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Muzzle training your dog
Training & behaviourPart of · Training & behaviour

Muzzle training your dog

12 min read

Every dog can learn to wear a muzzle, not just biters: with a broken leg or an ear infection, even the gentlest dog may refuse to be touched. Teach it early and gently, like a treat cone he dips his nose into all by himself. Plan on several weeks of short sessions, never a crash course.

Muzzles are not just for aggressive dogs

The usual reflex is to save the muzzle for aggressive dogs. That is a myth. It mostly protects in moments when your dog has done nothing wrong: a painful procedure at the vet's, a train journey where it is often required, a legal obligation for restricted breeds. Learned before it is needed, it becomes a neutral object. Discovered in an emergency, pressed onto a dog who is already stressed, it stays tied to that stress for a long time.

At the vet's
  • Even a gentle dog can panic when he is in pain or frightened
  • It avoids heavy sedation for a simple routine procedure
  • The vet works more calmly, and faster
On public transport
  • Often compulsory on trains, the underground or buses
  • Prepared in advance, it spares you a last-minute scramble
Restricted-category dog
  • It is a legal obligation: muzzle and lead for a category 1 or category 2 dog, whenever he goes out in public
  • Learned early, it stays neutral and does not hold back his socialisation
Working with a reactive dog
  • It takes part of the risk out of an unplanned contact with another dog or a person
  • The more confident you feel, the looser you hold the lead, and your dog picks up on it straight away

A muzzle is not a punishment, nor an admission that your dog is nasty: it is a piece of safety equipment, like a seatbelt. How your dog comes to see it depends entirely on the way you introduce it.

Choosing the right muzzle

The right choice comes down to a single criterion: your dog must be able to pant, drink and take a treat. Without that, he cannot cool himself down by panting, which is dangerous during exercise or in hot weather: no positive training is possible, and wearing it for long spells becomes a real risk for him.

Best choices

Rigid plastic basket (Baskerville Ultra type)The dog breathes, pants, drinks and takes treats through the bars: the reference model for training.
Soft basketComfortable, with the same advantages as a rigid basket; slightly less suited to very long, fine muzzles, as on a greyhound or a collie.

Depending on the muzzle shape

Short-muzzle model (brachycephalic)A special version for bulldogs or pugs, designed to leave room for their short muzzle: more limited protection, but the easiest one to get accepted.

Avoid for long wear or training

Closed nylon muzzleHolds the mouth shut and prevents panting: dangerous as soon as it is warm or he is exerting himself, to be kept for very short, closely supervised spells.
Metal basketHeavier, it turns scorching in the sun and freezing in winter, and without padding it rubs the muzzle raw.

A safety strap can be clipped to his collar to stop him pulling the muzzle off with a paw: add it only once the muzzle is fully accepted, never during training.

Five stages to make friends with the muzzle

From the second stage onwards, you mark the right moment with one short word, always the same: a “yes!” said exactly when your dog does what you are waiting for, followed straight away by a treat. This “yes” comes before every reward all the way through the method: it is what tells your dog “that is exactly it”. If he already knows that little word from your other exercises, muzzle training will go far quicker.

Move one criterion at a time. At the slightest sign of avoidance (head turning away, backing off, nose licking), go back to the previous stage: you step back, you never force.

Step 1 / 5

  1. Create the desire: it is the dog who goes in, never the muzzle that moves forward.

    • Drop a treat into the bottom of the basket.
    • Crouch or sit down at his level, and hold the muzzle still at nose height, opening facing him, the way you would offer him a food bowl.
    • Let him dip his nose in by himself to fetch the treat: never move it towards him, it is up to him to come.
    • If he backs off or turns his head away, do not chase him with the muzzle: put it back down on the floor, opening facing up, and let him come closer at his own pace.
    • Repeat the in-and-out a few times per session, no more, and put the muzzle away behind you on a success, before he feels like pulling his nose back out.

    Move on when: As soon as it appears, he comes and puts his nose in by himself, most of the time.

  2. Keep his nose in the basket for longer, without tensing up.

    • Nose inside, slip a treat through the bars or the holes of the basket, in front of his nose, then mark with a calm “yes” and follow up with two or three more treats.
    • Space them out gradually: first roughly one treat a second, then one every two or three seconds, always while his nose stays inside.
    • Say “yes” at the precise moment he stays put, relaxed, nose in the basket, then reward.

    Move on when: He keeps his nose inside for 5 to 10 seconds, without trying to pull it out.

  3. Get him to accept the straps touching him and the sound of the clip.

    • Hold the basket still with one hand, under his chin; with the other, you pass the straps and hand out the treats. If that is too much for two hands, get someone to help by rewarding while you do the handling.
    • Nose inside, pass the straps behind his ears without fastening them, say “yes”, reward, then take them off.
    • When that contact no longer gets a reaction, fasten the buckle for one second, say “yes” and reward straight away as you unfasten it.
    • The sound of the clip announces a treat, never a lock-in: never leave him clipped up in silence, with nothing given to him.

    Move on when: He accepts clipping and unclipping without any pulling away, several times in a row.

  4. Movement and activity make him forget the object.

    • Extend how long he wears it clipped, marking with a “yes” then rewarding, often at first and then more and more spaced out.
    • Add exercises he already knows: sit, a short recall, a few steps at heel.
    • Let him eat his meal through the basket.

    Move on when: He wears the muzzle calmly for a good minute, then for several minutes while moving, without trying to rub it on the ground.

  5. Get him used to wearing the muzzle in everyday life, without learning to be wary of it.

    • Go out muzzled in a quiet place first, then vary the settings (street, park), marking and rewarding the calm moments.
    • When you get back from a walk, keep the muzzle on for 5 to 15 minutes and do two or three exercises.
    • Add the safety strap once the muzzle is fully accepted.

    Move on when: He wears the muzzle calmly outdoors, on walks as well as in care situations.

Muzzle mastered

If he scratches at his muzzle or rubs it on the ground to get it off, do not block his paw: distract him with a quick run of treats, his head turned towards you. If he keeps doing it, shorten how long he wears it and go back to the previous stage.

Going further

guideGetting your dog's attentionThe little marker word (“yes!”) is learned here first: a dog who already knows it accepts the muzzle far quicker.Read the guideguideCategory dogs in France: the law, the permit, your dutiesFor a restricted-category dog, the muzzle is not optional: this guide sets out the legal obligations and how to live with them calmly.Read the guideguideHe growls, stiffens, reacts (reactivity)A reactive dog makes progress with the muzzle too: it keeps everyone around him safe while you work on desensitisation.Read the guideguideSpotting a life-threatening emergency in your dogThe day your dog gets hurt, knowing how to spot an emergency helps you keep your cool, muzzle or no muzzle.Read the guideguideTrimming your dog's nails without stressSame logic as the muzzle: getting your dog used to care routines, gently, before you actually need them.Read the guideguideThe first aid kit for your dogA spare muzzle has its place in the kit: this guide lists everything worth keeping to hand.Read the guideguideReading your dog's body languageSpotting the stress signals before you put the muzzle on makes the training far gentler.Read the guide
  1. AVSAB — Position Statement on Humane Dog Training (2021)
  2. Wess et al. — Effect of cooperative care training on compliance in dogs undergoing a veterinary examination (pilot study), Applied Animal Behaviour Science (2022)
  3. Ziv — The effects of using aversive training methods in dogs: a review, Journal of Veterinary Behavior (2017)

Frequently asked questions

Which dogs should wear a muzzle?

In truth, all of them. Not just aggressive dogs: on a day of pain at the vet's, a train journey or a legal obligation (restricted-category dogs), even the gentlest dog may need one. Far better to have learned it beforehand, calmly.

How do you put a muzzle on an aggressive dog?

You do not force it on, least of all on a dog who may bite. You teach him to put his nose in by himself, with a treat in the bottom of the basket, in very small stages. If the aggression is established, this work is done alongside a trainer or a behaviourist: the muzzle keeps things safe, it does not fix the behaviour.

When should you put a muzzle on your dog?

Whenever a situation calls for it (vet, transport, legal obligation), but above all not only at those times: if it only appears when there is a problem, your dog links it to danger. Put it on for ten minutes when you get back from a walk too, so it stays neutral.

How long does it take to get a dog used to a muzzle?

Count on several weeks of short daily sessions, 2 to 4 a day, one to two minutes each. But it is your dog who sets the real pace: if he has already had a muzzle forced on him, it will take longer. Forcing things to go faster ruins everything, so you may as well take the time it needs.

My dog is scared of the muzzle, what can I do?

Go back to the previous stage. Most often, a stage was skipped too quickly, or the muzzle has only come out at bad moments. Make it delicious: pâté on the rim, a treat in the bottom, and let him decide to dip his nose in. Mark with a cheerful “yes” as soon as he comes near it.

Is a muzzle cruel for a dog?

No, as long as it is a basket model where he can pant, drink and eat, and as long as it is taught gently. What is hard on a dog is living in stress, or being sedated because he never learned to wear one. Used well, it opens up freedoms rather than taking them away.

Read nextNext in this pathChoosing your dog trainerRead

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