Hi
I have just bought my 4 year old bitch Dobe a muzzle as she is temperamental when out over our local field with other dogs.
I have a 5 month old Weimaraner pup and i want to take them out together as currently i take the pup and my son takes the older dog.
I put the material muzzle on her first ime yesterday and of course expected  some resistence from her but she spent pretty much the whole walk trying to claw it off her face.She had the right hump, (expected) and today she did the same thing throwing herself onto the floor and rolling about and not really enjoying herself, so i thought.
Can anyone tell me if they really get used to these muzzles, it is early days but as usual those human feelings kick in and i feel so guilty, although obviously I feel that she will benefit from wearing a muzzle as I believe she will not feel so inclined to snap at those dogs she sometimes takes a dislike to, which is usually larger dogs as she was chased by a large weimaraner a few years ago.
I did try her with one of the platic cage type muzzles a few years ago but she never got used to it and literally cut her face above and below her nose trying to get it off and she wore it for a few weeks.

Have you tried smearing some squishy cheese or similar into it - try and make it a positive thing?

I cant really see that smearing anything into it would help as she cant really lick it with the muzzle on.

Yes, they do get used to them. My boys wear wire greyhound muzzles when off lead and don't bother at all about them. I started off just putting the muzzles on for a few seconds in the house, I would feed them bits of liver through the bars :) I then put their muzzles on just before they went out, so they associated going out with wearing them - now they associate their muzzles with getting off their leads so are happy to have them on. I would say though that the baskerville type are i.m.o. much better, I would be concerned that your dog won't be able to pant with the fabric one on.

I was rather concerned that she couldnt pant too well today when she was running about, maybe i have the wrong size although i took her in to  the shop, the smaller one was far to tight but i didnt try a larger one, its a bit hard to know how much movement they should be allowed, although where she was trying to claw it off she kept pushing it up her face making it slightly tighter. I will keep my eye on her and hope she gets used to it because it will allow me to take both dogs out on my own in the future.
I dont think i can put the baskerville muzzle on her agian as she made her face bleed last time as i said.

I don't think these sort of muzzles are safe to use out on exercise either, even more so when it comes to summer months.  I think they are only intended for short use during grooming and veterinary examinations.  I think you really need to work on an acceptance of the basket type using treats as the others have suggested.

Perhaps i could get her used to wearing the soft nylon muzzle in the first instance and then transfer to the baskerville when she accepts that she has to wear one.
I find that people are much more wary and intolerant of her when she has worn the baskerville as it is instantly recognisable as a muzzle and they think that you have a savage animal on the loose, whereas the other muzzle blends in with her colouring and it has hardly been noticed.

The makers of the nylon mikki muzzles state that they sould only be worn for short periods of time, less than 20 minutes and not for exercise. I personally wouldn't use a material one at all, just persevere with a baskerville. It may not look as nice, but it is much kinder. Imagine trying to walk wearing something that stops you opening your mouth comfortably.
Training a dog to use a muzzle shouldn't just be a case of put it on and leave them to it. It should be a very gradual process of rewarding them at the sight of a muzzle, rewarding them for putting their nose in but not doing it up, putting it on and then doing up the buckle and removing within seconds etc. Otherwise most dogs won't happily accept one.

The great thing about a basket type muzzle is that it is EASIER to train a dog to wear it as well. Start by putting food inside it and feed it to the dog like it was a bowl. Gradually work towards fastening it on, and then push bits of food THROUGH it. The aim is to get the dog to actually enjoy wearing it -wearing it means NICE things happen.

The Mikki muzzles are dangerous on walks -remember the Pitbull case years ago now where the muzzle was removed as the dog needed to vomit and would have choked had the muzzle stayed on (-and immediately was seized by police for being unmuzzled.....).

As yours is a female dobe she may fit a wire greyhound muzzle? I buy mine from this place. They're very light and you can't really see them from far away. On the down side though they have a short life as the solder tends to crack, I find they usually last around 3 months before they crack and leave sharp edges. Whatever type you use it will take a while to get used to it :)  This is my two wearing their muzzles.

Tempting though it is, I really wouldnt excercise in the fabric muzzle (your dog is not like you...they dont sweat to cool down or take a jumper off, But evaporation from the nose is what cools a dog, and this is seriously compromised by the type of muzzle your using)
   I will try to find a link but fear not, there is another option out there, I havent seen them in this country but back home and in the States you can get Black leather muzzles, much more comfortable than Baskerville, less inclined to rub hair away and you can still treat through them, and they look less 'Hannibal lecter' ;)
I'll put a link up if I can find them.
(Ar'nt Chaumsongs dogs Stunning!!!!!!!!)

It was with some trepidation that I Googled for leather muzzles ;) but I wonder what you think of what I came up with HG or what about the nylon one that looks rather comfy.

I agree with the advice given, never use a material Mikki muzzle for exercise.

I saw a poor Samoyed being exercised in one a few years ago, in the middle of the day in the summer - unfortunately I was in the car and unable to stop, and didn't see where they went.

It's good you're thinking about what's best and asking about it, :) I'd definitely go for the basket one and not worry about what folk tend to think. You could always say she has it on due to her scavenging :P Another tip is to make her look "sweet" by giving her a "pretty" bow or collar so that the impression isn't so scarey.

Lindsay
x

Yep those are the ones commonly used in Poland too made of woven leather, which if oiled must be much more comfy than either metal or plastic basket types.

Also when I did try a muzzle to stop scavenging and the resulting digetsive upsaet in one of mine they son learn how to get them off.  Now the continetal ones have proper buckles and would seem less easy to remove.  The baskerville ones are to easy to get off as the strap attaches too far down so are easy to flip over the ears by mine.