To think all dogs should be muzzled in public?

[ToughTalker]

By law.

Many things have been banned as dangerous where less people have been injured and killed.

Obviously we can’t ban dogs but it should be law to have them muzzled outside of your own property to reduce the injuries and deaths they cause.

Dogs should be registered and there should be a minimum amount of training required for all owners and dogs.

No way. I have very small dogs. The smallest is only 2kg. If you needed to get away from her, a good kick would do it. I won’t muzzle them. They don’t need muzzles

There are much cleverer ways to manage dog (really owner) behaviour than muzzling.

You could easily regulate it in built up areas. There are plenty of reasons. Working and assistance dogs could be exempted.

The basic issue is control and the owner factor. Most owners are sensible people and realise that their relationship with the dog is particular and does not extend to anyone else.

The other kind of owner has some sort emotional attachment which means their relationship must extend to small children or perfect strangers. That is obviously daft.

Cars
Peanuts
Men
Knives which aren't wooden
Houses with only one car space

Ban them all.

Kept on leads in certain defined places. A dog registration scheme and certain breeds restricted. The presumption that in flats, certain breeds are banned.

@MoscowMules 👏🏼 👏🏼

Couldn't have said it better!

I own a bull breed who is a big softie, but also thinks everyone and everything is to be played with.

He is kept on the lead when there are other people and dogs around mainly because I don't want to be accused of having an "out of control dangerous dog" (I've had people try to say he is a banned breed, he is absolutely not!)

But my god, stop letting your little precious jump all over him when he is minding his own business. If he jumps back or god forbid snaps back when your moron dog is nipping at him then he will hurt them, and we all know whose dog will get the blame!

What an utterly ridiculous suggestion.

It’s the owners that need action taking against them, not the poor bloody dogs.

No.

Oh give over 🙄

You are being ridiculous. Most dog bites Happen at home anyway Bore off with your dog hating. Humans are the problem with this world not animals

Not sure what the point of muzzling my elderly old girl who has barely got any teeth and never harmed a fly.

And the award for the most ridiculous suggestion goes to.... 👏🏻

Absolutely not.

There's so many dangerous things out there that pose far more risk than 99.9% of dogs, unless you are going to ban them or legislate against them all you'll just have to accept that a small amount of risk comes with leaving your house.

I go to dog club every week and despite so many dogs being in the one place, a variety of breeds, temperaments and owner capabilities, I've never seen anything other than a minor scuffle between dogs, never a bite on a person.

The people who own the dogd who have done damage are the ones who will flout any muzzle legislation anyway so it would be pointless on top of being unneeded for most dogs.

I really think tighter controls on breeding along with educating children on canine behaviour, with a particular focus on canine communication/body language, is the key to reducing both bad ownership and dog attacks.

If you ban all BYB and make it illegal to sell puppies unless you are a licensed and registered breeder then the idiots who want dogs to make them look hard will find it much, much harder to get hold of one.

Ensure all studs and bitches are temperament tested as well as health checked.

I’m not sure they make muzzles small enough for my Chihuahua……

@stillvicarinatutu wish I could like your post.

Much better to make it illegal to be off a lead although not sure who would enforce it really.

Where I live I have never seen a policeman.
I walk my dog every day. Depending where- sometimes off lead (fields, woods, beach) sometime on lead (roads).
Sometimes even on the the road off lead
Who would fine me?

@StoppinBy - what you have said is basically against the idea of any regulatory effort on public safety. There will always be people who flout the law - the point is that you can do something to address an issue.

Muzzling is extreme. A lead law in any public park with a childrens playground? Maybe a very good idea

Well yes.

As I said - walk my dog every day. Lived here 20 years. Never seen a policeman whilst walking.
Who would enforce the lead??

@poshme - I don't know where you live. Let's say a remote Scottish Island. Maybe enforcement is not a priority.

But then let's say you live in a big city. Lots of people. You walk your dog in the park and your dog will interact with many people and other dogs. Then the likely supervision is maybe more intense, but also, easier for basic reasons like CCTV. I used the police as an example but others can issue a fixed penalty.

Exactly. This dog wasn't my choice my late husband just arrived home with a puppy one day for DS without any notice or conversation with me. Once then 3 year old DS saw the puppy I couldn't exactly rip it out of his hands. 🤣 So here I am now a widow with a giant mastiff.

He was well trained, we took him to dogs trust puppy classes, he was well socialised, he's got exceptional recall and does the funniest of tricks like "shake hands" "play dead" "high five".

I am always conscious that my dog needs to be the best behaved, he can not and must not put a foot wrong, as I fear people will scream "dangerous dog". But Pepsi and Coco the small breeds can lunge on leads, jump up at strangers, yap at people, refuse recall and "it's ok, because worse came to it, you could just kick them off"

No...be responsible for Pepsi and Coco put it on a lead and train it well, I don't care that it looks like a teddy bear or is less than knee high, get it away from me.

This dog will be the last dog I ever own, I am more of a cat person, he's 5 now, and life expectancy is about 9 sadly. But I'll probably turn into the most horrible person in the park once I don't have a dog on a lead with me. I'm going to do my fair share of booting. 🤣

mychiandme.co.uk/products/muzzle?_pos=1&_sid=dc2d6d34f&_ss=r

It's totally unnecessary in most cases though. My Chi would probably die of heart failure if you tried to muzzle her. I have met a couple of Chi's who could do with muzzle training though.

I generally find the smaller the dog - the less training and socialization they've had.

I'm guilty of the same. When my rotty x growled at me because I walked to close to his bone I immediately initiated a training plan and warned the kids. When the Chi growled at me because she was guarding a bone that was bigger than her I videoed her and posted it in our family's group chat (and then trained her).

@LexMitior not remote.
Semi-rural.
About 5 miles from a big city.

Lots of open countryside with roaming rights. Coastline (dog rules on leads in the summer, which people abide by, off lead in winter)

Never seen a policeman (or woman) on my daily dog walks. National Laws have to work for everywhere- not just cities

And my dog- out and about- I say her name and she turns to run to me and sits down.
From afar, a quick whistle and she comes straight away. Every time.

She will sit at a distance on command (if I raise my arms she sits)

If I see a person walking toward us I call her. I know not everyone is a dog lover, and I know she won't hurt anyone- but they don't. So she comes and sits.

Why should she be muzzled? She's less dangerous than a person driving a car.