Do muzzles make dogs aggressive?
Jacinto Wolf
2025-06-21 12:51:23
Count answers: 10
The muzzle itself will not fix a dog’s reactivity or dog-dog aggression. While The Muzzle Up! Project promotes muzzles as an excellent tool to keep dogs and humans safe in a variety of situations, it’s important to remember that a muzzle isn’t a green light to lead a dog into a situation that will cause him to react. Even though he may not be able to put teeth on skin, it’s still dangerous and will only serve to strengthen a dog’s reactivity. Incorporating the muzzle into a force-free training plan to help keep you and your dog safe will get you closer to your behavior change goals. Stress increases reactivity. When working with reactivity and aggression, it’s important to avoid adding further stress to a dog’s environment. Desensitization and counterconditioning your dog to a muzzle using a gradual training plan will prevent adding stress during training and ensure your dog is comfortable at each step of the process. Don’t take the muzzle into the training session until your dog has a strong positive association to wearing it, and can comfortably wear it throughout all the parameters of a training session.
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