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Muzzle fit troubleshooting
Finding the right muzzle for your dog isn’t always straightforward!
You may have some questions about how to ensure your Muzzle Movement muzzle fits your dog perfectly – you will find some commonly asked questions below!
My dog can get the muzzle off.
If your dog is pulling the muzzle off either with their paws or by rubbing their face on the floor/objects/you (!) there are 3 things to look at.
- Does the muzzle fit well? If the muzzle is causing discomfort by digging in, rubbing or is restrictive, your dog is more likely to try to get it off their face. Ensure that the muzzle is comfortable on the cheeks, isn’t too long or short and offers enough space to pant in. What makes a well fit Muzzle Blog
- Is your dog suitably trained to wear a muzzle? If your dog has not been slowly desensitised and trained to feel comfortable wearing the muzzle, they are more likely to try to get the muzzle off as they may find it frightening and strange. It is important to take the time to properly build a positive association with the muzzle being worn, and to build them up slowly to wearing the muzzle for longer periods. See how to Introduce a muzzle here or download our muzzle training e-guide HERE!
- If the muzzle is comfortable, but you NEED to secure the muzzle whilst you work on muzzle training alongside, there are several additional straps to help secure the muzzle in position. Additional straps such as chin strap, chin loop, head strap and muzzle stops can help.
You will find out more about them further down in this blog or here: Muzzle accessories explained
Quick guide to which straps may help!
My dog pops the nose down off his nose so it’s hanging round his neck! What strap could help?
The head strap will offer support to the muzzle and will help to prevent it from being pushed down. About Head Straps
My dog manages to push the muzzle off - up and over their nose!
The chin strap and/or chin loop can help to prevent the muzzle from being able to pop up and over the dogs nose. About Chin Loops
My dog has tiny or cropped ears, or my dog is a pro a slipping the neck strap over the top of their head!
The chin strap can be useful to prevent the straps slipping off a dogs head with cropped ears, and/or a muzzle stop can add extra security by attaching the neck strap to the dogs collar. About Chin Straps
The muzzle is too tight or loose on my dogs cheeks.
If you find that the muzzle is digging in your dogs cheeks, there is a risk that the muzzle can rub and even cut your dogs face causing injury and discomfort.
Ideally, there should a few mm space between the dogs cheek and the muzzle,..
so if the muzzle is digging in the cheeks but fits well elsewhere, you can boil and reshape it to widen the cheeks. Our muzzles can be stretched approximately 0.5-2.5cm wider across the back cheeks.
If the muzzle is too wide on the cheeks, it can be uncomfortable and move around on the face too much. If it is only a little too wide and fits well elsewhere, you can boil and reshape to make it more narrow across the back.
You can see how to adjust your muzzle here: How to adjustment your Muzzle blog
If you are unsure on the fit of your Muzzle Movement muzzle on your dog, you can send us some photos and videos to support@themuzzlemovement.com and we can take a look for you!
My dogs’ measurements are definitely correct but the muzzle which matches the measurements doesn’t fit.
Measuring your dog can be really difficult! We know this and understand how frustrating it is to struggle with measuring! If you are finding measuring hard, you can send us photos and videos of you measuring your dog for us to double check as best as we can.
You can find out more about getting accurate measurements on our measuring guide here: Measuring Guide.
If you are confident that your measurements are correct, and the muzzle which matches those measurements doesn’t fit, you may be feeling confused!
Unfortunately, there is so much variation in the shape of dogs faces that there will be some occasions where our muzzles juts don’t quite fit correctly.
Even when the width, length and pant space of the muzzle match the measurements of the dog, the shape of the dogs’ muzzle may just not suit the individual dog.
In these scenarios, we can take a look at photos and videos of the dog in the muzzle and listen to your opinions of where the fit needs improving, then offer some advice of any adjustments which may help. However sometimes, the muzzle just isn’t right for the dog!
Our muzzles are standard shapes and sizes so there will be times where it just doesn’t work!
It may be best looking at a custom-fit muzzle from another company if this is the case, to ensure a bespoke fit for your individual dog.
The muzzle pushes up when my dog lays down.
Our muzzles have a huge amount of pant space. We are used to seeing muzzles fitting tightly around the mouth of the dog, either keeping their mouth closed or only allowing their mouth to open a couple of centimetres.
We understand the importance of a dog being able to eat, drink, pant fully, yawn and safely vomit whilst muzzled so our muzzles are deeper than the usual muzzle! When a dog lays down and rests their head, the muzzle will inevitably push up over their eyes (not INTO their eyes). This is simply a consequence of having plenty of available pant space and we find most dogs learn to sleep/rest with their head tilted to the side when muzzled or are unphased by the muzzle pushing up!
The muzzle wobbles around on my dogs face.
If you find the muzzle is wobbling on your dogs face, it would suggest that the muzzle is perhaps too big in some way.
You can send us some photos or videos for us to check the size and fit of the muzzle for you.
If the muzzle seems to fit fairly well, adding in a chin strap can sometimes help to stabilise the muzzle and make it more still and secure, as it adds an extra point of contact under the neck. About Chin Straps
The muzzle is too long for my dog.
If the muzzle is too long for your dog, it may push into their eyes when they are sniffing, or they may be unable to reach treats fed through the treat hole causing frustration. If your dog’s length measurement should fit the muzzle you have chosen but it is too long, it is worth checking where the cheek part of the muzzle is sitting.
If the back width of the muzzle is too narrow for the dog, it may not sit back on the cheeks, meaning the muzzle sits too far forward. You will notice the nose band isn’t positioned correctly – ideally it should be 1/1.5cm in front of the eyes.
If the muzzle is boiled and stretched it may then sit back on the cheeks properly, meaning the front of the muzzle now sits further back in the right place. *This may only work if the muzzle is the correct length for the dog, and the back width is only a couple of cm too narrow.
Muzzles can usually be widened by 0.5-2.5cm (3cm for larger muzzles) so if the muzzle is 3/3.5cm too narrow, the muzzle is just too small.
You can see how to adjust your muzzle here: How to adjustment your Muzzle blog
If you are unsure about the length of your dogs Muzzle Movement length and would like us to offer advice, please send some photos and videos of your dog in the muzzle to support@themuzzlemovement.com
The muzzle is too short for my dog.
A muzzle that is too short for your dog will squash their nose! If the nose if just touching the end of the muzzle, and fits nicely elsewhere, you may need to swap your regular noseband to a * noseband.
All our muzzles are available with a standard 25mm noseband or as a * version with a 38mm noseband.
This adds a little extra length to the muzzle. You can purchase the different nosebands separately here: Nose Bands
The muzzle bumps on my dogs neck.
Some of our muzzles with the very deep pant space (such as Taz or Mitzy) may bump on the neck of some dogs. This is usually if the dog is a at the lowest end of the minimum length measurement for the muzzle as it means the muzzle will sit a little further back. It often depends on the structure of the dog and how they naturally carry their head.
For example, dogs who have quite a tucked head, or deep chest/short neck may have more a of a problem with the extra pant space. Other dogs whose head sits ‘forward’ from the neck may not have this problem.
