Do not make the mistake of getting the wrong muzzle for your pitbull. It is imperative that your pitbull wears a muzzle while it works on improving its very natural but rather aggressive behaviors and tendencies. It’s an important safety measure that everyone who comes into contact with your dog will thank you for.
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The ideal muzzle will not only prevent your dog from biting innocent creatures or people but will also be comfortable enough for your dog to be happy to wear it for you. There are a lot of dog muzzles out on the market, and we’ve taken a good look at how well suited they are for use with pitbulls. We’ve managed to select our Top 5, and we’ve got some reviews coming up shortly to show you.
After that we’ve also got a handy buying guide for you which comes complete with answers to some of your most frequently asked questions.
Our rating:
Our PickCollarDirect Pitbull Dog Muzzle Leather Amstaff Muzzles Staffordshire Terrier Secure Basket (Black)…
This muzzle from CollarDirect is a best seller with retailers and is designed with pitbulls in mind. The brand’s products are all handmade and are available with a 3 month warranty.
It may not be cheap, but that’s not such a bad thing, you expect to pay a bit more money for top quality goods, and we think this is worth the money.
It uses many strips of thick real leather, securely and frequently attached together. Once secured in place, there’s no danger of it coming loose, and even less of a danger of your dog biting through.
As for comfort, there is a large area for your dog to breathe through his/her nose, so you don’t need to worry about that. And the leather is comfortable against your dog’s coat, and the adjustable straps make for such a good fit that your dog may forget s/he’s wearing a muzzle.
It’s available in two different colors, black and brown. We think the brown is a little nicer.
Feedback from customers has been really positive, with well over half the Amazon customers rating it a full 5 stars out of 5. And even after well over 450 individual customer ratings, the average Amazon customer rating still comes out at 4 stars out of 5.
Pros
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BRONZEDOG Pitbull Dog Muzzle Metal Mask Amstaff Wire Basket Pit Bull Adjustable Leather Straps for Large Dogs (Steel)
Here’s another great pitbull muzzle, again from another great, well established brand.
What we love about this muzzle, is how the wire basket design allows for maximum breathability. Not only will your pitbull be able to breath through their nose, they will also be able to pant, lick water, lick their nose and possibly eat their food, and they don’t feel closed in. Your dog gets all the air they need.
The wire itself is a good sturdy stainless steel which won’t dent easily or rust. And where the steel meets with the dog’s face, there’s comfortable soft padding designed to prevent rubbing and irritation.
The straps meanwhile are leather. They are adjustable, so you can get it nice and snug, and the buckles are made with a heavy duty metal which will keep the muzzle very secure and prevent your pitbull from biting.
Feedback from customers has been really positive, with well over half the Amazon customers rating it a full 5 stars out of 5. And even after well over 250 individual customer ratings, the average Amazon customer rating still comes out at 4 stars out of 5.
Remember to check your dog’s snout size before buying because there is only one size available.
Pros
Cons
SUNNY RAIN Dog Muzzle for Barking for Short Snout Pitbulls Dog Anti Biting Chewing Eating (Gray)
What we love about this muzzle is its amazing affordability, coming in at under $15. You could get yourself a spare for when one is in the wash.
Unlike the other muzzles we’ve shown you however, this one is specifically designed for short snout pitbulls.
It has a different sort of set up than traditional muzzles, because rather than provide a cage around the dog’s snout, this beauty is a see through mesh covering that comfortably covers the dog’s entire face and is fastened at the top of the head and around the neck.
As we mentioned, this mesh covering is entirely see through, and the advantage to this design is that it protects both eyes and nose from being rubbed.
Moreover, because it’s mesh, the dog can choose between breathing through the large hole at its nose, or breathing through the mouth (or both).
In addition to being breathable, the fabric is also skin friendly and easy to clean.
We also like how lightweight it is, which is handy for carrying it in your pocket. So convenient.
It’s available in either gray or orange – and we can confirm that the orange one is much easier to spot when you’re trying to look for it!
While it hasn’t had a lot of customer reviews with online retailers, customer feedback is very positive on the whole, and on the Amazon page for example about half of the people who bought it gave it a full 5 stars out of 5.
Pros
Cons
CollarDirect Leather Basket Dog Muzzle for German Shepherd Staffordshire Terrier Pitbull Medium Large Breeds Training, Anti-Barking, Biting, Chewing (Black)
This is the second muzzle on our Top 5 that comes from this really good and well established brand. And we would argue that it has a more elegant and graceful look than the first one we showed you from this brand.
We love it for its handcrafted genuine leather, and for it’s value for money.
There’s plenty of room in the muzzle for the dog to breath through their nose, and there are also frequent holes, of just the right size, for the dog to breath a little through their mouth as well. Moreover they can also lick water and lick their nose.
When the muzzle is secured in place using the two adjustable straps, there is no danger of the pitbull biting anyone.
This muzzle is intended for dogs with a snout of 14 inches in circumference and 4 inches in length from tip of the nose to the eyeline.
It’s not only popular with us but has also proved popular with customers too. For example, if you click through to the Amazon page you will see that more than half of the people who bought it through Amazon rated it at 5 stars out of 5.
It’s available in two different colors, black and brown, with the brown being so dark it was hardly worth them making a brown version.
Pros
Cons
GGR Basket Dog Muzzle Breathable Pitbull Metal Mask Mouth Cover Adjustable Leather Straps Pit Bull for Large Medium Dog
Again this is a very good dog muzzle for pitbulls (and other breeds). It will prevent any unwanted biting, but at the same time allow for excellent breathability.
Your dog will be able to breathe through both nose and mouth and will be able to comfortably pant and lick water.
The excellent breathability comes from it’s wire basket design around the mouth area, which is composed of thick metal bars, which are both very sturdy and also resistant to rust. The joints of these metal bars are fixed with rivets to really keep it in place.
With regards to comfort, there is a large leather panel between the top of the dog’s snout and the metal bars, so bars don’t directly rub the skin and the skin is protected.
And you can achieve the perfect fit by making use of the four adjustable straps.
If you want to buy this item, please make use of the size chart on the Amazon page and measure your dog as directed there to find the perfect fit. One of the things we like about this muzzle, and why it made our Top 5 is because the size chart takes more measurements into account than merely snout circumference and length.
It’s also quite reasonably priced, which is always a good thing.
And while customer feedback has been quite mixed, it remains positive overall, with most Amazon customers rating it 5 stars out of 5.
Pros
Cons
Ok, so, here’s everything you need to think about before you buy.
If you’re particularly concerned about how aggressive your pitbull is, you may be tempted to go for a muzzle that keeps your dog’s mouth closed and allows them to breathe only through their nose, and this is fine. However you may find that your dog often likes to breathe through their mouth as well, and pant, and access their water. We’ve tried to include both types of muzzle in our Top 5 Picks.
Getting the right size of muzzle is the most important thing that you need to consider. This is because many dog muzzle manufacturers tend to bring out their muzzles in a range of different sizes. In the worst case scenario, the wrong size muzzle could lead to the muzzle becoming too loose and not prevent the dog from biting a small animal or child.
You will need to measure the circumference and length of your dog’s snout to confirm the size. Most pitbulls usually have a snout circumference of 13 inches, while the length, from the tip of the nose to the eyeline usually measures 3.5 inches. But this is not a golden universal truth and this can vary quite considerably between breeds.
In the interest of inclusivity, we have included a muzzle for short snout pitbulls in our Top 5 Picks, namely our Number 5 Pick, the SUNNY RAIN Dog Muzzle.
This is also a big factor to consider. You need the muzzle to be solid and durable enough to be effective at stopping any biting, but at the same time it must also be comfortable to wear, and allow your dog to breathe with ease.
A wire basket style offers the most breathability in a muzzle, and also provides great protection from any biting. Also a wire basket can’t get chewed up the way many fabrics can.
But that’s by no means your only option. Real good quality leather can also be hard to chew through, especially if the muzzle keeps your dog’s mouth fairly closed. It’s also comfortable against the dog’s skin.
To be perfectly honest, when it comes to dog muzzles, particularly muzzles for pitbulls, we feel that what brand you go for is important and makes a difference. The dog muzzle brands that we have the most faith in are CollarDirect and Bronzedog.
We think it’s always a good idea to check out genuine customer reviews before buying products such as these. We’re not saying that you need to read every review necessarily, but rather just get a feel for what people are saying about the particular item you’re interested in.
We find that Amazon is a good site for examining customer reviews, not just because there’s usually a good amount of reviews to go through, but also because the manufacturer’s website will only show positive reviews, whereas Amazon will show both positive and critical reviews, and present a far fairer picture.
If your dog has a tendency to bite then a muzzle is an important safety device, and not an instrument of torture. Muzzles aren’t at all cruel provided they are only used as intended and are comfortable for the dog to wear.
By far the easiest and most convenient way to stop your pitbull from biting is to use a muzzle like the ones we’ve shown you here today.
But that’s not by any means the only way to deal with it. If your pitbull has the right temperament for training (this is easiest in the puppy stage) then it’s best to train your pitbull not to bite.
No one is saying this will be easy, it often isn’t. However it’s beyond the scope of this article to go into how to train your pitbull not to bite. What we can suggest though is that you go onto YouTube videos to look at such dog training in action. Sometimes it’s much easier to learn something by watching it being done rather than by reading a list of instructions.
The wearing of muzzles is only meant for preventing bites, it is not a tool for improving aggression, nor is it an effective punishment for aggressive behavior.
The muzzles themselves do not make dogs more aggressive, but if the muzzle is misused, then this can potentially make aggressive behavior worse. For example, if they are used incorrectly, they could instigate conflict aggression, fear-based, defensive aggression, and so on.
As much as you love your dog it can be very irritating when they start to bark loudly and repeatedly over matters which don’t mean anything. Even so, you should not use a muzzle on a dog just to stop it from barking. Barking doesn’t hurt anyone, and you don’t want your dog getting upset about having to wear a muzzle when there’s really no genuine need. Muzzles are for preventing biting and are not for preventing problem behaviors.
Pitbulls will typically start showing signs of aggression between the ages of 8 months and 2 years, although it can develop at any age and can come on either gradually or quite suddenly. So, we’ll be honest with you, their behavior can be very difficult to predict.
That said, as a general rule, pitbulls, like other dogs, do tend to become less hyperactive as they get older, and between the ages of 12 and 18 months they often become noticeably calmer.
Besides using a muzzle to prevent biting, the best recommendation we can give is to let them play around as much as they can to get rid of all that pent up energy.
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