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Different reasons for muzzling

Muzzles are beneficial for a wide range of dogs, not just those labeled “aggressive,” as they help prevent accidents during play or from ingesting harmful items, provide a clear signal to strangers to respect nervous dogs’ space, ensure safety during vet or grooming visits, and prevent potential conflicts when introducing new dogs or managing reactive behaviors.

Since this is a more complex topic, we wrote an article about the different reasons for muzzling and why muzzling isn’t cruel for those interested in reading more on the topic. Our “What to do around muzzled dogs” poster is also available on this link for downloading.

While there are many different reasons for muzzling, some shouldn’t be among these - like using a muzzle to avoid barking. We feel it is essential to clarify that muzzles shouldn’t be used to prevent barking; it is a dangerous and ineffective way to address this problem. If you want to learn more, check out our article on why not use a muzzle to stop barking.

About Baskerville

The Baskerville muzzles are probably the best-known muzzle brand in the US; therefore we wanted to start with reviewing this one. They are made by the Company of Animals and are sold in many online and traditional stores.

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Baskerville Ultra Muzzle

Lightweight, reasonably priced

Great for muzzle training and for non-bite risk dogs.

Disclaimer: this review contains affiliate links, which support Dog Gear Review if you purchase the product after clicking on it without costing you anything extra. Using affiliate links will never compromise us in writing unbiased, honest reviews!

How to find the right size muzzle for your dog?

Reviewing muzzles is hard because every dog and every situation requires a slightly different solution. Something can be a pro for one dog and con for the other one. Even when we are talking about sizing, there are different opinions on how much room the dog should have in the muzzle. The only thing that everyone agrees on is that the dog should be able to pant to cool down while wearing it. However, what pant room means can generate great arguments. If you are looking for an agitation muzzle or the muzzle will only be used for short periods, you are okay with a muzzle that provides enough room for a half-pant but if you use muzzles for hikes or canicross, it is essential to have enough room for comfortable full-pant.

The other tricky thing with sizing is that although there are great Facebook groups to help to determine if the muzzle looks good on your dog, different photos could make the muzzle look much bigger or smaller. If you look through the images in this review, it’s hard to believe they show the same muzzle (besides the one photo of the smaller size), so be careful to judge the size based on a few photos.

Baskerville Ultra Muzzle Review | Dog Gear Review

The sizing of the Baskerville Ultra muzzle

The Baskerville Ultra comes in six sizes, which supposed to fit dogs from a Maltese to a Bull Mastiff. Since this is a big scale, there are significant jumps between the sizes, so many owners find themselves in a situation where one muzzle is too small, but the bigger one is too big on their dog.

Based on their sizing chart, first, I got a size 3 for Mia. This was way before the time we started Dog Gear Review, so I only have a terrible quality phone photo of that muzzle, but you can see that the muzzle is touching the front of her nose if I adjust the neck-straps appropriately. I only put this on her once since it was clear this would rub her nose after the first walk.

Baskerville Ultra Muzzle Review | Dog Gear Review

We sized up and ordered a size 4. The truth is that sometimes it isn’t about the sizing of the product but the style. The size 4 muzzle looks huge on Mia because the part around the mouth is wide, and it is getting smaller on the front. If she opens her mouth, there is still room under her chin that is never utilized.

Baskerville Ultra Muzzle Review | Dog Gear Review

The pant room and the lengths are fine, but the muzzle still looks too big - especially since the two straps around her face are too long and are not adjustable, therefore the muzzle slides down when she drinks or sniffs.

The photos below show Mia with an open and closed mouth in size 4.

Baskerville Ultra Muzzle Review | Dog Gear Review

Baskerville Ultra Muzzle Review | Dog Gear Review

With or without the overhead strap, that is the question

Overhead straps are important for additional security to prevent the muzzle from accidentally falling off. If the dog is appropriately conditioned wearing a muzzle, they shouldn’t try getting it off, but it could still happen if they get into a fight or play rough with other dogs. Generally, this is a more significant risk for short-nosed dogs because they would have an easier time getting the muzzle off while a longer snout would “get stuck” in the muzzle if it is properly adjusted and is the right fit.

Another thing to consider is if your dog is a determined biter. In this case, you want to have an overhead strap even for a longer snout to say on the safe side - although, as we mentioned above, plastic basket muzzles are not the best for high bite-risk dogs.

The Baskerville Ultra muzzle comes with an overhead strap that attaches to the pre-holed neck strap with a carabiner. This is an excellent solution because the holes provide some stability to the overhead strap, but it’s also hard to fit the carabiner into those holes. If you have to tighten the neck-strap a lot, you would have to remove the carabiner every time you want to put the muzzle on the dog and fix the carabiner after that, which is not the most comfortable solution.

Having the pre-holes is a much better design than the other ones we tried, but it still didn’t work for us. It pulled the muzzle up into Mia’s eyes when she was sniffing, and if I loosened it to prevent that, the strap was across her eye all the time. This was mainly because you are not necessarily able to clip the carabiner of the head strap to the middle of the neck strap, so it is already sliding to one side. I spent a few walks with adjusting it and trying different lengths, but Mia just hated it, and I didn’t see any advantages with Mia’s longer snout. She was happily wearing the muzzle after I removed the overhead strap.

Baskerville Ultra Muzzle Review | Dog Gear Review

Reshaping the Baskerville

As far as I know, Baskerville Ultra is the only muzzle that can be officially re-molded for a better fit. This is especially useful for dogs with a broader nose. You can just put it in warm water for two minutes and reshape it while it is warm. Once it looks good, dip it in cold water to set the shape. Remember that you might have to repeat this process in a few months if the rubber pulls back to its original form.

If you want to clean the muzzle, you can place it on the top rack of the dishwasher, but keep in mind that the shape can also alter in a heat cycle, so don’t forget to doublecheck it when it’s done and reshape it again if needed.

Baskerville Ultra Review

We have mixed experiences while testing this Baskerville muzzle.

First of all, the muzzle would be much more comfortable to affix with a quick-release buckle. Currently, it takes time to find the right whole and fix the muzzle - especially if you have to find those holes while the dog is jumping around before heading out for a walk. We also run into the problem that the strap slid out and loosened on hikes - although I have no clue how that happened, we run into it multiple times. We heard that they are planning to change this and use a buckle that would significantly improve the user experience and safety.

Baskerville Ultra Muzzle Review | Dog Gear Review

The other common issue is that this muzzle is made from hard plastic, which can rub the top of the snout. This was the only muzzle so far that we tested, and it caused chafing on Mia’s snout by the end of the hike.

Baskerville Ultra Muzzle Review | Dog Gear Review

To make it easier on the snout, people use vet wrap, adhesive foam, electrical tape, or glue moleskin/sheepskin to the inside of the muzzle where it rubs the nose.

Baskerville Ultra Summary Review

  • Bite-proof factor: basket muzzles are generally not the best if a dog is high bite-risk because someone’s hand or a dog’s hair could still get in through the muzzle. On the other hand, this muzzle is made from harder plastic, so it probably would be enough to prevent a nip.

  • Prevent the dog from eating things from the ground: It makes it harder, but the big opening on the front does make it still possible for the dog to pick up stuff.

  • Safety collar loop: it does have a loop at the bottom that you can use to attach it to a collar.

  • Overhead security strap: it does have one, and it is attached to the neck strap by a carabiner, which gives some stability to the strap.

about-image

Baskerville Ultra Muzzle

Lightweight, reasonably priced

Great for muzzle training and for non-bite risk dogs.

Disclaimer: this review contains affiliate links, which support Dog Gear Review if you purchase the product after clicking on it without costing you anything extra. Using affiliate links will never compromise us in writing unbiased, honest reviews!

Additional resources

Company of Animals has videos showing how to introduce the muzzle to the dog and how to fit the Baskerville Muzzle.

If you want to learn more about muzzles, you can join amazing groups on Facebook, like Muzzle Up, Pup!, or follow The Muzzle Up Project. You can also check out the Muzzle Training and Tips website, browse our articles, where we discussed many muzzle-related topics.

Baskerville Ultra Muzzle Review | Dog Gear Review

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