Grabbing an adult dog by the scruff is harmful in most situations. While mother dogs carry newborn puppies this way without issue, adult dogs have lost the physical traits that make scruffing safe, and the practice carries real risks of injury, pain, and long-term behavioral damage.
Why Puppies Can Handle It but Adults Can’t
Puppies have loose, elastic skin around their necks that can safely bear their body weight when their mother carries them. This works because newborns weigh very little and their skin is highly pliable. As dogs grow, their skin becomes firmer and less stretchy, and their body weight increases dramatically. An adult dog’s neck skin simply isn’t designed to support or control a 20, 50, or 80-pound body.
Lifting or restraining an adult dog by the scruff places concentrated pressure on the neck, a region packed with delicate structures: the trachea (windpipe), cervical spine, muscles, and blood vessels. Even partial suspension of body weight through scruffing can strain or damage these tissues.
Physical Injuries From Scruffing
The most immediate concern is neck trauma. Direct injuries to the neck region can damage the trachea, and dogs already prone to tracheal problems (small breeds especially) are at higher risk of collapse or chronic breathing issues. Muscle bruising, soft tissue strain, and spinal stress are also possible when a dog is jerked or held by the scruff, particularly if the dog struggles against the grip.
For flat-faced (brachycephalic) breeds like Pugs, Shih Tzus, Boston Terriers, and French Bulldogs, scruffing carries an additional and alarming risk. These dogs have shallow eye sockets and wide eyelid openings. Excessive pressure around the neck or eyelids, including scruffing, can cause the eyeball to actually pop forward out of the socket. This condition, called ocular proptosis, is a veterinary emergency that can result in permanent vision loss. It’s one of the clearest reasons scruffing should never be used on brachycephalic breeds.
Stress, Fear, and Behavioral Fallout
Beyond the physical risks, scruffing is an aversive experience for dogs. It triggers a fear and stress response, and the behavioral consequences can be significant. Research comparing aversive-based handling methods with reward-based approaches has found stark differences. Dogs subjected to aversive techniques showed more stress-related behaviors during and after the experience, spent more time in tense and low body postures, and panted more heavily. Their cortisol levels (the body’s primary stress hormone) rose higher after aversive handling compared to dogs managed with gentle methods.
Perhaps most telling, dogs exposed to aversive handling became more “pessimistic” on cognitive bias tests, a standardized way of measuring an animal’s emotional state. A pessimistic dog is more likely to interpret ambiguous situations as threatening. In practical terms, this means scruffing doesn’t just stress your dog in the moment. It can shift their overall emotional baseline toward anxiety and fearfulness, making them more reactive and harder to work with over time.
Dogs that are repeatedly scruffed may also develop defensive aggression. A dog that feels trapped and in pain learns that human hands near the neck mean something bad is coming. This erodes trust and can make a dog more likely to snap, bite, or cower when people reach toward them.
What Veterinary Professionals Say
Professional veterinary guidelines have moved firmly away from scruffing. The American Association of Feline Practitioners and the International Society of Feline Medicine, in guidelines endorsed by the American Animal Hospital Association, state that scruffing should never be used as a routine method of restraint. Their expert panel concluded that lifting or suspending an animal’s body weight with a scruffing technique is “unnecessary and potentially painful.”
While those specific guidelines address cats, the reasoning applies equally to dogs, and many veterinary behaviorists extend the same position to canine patients. Some veterinarians note that gentle handling alternatives are actually less stressful, more time efficient, and safer for both the animal and the handler. The shift in professional standards reflects a growing understanding that controlling an animal through pain or intimidation creates more problems than it solves.
Better Ways to Redirect or Restrain Your Dog
If you’re scruffing your dog to correct unwanted behavior, reward-based training methods are more effective and don’t carry the risks of injury or emotional damage. Redirecting your dog’s attention, teaching a reliable “leave it” or recall command, and rewarding good behavior all build cooperation rather than fear.
For physical control during walks or vet visits, a well-fitted harness distributes pressure across the chest and shoulders rather than concentrating it on the neck. This is especially important for small breeds and brachycephalic dogs. If your dog needs to be physically moved in an emergency, supporting their body weight under the chest and hindquarters is far safer than grabbing the scruff.
If you’re dealing with a dog that’s aggressive, panicking, or in a dangerous situation, and you feel you have no other option, a brief scruff hold without lifting (keeping all four paws on the ground) is less risky than full suspension. But this should be a last resort, not a go-to technique. In nearly every everyday scenario, there’s a gentler and more effective alternative available.