Until I came across this video, I had never thought about the importance of protecting your dog’s ears when he is exposed to loud noises. Our boxer is terrified of any loud noise, including dropping a pan on the kitchen floor. She trembles and hides if our neighbors shoot off fireworks or target practice in their backyard. Since we know how afraid she is, we never bring her shooting or anywhere that loud noises could frighten her.
Gun dogs aren’t the only pets exposed to loud noises on a regular basis. Mutt Muffs were created by a woman who took her dog flying with her. We’re talking about a small float plane, not a large passenger plane. If you’ve ever ridden in a small plane you know how loud they are. I’ve also seen dogs riding in the sidecars of motorcycles. I’m sure that would be very loud as well.
These doggy ear muffs were specifically designed to meet the contour of a dog’s head to provide the best resistance to sound possible. Since a dog’s hearing is so much more sensitive than ours, it makes sense that they should wear ear protection in any situation that requires us to wear it, right? It’s a very simple concept, but not something that is commonly thought about by dog owners.
Mutt Muffs come in 5 sizes and they have three adjustment points. There are two straps on the top of the dog’s head, which should only need to be adjusted once to fit your dog’s head properly. The third strap sits under your pet’s chin and it can be easily secured each time you put the Mutt Muffs on him. You want to make sure that they are tight enough to stay on, but not so tight that they bother Fido’s neck.
I don’t know if our dogs would leave these muffs on their head long enough to figure out the benefits of wearing them. The company does say that if secured properly, no amount of head shaking will get them off. Your dog would have to have time to paw them off. Maybe by then we could get a few shots off and distract our dogs enough that they would realize the ear muffs were helping them. I certainly wouldn’t try them with our boxer. Even muffled, she would still be terrified of loud noises. They may work with our puppy though, if she didn’t chew them up first.
