Why Every Dog Should Be Muzzle Trained: A True Story

If you’d rather watch than read, follow this link for the video: https://youtu.be/UonE3211WZg

The stigma around muzzles

Say “muzzle” and many people picture a “bad dog.” That stigma is powerful—and unhelpful. In reality, there are plenty of everyday reasons a dog might need to wear one that have nothing to do with aggression: preventing scavenging for allergy-prone dogs, managing high prey drive, or simply making necessary handling safer and less stressful.

This short video shares a personal story to explain why I believe every dog should at least be trained to wear a muzzle—not to wear one all the time, but to be ready if life ever requires it.👉 Watch it here: Why every dog should be muzzle trained.

Colonel: the dog who taught me this lesson

Meet Colonel, our second family dog when I was a kid. He’d had a rough start—dumped on the M5, five homes by five months—but he grew into a loving, social dog who liked people and dogs alike. There was never any reason to think he “needed” a muzzle.

Years later, when he was older, I took him to stay with me on annual leave—as I often did. Out of nowhere, he bit me hard. He looked shocked himself. We went straight to the vet.

At the clinic, Colonel couldn’t be examined: he was terrified, in serious pain (we later learned it was arthritis), and reacted defensively. The vet couldn’t proceed without a muzzle—but Colonel had never been trained to wear one. In that moment, the muzzle felt scary, the handling felt scary, and the whole situation became harder for everyone.

A week later, when the pain was managed, he trotted into the surgery for cuddles like nothing had happened. But that first visit stays with me. I wish I had trained him to be comfortable in a muzzle long before he needed it.

Why I think every dog should be muzzle trained

Life is long for a puppy—15+ years if we’re lucky. None of us can predict what might happen: injuries, sudden pain, a vet needing to examine a sensitive area, a phase of scavenging that risks a medical emergency, or a burst of prey drive near wildlife. When those moments arrive, a dog who already understands that “this thing on my face is okay” will cope better—and everyone stays safer.

This isn’t about labelling dogs. It’s about kind preparation so a muzzle never adds to an already stressful situation.

👉 Prefer to watch the story? Here’s the video: Why every dog should be muzzle trained.

https://youtu.be/UonE3211WZg 

Final thought

You don’t have to put a muzzle on your dog every day. But teaching them that a muzzle is normal—and even predicts good things—can make all the difference when life happens. I wish I’d done that for Colonel.