Would you let your dog approach a dog with a muzzle on?
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I am trying to resocialise my Labrador with other dogs, I want him to be muzzled until I can be sure he is relaxed as he has shown fear aggression in the past. My only issue is I am not sure any dog owners would want a muzzled dog near their pet.
I just want my lovely sweet boy to be able to play with his friends again
I just want my lovely sweet boy to be able to play with his friends again
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So if I still owned a dog, I would give a muzzled dog a wide berth purely for its own well-being, not from any fear of that dog.
That's been one of my main issues molliepops at a time when I was trying to train him to ignore other dogs many owners would allow their dogs near us all the while shouting ' don't worry he/she is friendly'! Good for you I used to think but mine isn't when he is scared!
I would look to getting a trainer on board who does socialisation within groups.
If you want to socialise your dog, try local training groups or walking groups, it needs to be with the right dogs anyway.... remember POSITIVE socialisation, not ANY socialisation
To be honest puppy school is something I will not be trying, we went to puppy school when he was younger, did the whole course- his timid behaviour was already visible at this point. We had four different trainers over the course, and it was only the last trainer who really dealt with the issue as a serious one- introducing us to the yellow dog I need space campaign. Every method they taught before this final trainer for socialising a timid dog has since been explained to us to be the wrong way, possibly making the situation worse.
This really has been the most difficult few months, I felt like I was the only person willing to give him a chance and fix his problems.
I will appeal to all my friends for doggy volunteers. He has met so many humans over the past few weeks and been loving the attention, hopefully with a few nose to nose interactions he will settle with dogs as quickly.
Yawning, lip licking, a friendly lick of the other dogs face, and a muzzle-nudge (the dogs muzzle, not the equipment) are very significant communication elements indicating submission or friendliness. The ability of a muzzled dog to make these signals must surely be compromised, and even if not, are unlikely to be read correctly by other dogs he meets,. Nor may any curled lips or display of teeth be necessarily visible through a muzzle. At least if they are not put off altogether by this strange animal that looks like a dog but is wearing a basket on it's face
Based on this, I can't imagine how he could be successfully re-socialized at all wearing a muzzle because it is inhibiting critical communication gestures at the very core of successful socialization and interaction. And things can start going very wrong indeed
when two dogs cannot read and communicate the way they are meant to.
I would ask your trainer to offer a good reason why this shouldn't be a concern, and only proceed if she has a very good answer
With his muzzle on my dog is more likely to give you sad eyes and retreat between my legs than anything else.
Also it's probably a good time to point out that not all muzzled dogs are muzzled to stop biting. I have met 3 other Labrador owners who muzzle because their dogs will eat anything they come across.
Absolutely but no one can know that so people should assume the worse IMO.
which is no good at all and could encourage more fear aggression, no dog should be approached when on lead and muzzled, if people let their dogs it is blooming irresponsible and shows they don't really know much about dog etiquette and how to behave appropriately as responsible dog owners.
A pit bull type with a muzzle on the other hand would be avoided like the plague.
My ten month Labradoodle is mainly off-lead and has almost perfect recall (he still gets over excited occasionally) but I will leash my Springerdoodle and Labradoodle if other walkers leash theirs - again, out of respect. There are lots of Huskies and I leash my dogs when I see them so as not to bother them.
Every walk is different, in terms of other dogs etc and it's a matter of adjusting to the conditions - and keeping alert..
Sorry to hear about Elsie, Molliepops, I hope she calms down soon. I was lucky in that I carried out my Labradoodle's training mainly on empty beaches.
I've even explained about my dogs to people who have said 'oh my dog needs to learn that all dogs aren't friendly and stop running up to them so let yours off to teach it' WTF - can you believe it?
Of the other 2, also greyhounds one is absolutely fine with other dogs but the other was a cruelty case and is frightened of dogs that run up to us. I keep way from other dogs but get sick of people thinking it's ok to allow their dogs to run up to mine and shout 'it's ok they're friendly' I reply that theirs may be but 2 of mine aren't. Why oh why do they think it's acceptable to do that?
If you see a dog on lead with or without a muzzle it's surely reasonable to assume it's for a reason and put your dog on lead? Ask the owner by all means but keep your dog under control please.
Thanks Tim
I will speak more to his therapist before attempting any socialisation as I don't want to hinder any recovery- from looking on the net it seems that some trainers do recommend the muzzle when attempting reconciliation- purely for the dogs benefit. I'm sure you can all understand that I wouldn't have raised the topic if it was something I was confident was correct, and before all this I would have steered well clear of any muzzled dog. I am just trying to be a responsible owner and protecting other people's dogs as well as my own as I attempt to reintegrate him with his natural lifestyle.
You have a point Mollie, and my comment about training was more for the OP than you. I've gone to training with my dog when I thought she was having an issue just so I could understand it more. Turns out I was making my dog more nervous as she was picking up on my emotions when other dogs were around. So she was defensive and anxious, but when I was off the scene and she was allowed to play with the other dogs, she was fine and well behaved.
We learnt a rule at dog socialisation class too that if you see a dog on-lead, you should ensure your dog is on lead too and shouldn't approach unless invited to. But if a dog is off lead, then your dog can be off lead too. However, mistakes happen, and not everyone follows dog etiquette as you know.
Does your therapist not know any calm older dogs whose owners would help?
My dog was excitable too - as puppies/young dogs they can be! Walking in a group with other dogs, did help, as did walking with other calm older dogs who "teach" dog behaviour themselves. When my dog first met one of my trainers dogs they were very vocal and snappy with each other, but within 10mins they were settled and mine was following the other dog around like a lovesick teenager!
We have muzzled various of ours at times usually to stop them eating things but one was due to aggression. No one does it without reason IMO.
We are still very much in the training of wearing a muzzle phase so not actually wearing it during walks at the moment.
Going from our walk today I am hoping I will never actually need it- we walked at an acceptable distance behind another dog with no negative response, perfectly calm body language and I rewarded him accordingly. Just a couple of weeks ago he couldn't even walk past a dog on the opposite side of the road.
When he plays he has always snapped and nipped and it is understood to be playing when clued up owners are around, not so much when someone isn't expecting it- he has been kicked before for playing
She has offered to find some volunteers if we can't find any local- she isn't local to us at all.
As an aside I have spoken to her again, the idea is ( as I had originally thought- I shouldn't have my mind changed by others) that he is walked on the opposite side of a wide open space to a dog, he can be muzzled at this point, a) to act as a deterrent in case any other dogs appear, and b) to get close to the other dog with no fear of any issues. Once Henry is comfortable at a reasonable distance the muzzle can be removed and we can start to think about a dog to dog interaction.