Hate face masks? Then you get why your dog hates muzzles
How you can use your face mask hesitancy for dog muzzle introductions
Four months into wearing face masks to prevent coronavirus, and you’ve surely gotten familiar with the smell of your own breath and purchased a collection of mints. And if you’re one of the 80 million people with chronic halitosis, it can be even more of a hindrance. Better oral hygiene, potentially staying away from spicy foods, and removing bacteria and food particles are some of the easiest ways to get a handle on this problem. Then there’s a bigger problem for some wearing face masks: good old-fashioned breathing.
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As someone who has tested out just about every face mask there is (minus N95 masks), my crochet masks with a filter still remain undefeated. I’ve gotten light-headed and revisited my younger days of being mildly asthmatic with cloth masks. The blue disposable face masks are a happy medium between the two. But all three are an annoyance for people who wear sunglasses or prescription glasses, often leading to them fogging up unless perfectly placed between the rim and the nostril area.
So if we’re having all of these problems with wearing face masks long enough to run errands or visit strangers and loved ones, then you should probably know by now why your dog hates muzzles so much.
Here’s where dog owners go wrong with trying to get a dog to wear a muzzle.
You put the muzzle on for long periods of time and expect the dog to deal. Imagine if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention team just walked right up to you and put a face mask around your mouth and nose. Your first reaction would be to rebel. If you’ve watched the news at all in the past four months, that still seems to be the answer for some people — mainly Trump supporters. You are far better off with allowing the dog to try the muzzle on a few minutes at a time and getting used to the feel of it.
You don’t take into account how well the dog can breathe in the mask. Manufacturers will say anything to sell their products. Pay attention to how your dog behaves when the muzzle is off and when it’s on. Is the anti-muzzle behavior just protesting having it on altogether or genuine discomfort and breathing problems? Monitoring water intake and breathing habits should quickly answer this question.