To be upset at peoples reaction to the muzzle?

[Doggydoggydoggy]

Just that really.

Dog wears one because she has nipped a few people.

She is not people aggressive.

I had a woman today clearly frightened because she ran near her buggy.
Near as in running past it.
Not barking/lunging/acting aggressive/approaching the child etc.

The woman got really scared at the sight of my dog, recoiled pulling the buggy so my dog did what most dogs will do in response and looked at her and went to approach.

So I called her back to me immediately and put her lead on.
That didn’t stop the woman constantly looking back angrily at me as she was walking ahead.

I really don’t think my dog had done anything that would reasonably make anyone feel frightened.

I can only assume it is the muzzle making the mum think she must be some child mauling demon.

And I find it really upsetting.

I wanted to talk to her and explain that she has the muzzle for nipping dogs and that I was sorry she frightened her but she honestly poses no risk to her child and has no interest in her child.
But her constant looking back and glaring at me made me feel really uncomfortable so I didn’t.

[pomobrokemypogo]

It is entirely logical to suspect that a muzzled dog may be a danger, especially if you aren't expecting it. Better to give a friendly call out to people that she is no threat to them and makes sure she stays well away. If you can't do that then keep her on the lead in populated areas.

And we are dog lovers who love to meet friendly well behaved dogs. The sort that ask to approach, not just leap or wee all over you and your picnic.

Calling your dog back if you see other people is such a simple but important message to send to other people. Old fashioned courtesy and good manners but it shows you and your dog are respectful and considerate and it just instinctively reassures and obviously will get a better reaction from people. Its really simple. If you and your dog have no manners then expect people to glare at you.

[Stopwoofing]

isn't it old fashioned manners to expect people to be able to be courteous to a well behaved dog and be ordinarily resilient to a dog merely approaching them? The manners and toleration argument can support either case.

[Whereisthegin1978]

Dogs freely running around makes me anxious especially with small dc. One with a muzzle I would assume has form for attacking - to be honest it wouldn’t have entered my head it might be for protection of other dogs.

[Pissedoffdotcom]

TeddyBearBaby JRTs have killed children before. I never see anybody up in arms when a JRT is loose around their kids.

Formerbabe think what you like about me. I have at one time had both kids & dogs. The desire to hate something is a personal one. I hate spiders, but people would tell me i'm an idiot if i decided to dictate that all spiders should be cordoned off somewhere. Children can be menaces. Just because you hate dogs doesn't mean the rest of the world has to bow down to your demands. OPs dog did nothing wrong.

[26mcjrfm]

Coming from a dog owner, a dog shouldn't be off the lead in public places. If we go to the park or somewhere popular with walkers, our dog is kept on the lead.

Some people are frightened of dogs, and their right to have a peaceful walk trumps your dog's right to be off the lead.

Our dog gets a good walk/run over the fields close to our house where people rarely walk.

You have to be respectful of everyone around you, OP.

[GottaGoGottaGo]

If a dog is muzzled properly what is it going to do? .. Nothing

Jump up, knock a child over causing them to bang their head, scratch and scar or simply terrify...

[Mummyoflittledragon]

My first dog was attacked several times (Dh and I lived in a rough area with aggressive owners and dogs for a while ). After yet another attack, incidentally not livin the same area by then, he decided the only good defence is attack when one day he went for a couple of puppies. I expect they were pubescent by their age and my dog wasn’t castrated at the time. He didn’t draw blood or anything but he must have scared the dogs a lot.

I then kept him on lead and muzzled him. It was a lengthy process to reintroduce him to the general dog population, which I did slowly and took a couple of years.

I do think you would be best to keep your dog on lead in busy areas in parks when you come across people with young children and babies. I’d try to walk in fields if you can or in less well trodden areas of the park and let her off then.

When I see a muzzled dog I do wonder if it is a threat to my dog rather than me and equally to my dd if she was with me. My first dog actually managed to get his muzzle off a couple of times so they arent fool proof.

[pomobrokemypogo]

stopwoofing the onus is on you to prove your dog is well behaved by calling it to heel or away from others.

Just like you shouldn't race your horse up behind or past other horse riders, or stride blithely through a crowded supermarket. Manners is considering other people and showing it.

[Mummyoflittledragon]

Oh and to add I keep my current dog on the lead when around young children. Some people are very scared. The same as when dds friend comes, I keep him away from her. Human comfort should be before canine comfort.

[JellyBears]

Don’t take it personally, some people just don’t like dogs, I grew up with dogs so it doesn’t bother me if a dog comes nearer but not everyone has grown up with dogs and don’t have much tolerance for them.

My dog is soft as muck lab but she pulls so has to have a lead muzzle and she’s big and doesn’t like certain breeds of dog lol so she barks and ppl think she’s nasty but she’s just a softie. Don’t let it worry you cx

[ToffeePennie]

My parents have a staffie. He wouldn’t hurt a fly, is never muzzled, loves my children. He’s a true nanny dog, my dad rescued him from a bad home at a few months old and he’s been trained to the hilt. I still don’t leave the dog alone with the babies, I still refuse to let him off his lead, even though he has excellent recall and is brilliant, because you never know. That’s probably why this lady recoiled, she doesn’t know.

[pomobrokemypogo]

And dogs have no right to approach people. People have the right not to be approached. Dogs will get over it and need limits.

[Yearinyearout]

Cmdrivanova a muzzle does not always mean a dog bites. I know several people who muzzle their dogs because they have a strong tendency to eat horse/cow poo. I know another who muzzles his just because the dog is huge and scary looking and growls when he plays with other dogs, and he was fed up of people acting like his dog was going to murder theirs!

[namechangedforanon]

A well trained dog is fine off the lead . People shouldn’t be letting any dog off the lead that a) has poor recall b) won’t walk next to you at a fairly tight heel .

People have no concept of training dogs sadly it seems anymore .

[Shixtyshixpershent]

My young daughter was recently growled at and jumped on by a muzzled German Shepard who came running out of nowhere. No logical reason for it, my daughter was just walking along. It did hurt her with its claws and it did frighten her. The owner came flapping along shortly after shouting about how friendly the dog was. In my opinion that dog definitely should have been on a lead in addition to the muzzle. And if dogs are reactive to people they shouldn’t be off lead. Claws and body weight can also hurt.

[Topseyt]

There is so much bullshit being spouted forth here, some of it by people who clearly can't even read the OP's first post.

The dog wears a muzzle because it has been known to nip other dogs occasionally (not people). OP is being a responsible dog owner by using the muzzle to ensure that the situation can no longer arise.

The dog did not go barrelling up to the buggy. It began responding to the woman's behaviour out of curiosity, but it has good recall and came back as soon as OP called it, which she did promptly.

A muzzle prevents biting. So a muzzled off-lead dog cannot bite. Yes, it can bash into people and things, but so can unmuzzled off-lead dogs. The difference is that the latter could still bite if they were so inclined. So why on earth do people only react this way to muzzled dogs? Common sense and logic should dictate otherwise.

Muzzled are used for many reasons, with biting being only one. I have muzzled my labrador before to stop him eating shit (literally), bones, litter left by twats ... the list could go on. I've also done it for his own protection when I am clipping his claws because he wants to lick the clipper blade and I can't risk the injury that could cause to his tongue if he managed to do it just at the wrong moment. So he is muzzled for a few minutes for that too.

OP, don't give the incident any more thought. Nothing actually happened, you are doing the responsible thing using the muzzle, your dog has good recall, came back and was therefore under control.

[PregnantSea]

I used to have to muzzle my old dog (great with people, terrible with other dogs, he was an abused rescue and was sort of dumped on me, long story). Anyway, I used to love the reaction I got from people. I always had plenty of space and freedom because everyone kept well away lol.

Although in this particular instance YABU - if you're out in public with your dog you are obliged to keep it on a lead and under control. If it's running off and jumping up at people then even though you know it's not aggressive it's still unfair on the other people. What if they don't like dogs? And they don't know what the muzzle is for. I adore dogs myself, even the "difficult" ones, but I accept that there are dogs that can and have killed people. I'm not saying that yours would do this but you have to accept that people who don't know your dog will think that if it's muzzled.

[TeddybearBaby]

@Pissedoffdotcom I’ve heard of one killing a tiny baby. Shocking.

[MiniMum97]

She might just have a phobia of digs.

[MiniMum97]

• or dogs!

[namechangedforanon]

Exactly , a dog like that shouldn’t be unattended or loose .

I’d fine owners whose dogs behave in such a manner

[TeddybearBaby]

Sorry missed the second sentence somehow 🤦🏻‍♀️. So what if people aren't upping arms really? Doesn’t make pitballs etc safe just means we should add jack Russell to the list of anything!

[Pissedoffdotcom]

TeddyBearBaby lucky you. I've read of toddlers being attacked by JRT, top of my head I can recall 3 deaths. Altho if we're going purely off what we have heard then there are LOTS of things that just simply don't happen in the world by my reckoning 🙄 it's like saying someone driving a smart car is okay but someone driving a 4x4 must be under stricter control just in case.

It comes down to responsible owners. The PP above whose daughter was knocked over by a GSD is a prime example of bad ownership. Can't recall? Keep it on a lead

[Pissedoffdotcom]

NO dog is 100% safe. I detest it when people use that word relating to animals. A chihuahua is not safe to be left with kids any more than a collie or a dane is ffs.

And going back to the whole personal experience thing...i've more experience of my bull breed bitch being attacked by bloody labs than my other breeds being attacked by bulls. I decree all labs should be on the dangerous list 🙄

[Lweji]

And I find it really upsetting.

It always amuses me when it's the dog owner who gets upset because their dog scared someone.

The mother isn't to know how your dog behaves, with or without a lead.

It's your responsibility as a dog owner to control your dog and make sure they don't frighten people.

I think it's normal for someone with a baby to worry about what a loose dog will do, particularly if they are running around the baby.