Don't let your dog approach on lead dogs!

[CHEZZFAYE]

Totally agree with EVERYTHING that has been said here, however (this isnt a dig btw, it is purely an interest) if you have a dog that IS VERY dog aggressive, for whatever reason why would you not muzzel it?.

 

My dog for example is friendly and i have worked really hard to ensure he has been well socialised and 95% of the time listens to everything i say and i have complete control over him. Now the other 5% is usually when he turns into a bloody teenager and goes deaf!! GRRR! there has only been one occasion that he has ran upto another dog on lead and thankfully it was friendly. On the other hand tho it could have been a different story. I can honestly say that if my dog was dog aggressive for whatever reason, i would mussel him! without a second thought.

because with a muzzel on if an agressive dog comes at him hes defenceless and hes worse with one on tbh hes ripped a dew claw off trying to remove the muzzle, this is the reason i only walk them at night now i would rather only be able to take him out once a night than have the agro of trying to walk him in the day

[vwkittie]

Totally agree with EVERYTHING that has been said here, however (this isnt a dig btw, it is purely an interest) if you have a dog that IS VERY dog aggressive, for whatever reason why would you not muzzel it?.

 

My dog for example is friendly and i have worked really hard to ensure he has been well socialised and 95% of the time listens to everything i say and i have complete control over him. Now the other 5% is usually when he turns into a bloody teenager and goes deaf!! GRRR! there has only been one occasion that he has ran upto another dog on lead and thankfully it was friendly. On the other hand tho it could have been a different story. I can honestly say that if my dog was dog aggressive for whatever reason, i would mussel him! without a second thought.

 

Mine's not aggressive she's just scared, when off lead dogs bound over to her she tries not to bite but to back away - she has nearly slipped her collar a few times, the more she backs away and the collar goes to her ears (being a lurcher her neck and head are the same diameter) the more panicked she gets and the more she tries to get away. She'll end up tying me in knots with the lead and hurting her ears on her collar

[mrseggy]

because with a muzzel on if an agressive dog comes at him hes defenceless and hes worse with one on tbh hes ripped a dew claw off trying to remove the muzzle, this is the reason i only walk them at night now i would rather only be able to take him out once a night than have the agro of trying to walk him in the day

 

The ripping his dew claw off must have been bloody awful, poor thing , but i still think if he was mine i would muzzle him (only my opinion, you know me im full of em ) only because i couldnt stand the though of my dog harming another no matter who was at fault, not that i would want mine harmed either, guess its just a no win situation.

 

Just another thought, do other dog walkers not give you a wide berth if to have a muzzled dog? I know i do (in the nicest possible way of course ) when i see a muzzled dog.

[sarahjane]

I do sometimes muzzle mine but to be honest it can make her worse.

If she has her muzzle on then she seems to know she is defenceless. This means that she might be nicer to the other dogs at that moment in time, but her fear levels increase dramatically.

As she is fear aggressive anyway, an increase in fear fuels her aggression over the long term.

Also, if I'm absolutely honest, another reason I don't muzzle her is because she would not be able to fight back if another dog did attack her whilst she was on lead.

This has happened once when she was a lot younger and dog friendly. A local dog aggressive dog had got out of its garden and ran over to attack her whilst she was on lead. Because she was a lot younger I was able to pick her up, throw her round my neck and run home whilst the other dog was jumping up and biting her legs.

If this happened and she was muzzled it could be the end of her and I'm not prepared to risk that.

If she had become friendly with a dog and was able to play with it then I would muzzle her to play.

 

Some other dog owners do give you a wide berth if your dog is muzzled, but unfortunately some still don't care and leave their boisterous dog to run up to yours.....to 'play'!

 

Saying all of this, mine is a very odd case as she still loves some dogs and loves playing with them, others she hates, and others she tolerates.

When she goes to Mutlins she gets on with all of them and enjoys every minute of her time there. The only time the owners have to separate her from the other dogs is when they are all exhausted and she wants to carry on playing with them. They separate her from them to give the other dogs a break from playing!

Sarah

[medusa]

Totally agree with EVERYTHING that has been said here, however (this isnt a dig btw, it is purely an interest) if you have a dog that IS VERY dog aggressive, for whatever reason why would you not muzzel it?.

 

My dog for example is friendly and i have worked really hard to ensure he has been well socialised and 95% of the time listens to everything i say and i have complete control over him. Now the other 5% is usually when he turns into a bloody teenager and goes deaf!! GRRR! there has only been one occasion that he has ran upto another dog on lead and thankfully it was friendly. On the other hand tho it could have been a different story. I can honestly say that if my dog was dog aggressive for whatever reason, i would mussel him! without a second thought.

 

If Molly is in a muzzle then she can't fetch her ball or frisbee, and that would stop her from having anything like as much as focus away from the other dogs on a walk, which is likely to actually make her worse, not better towards other dogs.

 

Because I know she actually doesn't want to be pushed up close to other dogs I choose instead to take her places where she's much less likely to meet other dogs, so that she can run and fetch her frisbee or ball in peace, and put her on a lead when other dogs are around.

 

Molly is not set on ripping other dogs' heads off though- she has some dog buddies with whom she has a lovely relationship and around whom she is really careful to be gentle. She did cause a small cut on another dog, but I don't believe she actually tried to harm the other dog- her teeth did connect, but the wound was a whole load smaller than if she'd have intended to hurt the other dog. It was more like she was barking and just caught the other dog with her teeth- it's still completely unacceptable, but it's different to deliberately trying to hurt the other dog.

 

She's a GSD who wasn't socialised before we got her and who was a total nightmare of nervous aggression when we first got her as a rescue puppy. GSDs are prone to being a bit gobby around other dogs, which can lead to the other dog taking offence, which then escalates the problem further, so that's what we worked on, first not reacting to dogs which were 200 yards away and then working closer.

 

If I thought that there was any way that I couldn't control her then I'd muzzle her, but I'm glad that this is something that I've never had to really consider. She's an absolute joy around other humans, particularly children who she adores, and to see her in a muzzle would stop anybody else from wanting to interact with her, which would be a dreadful shame.

[sarahjane]

Yes, you're right Medusa, thats another thing..... Some of my ways of distracting Poppy is to get her to play with a toy or search for a treat on the floor behind her. If she had a muzzle on then she couldn't play or eat a treat so I'd have no chance!

[CHEZZFAYE]

The ripping his dew claw off must have been bloody awful, poor thing , but i still think if he was mine i would muzzle him (only my opinion, you know me im full of em ) only because i couldnt stand the though of my dog harming another no matter who was at fault, not that i would want mine harmed either, guess its just a no win situation.

 

Just another thought, do other dog walkers not give you a wide berth if to have a muzzled dog? I know i do (in the nicest possible way of course ) when i see a muzzled dog.

nope lol they dont you would think a woman on her own with a massive gsd on a halti and a staff would be enough for them to stay away really but its not. tbh he has only ever hurt one dog and that 1 really deserved it and we wernt out walking, he can get used to other dogs as long as its done correctly and one bolting from across a field is not the way lol.

 

tbh im more worried about the damage other dogs can do to him hes a real pansy lol he couldnt fight his way out of a paper bag

[0742Sheff]

this is the reason i only take my dogs out in the middle off the night apart from the youngest.

 

I thought i was on my own thinking like this. Paddy is 5 months old and i don't want to risk him being attacked. I let him off his lead as much as possible but if i see someone i put him straight back on the lead (mostly due to him being so young and not fully trained yet).

What i hate (and it seems i'm not on my own), is dog owners who think it is fine to let their dogs bound all over a dog on a leash. This is the reason i tend to walk him after dark. The odd dog walkers we do bump in to seem to be very attentive as well at this time. Maybe we are all walking our dogs after dark for the same reasons?

[nubile]

I thought i was on my own thinking like this. Paddy is 5 months old and i don't want to risk him being attacked. I let him off his lead as much as possible but if i see someone i put him straight back on the lead (mostly due to him being so young and not fully trained yet).

What i hate (and it seems i'm not on my own), is dog owners who think it is fine to let their dogs bound all over a dog on a leash. This is the reason i tend to walk him after dark. The odd dog walkers we do bump in to seem to be very attentive as well at this time. Maybe we are all walking our dogs after dark for the same reasons?

 

+1

 

Though i do tend to walk little Cozy in the hills a lot, where she has free reign,within reason, i still happen upon other like the OP posted about.

Cozy is very timid, and i've had some right rants at people about letting their dogs approach her, many have walked off sheepishly scolded.

[Evei]

D is muzzled still, however with his doggy friends I will allow him to have it off. The thing with muzzles is you have to train them to wear it, putting in on only in stressful situations (or on walks) only makes the problem worse, it can take a month or so to get a dog to wear a muzzle happily.

 

Yes muzzles are a nightmare if other dogs attack yours but it is easier to get one fighting dog off than two. D has had some good chunks out of him when on lead and muzzled however a lot of this was down to how he reacted. It is heartbreaking but I have more chance of saving him if only one dog is fighting.

 

We now can let him off around other dogs and if they are kept off lead so is he, I look at the other dogs body language as I can tell right away if D will be fine with them and depending on that depends if he is allowed to approach. He is a complete wind up merchant thought and has to be watched carefully, 99.9% of the time if a dog tells him off for being too rough he just comes away and has learnt a lot by actually being able to approach and play with others.

 

I can remember the frustration of him going mental everytime we saw a dog (even just in sight) and one of the reasons we got a muzzle at the time was for our own safety too as well as other dogs. He would go into such a panic he would rage and just air snap and you had to be very careful not to get in the way otherwise you would also be bit.

 

Seems a lifetime away now! So keep at it as I know it may not be cured but can clearly be improved to a level that allows you to enjoy walks again and the dog is happy. Being annoyed at people was a common thing for me until I realised I just needed to take advantage of the situation and ask if they would mind popping their dog on lead and us walking with them (or behind them at the start) for 5 minutes so D had a chance to chill and then be treated which helped the training no end. They normally feel guilty for letting their dog approach when you explain nicely and will help out with your training!

Edited January 4, 2012 by Evei