About Mayerzon
Mayerzon Pet Supplies is specialized in dog training tools and mainly sells its products through Amazon. They have a fantastic return policy and customer service, and they do offer many different muzzles.
The one we are reviewing today is their Soft Basket Muzzle. They do not have a distinguished name for their products, so we only named this muzzle “Long Muzzle” to differentiate it from their other muzzles that we reviewed.
About the different reasons for muzzling
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. In addition, 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.
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 a con for the other one. Even when discussing 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. For example, 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. On the other hand, 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 determine if the muzzle looks good on your dog, different photos could make the muzzle look much bigger or smaller.
The sizing of this Mayerzon Muzzle
When checking Mayerzon’s sizing chart, I upsized Mia to provide her some pant room based on our previous experiences with the sizing of their other muzzle we tested. I estimated that Mia was between L and XL sizes, so Mayerzon sent over both. Unfortunately, even the Large proved to be huge on Mia, as you see in the photo below. It did provide a huge pant room but was also very long and big overall.
After talking to them, they sent a Medium muzzle as a replacement which was the right fit (see below). This doesn’t provide much pant room due to its narrowing design towards the front, but it’s okay for short-term use. As you can see, there is a huge jump between sizes, and the Large had such a big nose hole that it wouldn’t be functional as a muzzle on her.
This is a great example of when upsizing a muzzle will not necessarily solve the problem with inappropriate pant room because the muzzle gets too big altogether. Since it doesn’t have a collar loop or a separate neck loop all around the neck, upsizing also risks the muzzle falling easily off the dog’s head.
Mayerzon Muzzle Review
This is Mayerzon’s newest rubber muzzle, and they took a very different design approach compared to their previous muzzles. This muzzle was designed to be longer to avoid nose abrasion on long-nosed dogs and give treats easily. Although the soft silicone material isn’t suitable for high-bite risk dogs, the more closed sides and bottom make it safer while the holes provide plenty of airflow.
The closed design can also help scavengers who eat things from the ground that they are not supposed to. Of course, smart dogs would still figure out that they can use the big nose opening to scoop things up, but it would give some time to stop them, and it still prevents grabbing something bigger - like a stick if the dog tends to swallow its pieces.
The muzzle has a wide overhead strap that stays in place very well! Mia usually gets annoyed by overhead straps because they slide to the side and go across her eye sooner or later, but this stayed in place very well. It is also adjustable with a big slider, so it’s easy to fit on different dogs.
Mia has a sensitive nose, but we had no issues with rubbing or chafing due to the soft silicone material and the more closed design. The neck strap has a big plastic clip that makes putting it on or taking it off easy. Altogether, this is an interesting design and probably the best silicone muzzle we have tested, but it still has limited use cases.
To summarize, this muzzle is good for:
• not rubbing or chafing the dog’s nose,
• making it easy to give a reward while muzzled,
• leaving room for their tongue when they pant,
• preventing licking, a quick nip, or picking up sticks or bigger items.
• start muzzle training since it’s soft, lightweight, and is easy to provide treats.
This muzzle is NOT suitable for:
• bite-risk dogs since the silicone material could be bent and folded.
• determined scavengers since they can learn to scoop things up with the big nose opening.
• providing full-pant room: if you size up for a bigger pant room, the lengths of the muzzle and the nose hole become oversized.
Where to buy
You can buy the muzzle on Amazon. It comes in five sizes and five colors: grey, orange, blue, red and black.
Disclaimer: this review contains an Amazon affiliate link, which supports Dog Gear Review if you purchase the product after clicking on it without costing you anything extra. Using affiliate links will never compromise us writing unbiased, honest reviews!
Additional resources
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 and browse our articles, where we discussed many muzzle-related topics.
