Muzzle training can be a handful – literally!

Juggling the muzzle and treats, plus maybe a lead and a clicker, whilst also concentrating on watching your dog’s body language AND thinking about training and timing – it’s no wonder that many guardians find it a daunting prospect!

Here, we are going to give you some tips on hands-free muzzle training, to help you if you are finding it difficult to handle everything!

At the start of muzzle training, both you and your dog are learning! An ideal way of introducing the muzzle is to start with it placed on the floor. This gives you the opportunity to have your hands free for reinforcement and also prevents you from inadvertently pushing the muzzle towards the dog whilst you are getting into the swing of things.

Simply place the muzzle on the floor, and scatter food or toys nearby to create a positive association with the muzzle. Once your dog is comfortable and happy taking treats from around the muzzle on the floor, you can start to use a clicker or marker to specifically reinforce when your dog looks at or sniffs the muzzle. Take it away and replace it a few times to help your dog get used to the movement and the sounds around the muzzle and offer them plenty of reinforcement on the floor so they continue to see it as a positive thing.

To see more, visit our ‘Introducing a muzzle’ blog

You can also attach the muzzle to something, so you don’t worry about holding it.

When fixing the muzzle somewhere, ensure that the muzzle is at the right height for the do to easily target – it needs to be right at the dogs’ nose height! Some useful items to use for attaching the muzzle are zip ties or Command sticky strips. Some ideas of where to fix the muzzle include:

Attaching to a chair: You can use the straps to fix the muzzle to a chair or you could use zip ties.

Use a wall hook:

These are easily available from hardware stores or Amazon. They can be attached to the wall, door frames, large heavy furniture such as dressers etc.

(Remember to follow manufacturers guidance when sticking them and use a removable sticky strip such as Command if you want to be able to take it off again!)

Simply hang the muzzle from the hook!

Make a muzzle stand:

You can easily make a moveable muzzle stand at home! You could use something like a tripod or even a metal adjustable food bowl holder as the stand. If it is lightweight, you may need to weight it down at the bottom to prevent larger dogs from knocking it over. You can either zip tie the muzzle directly to the stand or affix a wall hook to the stand.

A muzzle stand works really well as you can usually still access the treat hole of the muzzle for easy reinforcement!

We hope this blog has been helpful if you have been juggling too many things whilst muzzle training!

To find out more about muzzle training, take a look at out downloadable e-guide!