If your dog is aggressive, bloody muzzle them!!

[Willprobablycauseoffence]

This is not an anti dog thread - but a ‘people are fucking stupid’ thread.

I just watched a grown man be dragged to the ground in the middle of a sodding A road by his aggressive, out of control, dog. Both were nearly hit by a car. The dog was lunging, snapping and snarling at another dog who was just walking along the pavement on the opposite side minding its own business.

The aggressive dog was doing all it could to get to this dog and pulled the owner over as a result. I hate to think what would have happened if the lead had been tugged out of his hand or the dog slipped its collar. The innocent dog almost certainly would have been horrifically injured. It was luck the owner didn’t let the lead go as he fell, not skill.

why the hell do people with aggressive dogs not muzzle them?! I don’t care if your dogs a bloody chihuahua or a Cane Corso. As someone left with a permanent scar as the result of a pug attacking her, I am so sick of any dog owner with an aggressive dog just blithely carrying on! Don’t say ‘my dogs little so it’s fine,’ because if your dog is aggressive - to cats, dogs, children etc, you should bloody muzzle it!!!

Can I add another pet peeve to this (pun intended!)
The sentence "Don't worry, he's friendly!" won't make my DD any less terrified as your dog bounds towards her. We're on a small pavement, not a dog field so please pop the friendly dog on a lead.

Agree, a narrow pavement should always = short leash anyway because of cars if nothing else!

The good thing about the bully ban is it defines bully by size/power etc so catches someone non bullies, it will make it harder to go from pitbull to bully but I take your point. What is like and what’s practical some electorally possible is different.

See also “she doesn’t like strangers”. Well put her on a lead then!

dogs which are that reactive to other dogs have no place on the street, muzzled or not.

Hi, yes! I agree with all of this. I have two gentle, professionally trained dogs, both extremely sweet and well behaved with both people and other dogs.

One was diagnosed with terminal cancer at a young age and while he's great with the vet and responding very well to treatment, his vet recommended that we muzzle train him because he may need it once he comes out of remission and begins end of life care. We use a cloth muzzle that slips over his snout like a little sleeve. It's pretty unobtrusive and doesn't bother him, and we have started using it when we bring him for fun activities he likes, like swimming, going out on our boat, or going to breweries (we're the US). We began using the muzzle about a year ago and now, he associates wearing it with going out for fun adventures, or to the vet...fortunately for us, he likes the vet and just associates his office with getting treats and cuddles from his "friends," ie the staff.

I was initially a little embarrassed because I thought there would be a lot of stigma about using a muzzle but it really has been a positive experience so far. It also gives us peace of mind to know that if we ever need it, he's trained for it and will happily wear it. We're starting muzzle training with our second dog as well, again as a just in case measure. It has not been due to any behavioral issues with either dog. I would recommend it.

I don’t even know what type of fool keeps an aggressive dog. 🤷‍♀️

I have a rescue dog that is reactive. He has never (as far as I know) bitten anyone but when we first adopted him he would behave aggressively if certain types of people got to close. The first thing we did when we became aware of his was to muzzle train him and get advice from a professional behaviourist. He always wears his muzzle when he is in public, or if we have visitors as I am aware that even with good training etc mistakes can be made. Some people that we come across are very positive about his muzzle but I am always amazed at how many people seem to see it as a problem. I have had total strangers telling me that I am cruel (often with a story about how they had a difficult dog that snapped at people but they would never have been so harsh as to muzzle it), telling me that I am depriving him of his ability to defend himself if he was attacked and have also been shouted at in the street to tell me that I should have him PTS as he is clearly aggressive and a danger to others (just because they saw the muzzle and made assumptions, he was not behaving aggressively). I think part of the reason that people don't muzzle dogs when they should is a perception that this means the dog is 'bad' and they are bad owners. I strongly believe that muzzles should be normalised and muzzle training included in standard dog training classes, so that dogs are ready if their behaviour changes due to old age/illness etc

Now I am worried. I walk in remote places.Does your post mean that you walk your aggressive dog off the lead? I t think people deserve protection no matter where they are.

Our show cocker spaniel is muzzled because she is a scavenger and I very quickly got fed up with my fingers in her mouth pulling out all sorts. While she makes a bit of a fuss getting it on she is absolutely fine once it is.

Interestingly other dog owners will comment along the lines of 'oh an eater is she?', while I have heard parents tell their kids it's 'to stop it biting you' which is really annoying.

However while she is generally friendly with other dogs there are one or two dogs locally that she has taken a dislike to and if we encounter them while she's off lead the muzzle stops any biting which I am sure there would be if she wasn't wearing it.

There's a cane corso in this village. He was an adorable puppy a couple of years ago but is now a huge aggressive adult, who pulled over the female half of its ownership, trying to attack my two gundogs. Luckily she hung on. No muzzle, of course (or corso...).

I wish they would muzzle their dogs. My dog was bitten my another dog despite the irresponsible dog owners knowing they have a problem dog. It was on a long training lead which they weren’t holding. It lunged at my dog and bit my dog as we walked past. No apology, no questions to ask if my dog was alright. They just carried on walking away like a pair of cowards. One day their dog might cause a serious injury and vet bills will need to be paid. And why? Because they can’t be arsed to put a muzzle on their dog. Ignorant, selfish irresponsible people!

This happened to me just the other day. I was walking my dog when a dog belonging to a lady who was walking it nearby pulled her over, she went splat on the ground and her dog ran over and lunged at my dogs neck. Only for a hero of a man who saw what happened, sprinted over and grabbed the lead of the aggressive dog I don't know what would have happened. Thankfully my dog was ok and no one got harmed but it wasn't for the man I don't know what would have heppened. I was just out for a run there and saw her again with her dog, no muzzle, extendable lead sauntering along with the dog a good 3 metres in front of her. It's a disaster waiting to happen.

OP I absolutely agree with you. Today I noticed a ‘neighbour’ who has a second home here they use during the holidays (warrants its own thread!) has got a whopping ginormous dog that he too was struggling to walk outside our homes. It was pulling on the lead, barking crazily, and snarling/snapping at a tiny dog that was being walked the other side of the estate. It’s terrified me now as lots of the locals kids play out and if that dog were to get near to them I dread to think what could happen. Personally, these types of dogs (and mostly their owners!) shouldn’t just be muzzled but non existent.

Why do you think people want these sort of dogs as pets though? I don’t really understand it. I thought having a dog was supposed to be a pleasure, not a chore and a challenge like this and a nightmare to take out in public… there must be some positive in it for the owner, but I can’t see it.

😅 such a little wind up troll 😂

My dog can be 'dog aggressive' with certain dogs. She's 6.5 stone-I am only small myself.
I don't muzzle her.
I have her on a halti which turns her head if she pulls, so she's always within my control.
It bothers me more when out of control dogs come bounding up and I have to shout to the owners to get them away-as I have said only some dogs are the ones she doesn't like so mostly she'll just bound about having a bit of a play with them, but I'd rather not take the risk and it bothers me when I have to!

My huge dog will protect me from anything and anyone if it comes to it. I live alone and have been attacked walking about enough times, I have also had someone try to get into my house in the middle of the night-that's why.

The dog shouldn't have been muzzled.It should have been put down

Well, you're extremely statistically unlucky, if you ve been attacked just walking about several times and need a large, dangerous animal to defend you.

I live in london and have walked about late at night alone.So many times I ve lost count, and i've never been attacked.

Where the hell do you live?

I have a livestock protection dog breed like the ones on the documentary you mention @BlueCupOrangeCup but I totally agree with you that they're not a dog for everyone. They can and do make amazing house pets, but you need to have 100% commitment to keep a 60kg dog in your home. I've had them nearly 50 years, wouldn't have anything else. None of mine (and I've had 8) has ever been aggressive in the least, all totally safe and trustworthy around children, dogs and cats. I'm 61, female and slender. I'm very gentle with my dogs and they've always been very gentle with me. Mutual trust and respect is everything with these dogs.

But it's not just people with big dogs that should be realistic about the breeds they get. The OP mentions injury from a pug. There is a pug near us that should be muzzled, so too a local dachshund that attacks everything in its path. The owners are in denial because the dog is tiny. One of my dogs was attacked and injured by a Labrador when he was a tiny pup, my previous male was bitten by a Border Collie. It's not always the breeds you expect that turn out to be biters. Any dog can be a problem dog, but as OP says, the owners need to accept responsibility and take precautions. And some people just won't.

I'm unsure what that has to do with anything?

That's good for you, congratulations.

I personally think all dogs should be put on a muzzle when out in public spaces, but that's just my opinion.