Muzzle Training Your Whippet
Muzzle training is something that many whippet or sighthound owners may be familiar with. Teaching a dog to wear a muzzle can be something that helps your dog enjoy day to day life safely, as well allowing your dog to participate in certain fun dog sports too.
What is a Muzzle for?
A muzzle is something your dog wears, that will stop them from either nipping or biting at another dog or person. It is something that your dog needs to be conditioned to wear, simply putting on a muzzle will often stress dogs out and create more anxiety and frustration.
A well conditioned muzzle can help stop scavenging behaviours as well as allowing your Whippet or sighthound to be out in situations where they may otherwise be startled and react quickly. It is recommended to use a "basket" muzzle aimed at sighthounds for whippets, lurchers and greyhounds. You need a muzzle that your dog can pant in, it should NOT restrict breathing. You can buy muzzles from here: The Muzzle Shop.
Who Is Muzzle Training For?
Muzzle training is an essential life skill for every dog! It is one of those skills that people often wish they had taught their dogs; when they need it! It is much better to have trained that muzzle skill when they don't necessarily need it so the foundations are there. A dog who is injured for example may lash out due to pain, meaning they may need to be muzzled at the vets. If they have never been muzzle trained this will likely add an extra layer of stress to the situation.
By training muzzle training you are working their brain and boosting their confidence and giving them a skill for life. This can be a great way to boost confidence with novelty, creating an optimism young dog.
How Do I Muzzle Train My Dog?
Muzzle training is a process that takes time. It should be taken in lots of small steps that increase your dogs positive feelings about the muzzle. We never want to just cram it on a dogs face and hope for the best. As they will often feel trapped and react with more anxiety and stress in a situation.
It is all about creating positive feelings slow and steady, you can find a full step by step muzzle training video for whippets below.
Will It Stop My Dog Reacting?
A muzzle will NOT stop your dog from barking or lunging at other dogs. We definitley don't want to be using it this way either. A muzzle should not be used to try and put your dog into situations they cannot handle. It should be more of a safety net for if something happens that may trigger your dog. For example a dog may snap when offlead dogs run over, this dog would be a good candidate for wearing a muzzle when in environments when other dogs run over.
Or a dog may struggle with meeting new dogs and need a muzzle when doing a slow gradual meeting of that dog at a distance, with the muzzle being a safety net in case they are pushed.
It should not be used to just used to put a muzzle on a dog and walk the barking lunging dog through and by other dogs so they cannot bite. This is not addressing the root cause.
Isn't it cruel?
Muzzles are not cruel! As long as they are trained to be a positive tool they can open up a dogs world extensively. Arkle is able to go out exploring on fields, thanks to wearing a muzzle, as he would snap at offlead "He only wants to play!" dogs running over and they are hard to avoid entirely. The muzzle ensures that if a dog runs over, he cannot harm them.
He associates his muzzle with treats, tricks and walks which makes it something that is just naturally positive instead!
What Size Muzzle Should My Whippet Wear?
The size a whippet may wear, depends on their size and how much exercise they are getting in their muzzle. You need enough room for your whippet to pant, and if training, to take treats. Arkle is a 12kg smaller male whippet and our preference is the 110 Lightweight basket Racing Muzzle (in photos the blue muzzle) but we also have a 103 Whippet Racing Muzzle. If you have a scavenger you may be looking at one with a guard. The Muzzle Shop has guidance on fitting the right size for your whippet.
