"professional" Dog Walkers Walking Muzzled Dogs...

[aussielover]

Yesterday before a training session out of my usual area, I saw a dog walker walking two muzzled dogs off leash (in an off leash area). They also had sveral other dogs with them as well.

Luckily I saw them early and was able to call my dog (also off leash) and put her on the leash and start walking away from them.

However they followed us and kept trying to interact with my dog using what i would say was very dominant posturing and behaviour. Luckily my current puppy is quite a submissive and non-confrontational dog, so a situation did not arise. I asked the dog walker to get them away from us only to receive the reply that it was fine they were muzzled?

As far as I know dogs can still attack and do damage when they are muzzled. They also could have scared the s*** out of my dog, who is potentially gonna be a guide dog.

Surely a dog that needs to be muzzled is not suitable to be walked off the lead in an off leash area, especially by a dog walker and not their owner, who presumably knows the dog better and has more control.

I was not able to identify what company the dog walker was from unfortunately otherwise i would be contacting the company about my concerns.

Additionally another "dog walker" let his several dogs run up and jump all over a lady carrying a baby/toddler. When she asked him to get the dogs away, he just said they were all friendly (so??) and then said to me if you don't like dogs why go to a dog park? He compared it to having a picnic in the middle of a dog park (which frankly, I don't find an issue at all, my dog isn't bothered by that kind of thing)

Am I alone in thinking there is a huge difference between not liking dogs and not liking dogs jumping all over you???

Sometimes i think these dog walkers lack respect for other park users (including other dog owners) and give responsible dog owners a bad name and often make normally nice people who tolerate/like dogs, start to not like dogs which is not a good thing

[sas]

I don't think there is anything wrong with muzzled dogs being in a Dog Park, mind you if they exhibit other behaviour that makes them dangerous i.e. they still go into full attack they can still hurt and scare another dog.

Posturing etc. is something you would expect to see from any number of dogs at a dog park, they aren't the safest place to be to begin with.

[WreckitWhippet]

It's illegal for any one person in NSW to be in charge of more than 4 dogs, on or off leash and regardless of size.

They may as a matter of routine muzzle all of the larger dogs or dogs of a certain breed in their care, as a risk management policy.

Muzzled or not they should still be under effective control and not running up to your dogs or recall as soon as you request the owner/walker to do so.

[~*Shell*~]

My standard response to any dog approaching mine is to tell the owner of that dog that Zero's in training and that I would prefer them not to approach whether they're friendly or not. Don't get me wrong, I still get a**holes who complain about it but generally people are pretty good. I get a lot of people ask me what he's training for so I just tell them he's a therapy dog (he is a delta therapy dog) and that I want him to not react at all to another dog which is very very difficult if that other dog is jumping all over him.

Some people just need to learn some manners - any dog walker who lets the dogs run up to a person holding a child is just asking for it. I would absolutely let them have it. What would happen if that person didn't understand dogs and thought they were attacking or something - their first reaction could be to kick at one of them (which is what happened at an on leash park around the corner from me when someone let their dogs off leash). Both the child and the dog could get seriously hurt.

[aussielover]

It's illegal for any one person in NSW to be in charge of more than 4 dogs, on or off leash and regardless of size.

They may as a matter of routine muzzle all of the larger dogs or dogs of a certain breed in their care, as a risk management policy.

Muzzled or not they should still be under effective control and not running up to your dogs or recall as soon as you request the owner/walker to do so.

I don't think it was a matter of routine- they also had larger dogs with them that were unmuzzled.

Most dog walkers I see have more than 4 dogs under their "control".

And even those who have 4 or less, don't really seem to have control over them...

I don't really think a muzzled dog belongs in an off leash park unless it is under the control of its owner, not some random dog walker who sees the dogs maybe a few times a week for an hour.

[WreckitWhippet]

It's illegal for any one person in NSW to be in charge of more than 4 dogs, on or off leash and regardless of size.

They may as a matter of routine muzzle all of the larger dogs or dogs of a certain breed in their care, as a risk management policy.

Muzzled or not they should still be under effective control and not running up to your dogs or recall as soon as you request the owner/walker to do so.

I don't think it was a matter of routine- they also had larger dogs with them that were unmuzzled.

Most dog walkers I see have more than 4 dogs under their "control".

And even those who have 4 or less, don't really seem to have control over them...

I don't really think a muzzled dog belongs in an off leash park unless it is under the control of its owner, not some random dog walker who sees the dogs maybe a few times a week for an hour.

Then call the local ranger, with your concerns and get them to do something about it.

[Greytmate]

Nothing wrong with muzzling a dog in a dog park.

Woody's muzzle stays on at the park.

You have no idea why the dogs were muzzled, or under what circumstances they might bite. Perhaps they were muzzled routinely.

There is no reason why you wouldn't treat them exactly the same as any other dog in a dog park. But it is the ones without the muzzles that can do more harm.

[corvus]

This morning a dog charged us, teeth bared and snarling ferociously. Scared the bejesus out of me. Charges in the past have taught me to view them with near panic. I was betting on about a 70% likelihood of the dog pulling up before it got to us because I'd seen this dog a couple of times and didn't think he'd engage, and lucky for us he did pull up a good ten metres short. Point is, I was in an off leash dog park. I tend to expect this kind of thing, even though it rarely happens. The owner of this dog has been doing heaps of work with him and trying to address the issue, but people make bad judgement calls sometimes. No harm done. It scared me a little, but I learnt what a charging bluff looks like, and the boys took it in their stride and were over it in about 5 seconds. That's 'cause they have been so heavily socialised that they've seen a lot and they read other dogs really well. It takes more than a noisy bluff to scare them. If your dog is potentially going to be a guide dog, maybe you should use these events as a training opportunity. I do. The world doesn't stop when a dog is mean or scary to my dogs. I encourage them to get on with it immediately. They don't generally have difficulties with this, even Erik, who is a wee bit high strung and easily unsettled. I practice tolerance in dog parks because everyone is coming from a different place with different standards and approaches to dog ownership. Mostly they don't think they are doing anything wrong and won't believe you if you tell them they are. They'll just get haughty and go and tell their friends about the crazy dog lady that yelled at them for doing something perfectly reasonable. At worst, you've made an enemy that may well do things to spite you, to the detriment of your dog. The majority of the dog-owning public is not very good with their dogs, and probably never will be, but I'd rather that didn't exclude their dogs (or mine) from having fun running off leash. I am good with my dogs, and I can compensate for them, so I do and everyone gets along.

[JulesP]

I think DA should be muzzled when at off leash parks even if on lead. Just for the safety of everyone.

I don't think it is super safe for a muzzled dog to be off lead.

[aussielover]

Nothing wrong with muzzling a dog in a dog park.

Woody's muzzle stays on at the park.

You have no idea why the dogs were muzzled, or under what circumstances they might bite. Perhaps they were muzzled routinely.

There is no reason why you wouldn't treat them exactly the same as any other dog in a dog park. But it is the ones without the muzzles that can do more harm.

I don't have a problem with a muzzled dog. Of course greyhounds are the exception generally as there is no real reason for EVERY grey to be muzzled it is just some stupid law

Though i have seen an off leash greyhound cause considerable harm to another dog, even when muzzled.

I just think that for a dog to be muzzled it must have some history of aggresison and should therefore be controlled by a competent person (not some random dog walker with several other dogs).

[SpikesPuppy]

You have no idea why any dog is muzzled unless you are told- the dog may be on a strict diet, it may be a serial ball theif (I had a friend who muzzle their Lab in the park for this reason), it may be a stick chewer, or yes it nay be aggressive.

What I'm more concerned about is whether or not a dog is under effective control, muzzle or no.

[julzjc]

Its possible the dog is generally friendly but if attacked by another dog it will retaliate. Bonnie is great with other dogs, HOWEVER, if they lunge and snarl at her first she would 100% retaliate if we are not quick enough to tell her to "leave it". She is allowed to play with well behaved dogs I know well and walked onlead the rest of the time but she still gets rushed alot by offlead dogs. If I was going to take her on an outing where I knew there would likely be alot of idiots with offlead poorly behaved dogs then I would deffinatly muzzle her. Not because she is "out of control", simple because its in her nature not to back down if another dog starts something. Could be that those dogs are the same, they are not actually DA but they wont back down if threatend, with their size/stregth safer to have them muzzled just in case. Just a thought, dont flame me .

[mokhahouse]

You have no idea why any dog is muzzled unless you are told- the dog may be on a strict diet, it may be a serial ball theif (I had a friend who muzzle their Lab in the park for this reason), it may be a stick chewer, or yes it nay be aggressive.

What I'm more concerned about is whether or not a dog is under effective control, muzzle or no.

Totally agree with your post.

There is a lab I see at a beach dog park that wears a muzzle because he had obstruction surgery once before from eating seaweed. I dont automatically see a muzzle and think aggressive dog.

[GoldenGirl85]

I dont take my dogs to off leash dog parks

Thankfully my agility oval is just a short drive away and members are allowed to let their dogs run there at any time, but otherwise I just socialise my dogs in controlled environments, too many idiots at off leash parks

[Guest belgian.blue]

That is why I don't do dog parks, only the dog beach.

I've seen a muzzled cattle dog mix at the beach, he/she went about his own thing and didn't bother my two, I did get my two dogs attention to make sure they didn't try and play with him/her. Due to the fact Badger is still a puppy and I don't want him scared by other dogs.

[Erny]

I don't care if the dogs are dressed to look like Ronald McDonald - the owner should have and should exhibit effective control of their dogs. It's got nothing to do with whether they are muzzled or not. ETA: Or even if their dogs are muzzled or not. lol

Edited December 2, 2010 by Erny

[Staranais]

Surely a dog that needs to be muzzled is not suitable to be walked off the lead in an off leash area, especially by a dog walker and not their owner, who presumably knows the dog better and has more control.

I was not able to identify what company the dog walker was from unfortunately otherwise i would be contacting the company about my concerns.

Depends why they're muzzled, I'd say. Perhaps they're dangerous to cats or birds but fine with dogs. Or perhaps the walker has muzzled all her dogs "just in case", even if she's never seen them being aggressive? I've started to muzzle my dog out walking if there's any chance of poison bait in the area.

But I don't really like dog parks anyway, and would never let my dog be walked by a random person, especially off-leash. Too much to go wrong. If she's off-leash and sees something else she'd rather be doing, she's likely to give anyone else the furry finger and head for the hills.

Effective control is another matter, everyone should have it.

[Robbi]

I have just finished reading an article about a young Pit Bull who was savagely attacked and killed in a dog park in the United States, the 10 month old dog was muzzled due to bsl laws and was unable to defend himself when another dog attacked.

Dog parks must be treated with caution regardless of how well our dogs behave, there are some dogs that are just being set up for failure by their owners when they are taken to off leash parks in my opinion.

My Whippet is a social butterfly at dog parks and he loves the interaction with other dogs but my Bull Arab x is another story, I am her protecter and part of my duty of care to her is not to put her in a postion that will set her up to fail, she is not dog friendly with some dogs and I would never put her or another dog in danger by taking her to a dog park. People should accept their dogs individual natures

[aussielover]

You have no idea why any dog is muzzled unless you are told- the dog may be on a strict diet, it may be a serial ball theif (I had a friend who muzzle their Lab in the park for this reason), it may be a stick chewer, or yes it nay be aggressive.

What I'm more concerned about is whether or not a dog is under effective control, muzzle or no.

Totally agree with your post.

There is a lab I see at a beach dog park that wears a muzzle because he had obstruction surgery once before from eating seaweed. I dont automatically see a muzzle and think aggressive dog.

I'm afraid I do....

Better safe than sorry.

If i see a muzzled dog I start heading in the opposite direction, with my dog on lead. I usually walk my dog in off peak times, so we generally have the whole park to ourselves, but the frustrating thing is that dog walkers also tend to go at off peak times as well. There are some that do have ok control over their charges, but a lot that don't. Especially the semi-professional ones that turn up in a car or van and literally have several dogs pile out of the back.

When someone asks you to remove your dog, you should do it, not say everything will be ok because it is muzzled!

[corvus]

I don't know what people expect from dog parks. We went this morning and our dogs had fun. Yesterday morning they got rushed by a dog with issues.... and still had fun.