06/15/2026
To all my behavior clients with dogs in muzzles, you are NOT alone. To those who don’t understand the responsible use of a muzzle, here is a perfect example of why. To those who feel muzzles are “mean” please take a look at that smile!
Thank you Cari for sharing Raya’s story so we can all continue to learn and grow.
This beautiful dog is Raya. Raya was adopted from a local shelter, her guardians reached out to work with me on a dog reactivity program. Part of our training included conditioning Raya to wear a basket muzzle, the one pictured is from the company The Muzzle Movement. Raya is comfortable wearing her muzzle in the same way I am comfortable wearing a helmet when I bike or a life jacket when I kayak - the goal of a muzzle is to provide dogs a way to safely participate in activities. We slowly acclimated Raya to wearing it and have paired it with walking and exploring, which she loves. If you saw Raya walking with us today through my eyes, you’d see a dog attentive to her person, calmly dismissing the other dogs she saw. She’s worked hard on expanding her skills, so now her world has opened up and expanded, too.
While Raya’s family is very responsible and follows leash laws, sadly some people allow their dogs to roam off leash and approach others, so Raya wears a muzzle just in case that happens. Sometimes folks with dogs who are muzzled get looks from others or comments, which is why I asked Raya’s family permission to share this photo and story. If you see a dog in a muzzle training in public, give them space and consider how much their people love their dog to work with them responsibly. I think Raya looks stylish! Her harness is made by Spark Paws, and she also has a backup harness to collar safety strap that prevents her leash from failing, the leash and strap can be moved to the front clip positions of the harness and collar to help with dogs who pull.
Look past the muzzle and see Raya’s smile ☀️
