other. See the Muzzles - What's the DIFFERENCE?! video for more details.
See this link on How to Size Your Dog’s Muzzle
Follow THIS LINK to purchase the Baskerville Basket Muzzles.
Baskerville - This basket style muzzle will most likely be the type of muzzle you should use as they come in a variety of sizes and allow plenty of room for air flow and ability to drink water and take food from you.
Cloth - These cloth muzzles are strictly for short periods of time when going to the vet or groomer. They don’t allow the dog to open their mouth so they aren’t able to pant or drink water. It’s a good idea to get your dog used to these and use them as a precaution when going to the vet.
Conditioning the Muzzle
It’s important to make sure the dog has a positive experience when conditioning them to the muzzle and we want them to put their mouth in it, not have us put it on them.
You want to start slow and calm and spend a couple sessions on one stage before moving on to the next. This should take a few days to a week.
Stage 1 - Getting used to the muzzle and putting their nose in it
Place the muzzle on the floor and when your dog investigates it, mark and reward them. You can also place treats around it to get them to come close. If they touch it mark and reward also.
Start moving it a little/picking it up and mark and reward. We want the act of touching it and picking it up/holding it be rewarding.
Hold the muzzle so the dog can put their nose in it. Bring your hand with treats to the other end of the muzzle and wait for your dog to put their nose in it to get the treat. Mark and reward when they go all the way in. You may need to mark and reward for just getting close to the opening and slowly increase how far they need to go before getting a reward.
Work on getting them to stay in the muzzle for longer and longer. Rewarding and praising them. You can also put a name to this if you like.
When they will put their nose in the muzzle and hold it there for 10 seconds before you mark and reward then you are probably ready to move onto the next stage.
Stage 2 - Attaching the back strap
Have the dog put their nose in the muzzle and do a few reps of this to warm up.
Pretend to attach the back strap and mark and reward as long as the dog is remaining in the muzzle and calm. Repeat a few times until you know they are comfortable with you touching them on the back of their neck.
Actually buckle the back strap (high on the neck near the ears) mark and reward then remove the strap. Repeat until they are comfortable with this action.
Reward them for staying calm while wearing the muzzle. Increasing the amount of time they have it on before taking it off and repeating putting it back on. You can feed them their meal as well through it to help associate this with a positive experience.
Stage 3 - Attaching the front strap
Follow the same steps from Stage 2 but for the front strap that goes over their nose and between their eyes.
Once they are more than happy to wear it you should have them wear it for random amounts of time and at random points throughout the last few days of the first week of conditioning.
We want this muzzle to predict rewards but nothing else like going for a walk or going to the vet. It’s just an item they sometimes wear (and are more than happy to) and sometimes they go outside and sometimes they don’t when it’s on.