# can u muzzle a chihahua??????????



## auntiemissa (Apr 19, 2010)

i took my 5mo old pomchi to groomers at petsmart to get toenails clipped(she is impossible to hold her down by myself and clip them). they said because she has NOT had her rabies shot yet they would have to muzzle her BUT they arent allowed to muzzle a chihaua OR pomeranian because of the way their breathing is, it restricts their breathing...i ended up going next door to vet and they did it no problem w/o a muzzle.....
my question is this...my friend will be dog sitting her moms 6mo old chihaha i think shes like 3lbs and her mom said she could use a muzzle on her at nite when shes in crate because she whines and cries and squawks and is incredibily annoying. im gonna tell them what groomers told me because i dont want dog to be muzzled if it means shes gonna have trouble breathing..any thoughts on this????
was the groomer just telling me this because my dog hadnt had rabies shot and they were scared of her??? i cant find anything online that says not to muzzle a chihahua just thats its hard to find one that small


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## Donna Little (May 31, 2011)

I have owned Chihuahuas for years and you certainly can muzzle one if you're doing something like toenails or a vet check up and your dog's a known biter. A muzzle for a couple of minutes is no problem. 
Putting a muzzle on any dog over night though because you don't want to hear them whine is dangerous and cruel. What is this person thinking? If you don't want to hear a dog make noise then don't own a dog. Any dog, no matter what the breed could get over heated and having it's muzzle held shut will render it unable to pant so I can't imagine why anyone would think that was alright. What if the dog got sick and needed to vomit? I hope you talk to these people and let them know they need to think about what they're doing before they end up killing this puppy just because they don't want it to whine.


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## auntiemissa (Apr 19, 2010)

thank you,i know this dog has the loudest screechy whine lol and the fact that she will be in a new place for the week might make it harder on her. i will def mention this to her


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## DeekenDog (Aug 29, 2011)

It really doesn't matter what the dog's whining sounds like. The way to deal with whining is training, not using a muzzle. The type of muzzle that would be needed to stop whining would have to be really tight, which as Donna pointed out is incredibly dangerous and cruel to leave on long-term. If you're friend does not want to deal with the whining she should not look after her Mom's dog. If her Mom doesn't want to deal with training the dog to stop whining she needs to find her a new home NOW before she does serious damage to her dog. I'm sorry to be blunt but under no circumstances is it okay to muzzle a dog, unsupervised, overnight in a crate because of whining. I know its not your fault but I hope you tell them that what they are doing is incredibly dangerous and cruel.


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## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

I agree. That sounds very inhumane and dangerous for the dog. If they don't want to hear the whining, they need to train the dog or else they need to get a home that will spend the time with her instead. Puppies are a lot of hard work. Tucker screamed when kenneled for three months before I finally got him trained. If they kennel her at night, they should make the kennel a good place. They should feed her in her kennel. They should have her in the kennel through out the day while they are home and as soon as she is quiet for 10 seconds, give her praise, treats and let her out. As she starts to stay quiet for 10 seconds, make it 20, then 30 and keep increasing time until she stays quiet. Soon she will learn if she is in the kennel, and she is quiet, she may get out, but being loud with only get her ignored. They need to completely ignore her while she is misbehaving and praise her when she is good. 

Another thing that helped Tucker was soft cuddly blankets, and toys that he had to use his brains with. A lot of times I would stuff his Kong with Pb/fish/yogurt/liver and freeze it. When he was going to be in the kennel for long periods of time, he would get the frozen Kong and would concentrate on the Kong, not being in the kennel. It also helped to keep his kennel near where we were at. A Tug a jug may be another good idea. You can put some of the dog's food or some small treats in it and they have to figure out how to maneuver the rope to get the treats out. Also a nice long walk before bed will help. As well as playing a few mind games. The games could be as simple as working on a few obedience commands (with only positive reinforcement). This way she will be mentally and physically tiered before bed and there is less of a chance of her screaming.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I wouldn't leave a muzzle on ANY dog unsupervised. That's just plain cruel. you use a muzzle temporarily to keep your dog from snapping at people; not from whining.

I'm not even sure there is a muzzle in existence that would stop a dog from whining.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

A muzzle won;t stop whining unless it is inappropriately tight. It would also cause even more stress and more whining and poor behavior. We are pet sitting two Danes who whined continually when they came here. In two weeks of working with them I rarely hear a whine. I make sure their needs are met, food, water, beds, attention, potty time and exercise. Then if they continue to whine I use a aspirin bottle and shake it when they whine. They don't like the sound but most important now understand what "quiet" means. Someone needs to work with the dog.


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## auntiemissa (Apr 19, 2010)

thank you for all your thoughts. i agree with u all! just was wondering if anyone heard of a chihahua not being able to be muzzled because of how they breathe


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

auntiemissa said:


> thank you for all your thoughts. i agree with u all! just was wondering if anyone heard of a chihahua not being able to be muzzled because of how they breathe


I am not sure your friend really deserves or should have this dog. Physical restraint in order to not be inconvenienced is not a good thing. She needs to exercise, stimulate, train, and play with the dog.


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## auntiemissa (Apr 19, 2010)

i totally agree....but this dog is seriously on crack or something! it doesnt matter what u do,she never stops moving! lol so a long walk b4 bedtime doesnt work.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Yep, little dogs are often hyper, yippy, and whiny. Unfortunately, walks are often not enough. Does she do any mental stimulation? That will wear a dog out - teach her tricks, give her puzzles, etc.

And training is important, even for a chihuahua.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

What do your idea of a long walk though? I'm not trying to be mean, it's just that some of my friends say they take their dogs for a long walk everyday, whilst in my opinion it's nothing more than a short stroll down the road.


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## auntiemissa (Apr 19, 2010)

im not sure what her walks consist of as she belongs to my friend. ive watched her a few times and just know that shes bouncing off the walls! lol


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

auntiemissa said:


> im not sure what her walks consist of as she belongs to my friend. ive watched her a few times and just know that shes bouncing off the walls! lol


With just a "daily walk", my IG Tessa is nuts. NUTS. Like bouncing off the walls at 45kmh doing furniture olympics nuts.

She gets around an hour of walking or running a day, plus fetch (she finally learned), plus training, and mind games (she plays "find it"). The mental stimulation wears them out more than anything. A dog going nuts is a bored, underexercised and understimulated dog.

I think the muzzle thing, any short faced dog that has a lack of ability to cool itself due to less nasal tissue, should not be muzzled for longer periods of time especially with a heavy leather muzzle- heat is NOT a good thing with these dogs.


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## Celt (Dec 27, 2010)

Not to add more "info dump" but a lot of people are under the impression that little dogs need less exercise than larger ones. Which isn't true, especially with "puppies". And physically tiring them out isn't enough, they need to be "challenged" mentally. Anyhoo, while it's possible to muzzle a small dog, it isn't advisable simply because they can overstimulate themselves very easily.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Just a tip on clipping dogs nails. Have someone hold the dog up, then grasp a leg and push it towards the dogs body.

Sprocket kicks out just as I am about to clip it but I figured out that if you push his leg into him, he has a harder time kicking :wink:


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