Whippys With Muzzle's On In Dog Park

[juice]

I have been going to the skate park with my son alot over the hols, and there is a big fenced dog park opposite, so i have been taking my dogs early to avoid the rush time, and leaving and sitting outside when it gets busy.

So today i am just about to leave, a young girl came especially to pat my dally, so waited to let her say hello, when i see a lady with 2 whippys comming in ,both had muzzle's on.

As i was by the entrance, i asked her why they were muzzled.

She said a dog like "that thing" pointing at my BT had injured one of her whippys and the bull breed owner had accused her dog of starting it, so now she puts muzzle's on them so no one could accuse her dogs of starting anything.

I then watched her female whippy continually go for other dogs, most who were trying to avoid her.

A couple arrived with an elderly dobe, very docile and sweet, she had literally just walked in when the female whippy went straight for her, the dobe tried avoidance, moved her body and head out of fire, but got pinned against the fence, the dobe owner went towards her dog to help, the whippy owner started to yell " don't you touch my dog it has a muzzle on it can't hurt it, don't you dare hit her or i will hit you!". The dobe owner had no intention of hitting the whippy!

I just can't believe the stupidy of this owner, she is putting her dogs at risk, it clearly starts the problems, and it now cannot defend itself.

The woman clearly doesn't get that her dogs can still cause trouble with a muzzle on!

It will end badly and another dog will get blamed for her dogs bad behavoir

The one good thing was i got to meet my first Cane Corso there, stunning big black boy who was very friendly.

Edited April 24, 2013 by juice

[mixeduppup]

Dog parks are more trouble than they're worth. I stay well away from them because of stupid owners or people that have out of control reactive dogs. I hope this woman's whippet doesn't get injured or killed. Not all dogs are dog park suitable and people need to accept that.

Edited April 24, 2013 by mixeduppup

[juice]

I have only been going in when no one is in there, its huge and has 4 exits points, so i can see who is comming in, then i leave and sit at the skate park opposite and watch the chaos

I just can't beleive she thought muzzling them would stop them starting anything, which clearly reactive dogs will finish.

Edited April 24, 2013 by juice

[Simply Grand]

Why on earth would she continue to take her dogs to a dog park when others are there when they have had serious enough issues that she now feels the need to muzzle her dogs and yell at people? Doesn't seem like an enjoyable experience for anyone involved, dog or human

Yes, I know, this is why many people don't like dog parks.

[gsdog2]

Dog parks are more trouble than they're worth. I stay well away from them because of stupid owners or people that have out of control reactive dogs. I hope this woman's whippet doesn't get injured or killed. Not all dogs are dog park suitable and people need to accept that.

This ^^^

Edited April 24, 2013 by gsdog2

[Alyosha]

Sounds like she is pretty convinced her dog/s don't cause any problems. It can be hard for people to accept - like some parents not coming to terms with their kids being obnoxious, and just finding someone else to blame instead. Possibly the same issue at play here.

[Simply Grand]

Many dog parks are more trouble than they are worth for some dogs. Some dog parks can have great benefits for some dogs, as long as visits are carefully managed by the owner, IMO. Just sayin'.

[juice]

Its been a very interesting week, i have been there for hours on end ( no dragging my son away), and in some cases it works well, there was one day where there were at least 8 labs in there playing together, a couple of young boxers playing happily, and another day with lots of oodles .

Its when the mix of dogs is wrong it goes pear shaped.

I noticed there is a lady who goes in everyday i have been there with a BC and ball which its very possesive of, and a young entire BB came charging in ,went near the BC and it snapped at the BB , 3 times it did it, each time the BB turned his rump on it, another dog might not have been so forgiving.

I have enjoyed watching all the different breeds from the safety of outside, the ouside area is massive, so i have plenty of area to walk them outside the offlead bit in peace.

[Meea]

Many dog parks are more trouble than they are worth for some dogs. Some dog parks can have great benefits for some dogs, as long as visits are carefully managed by the owner, IMO. Just sayin'.

This!

[becks]

BB = bulldog?

[Esky the husky]

A little off topic, but when I take Esky down to the inlaws place i muzzle her, in th interests of safety of the idiotic free ranging chickens. I normally have her leashed or.crated unless I can watch her. My father in law decided to let her out into the yard while I was in the loo. No joke within a minute she had managed to chase and catch a chicken. Luckily the strength of the bite was reduced enormously and she only ripped.out feathers. But the.muzzle did nothing.

Moral of the.story, the whippy lady is tripping.

Oh an thankfully the chiclen.from.my story only los some tail feathers, she's still fine

[megan_]

People think muzzle = no fighting. The other dog doesn't know that they can't be bitten and body language heads to fight too. The issue isn't really muzzle vs no muzzle, but that a clearly reactive dog shouldn't be at an off leash park.

PS if I was the dog owner I could very well have hit or kicked the whippet - it is my job to protect my dogs.

[Kirislin]

Sounds like she doesn't really understand what her dogs are doing.

[Staffyluv]

Many dog parks are more trouble than they are worth for some dogs. Some dog parks can have great benefits for some dogs, as long as visits are carefully managed by the owner, IMO. Just sayin'.

This!

I agree with this.

Some dogs can go to a dog park without any issues at all.

Honestly if I turned up to a dog park with a muzzled dog, I would turn around and leave.

The dog can still posture and cause problems but won't be able to defend itself if another dog responds in an unfriendly way.

I think the owner is nuts taking a muzzled dog and letting it off in a leash free park.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Staffyluv

[juice]

BB,yes British Bulldog, very fit and agile young man he was too, leapt up onto the flat table top seats there :laugh:

Its sad for the whippys, she said they came from the RSPCA , she got one 3 months before the other, they are siblings, but one was being rehabilitated first, there dad was there too but was pts she said.

I am sure we will be there again over the hols, i havn't seen here before, but am wondering for their sake if i should just tell her the risk she is putting her dogs at, and that their behavoir is leading to the problems.

I would have kicked it too if it had started on mine.

[Staffyluv]

Maybe you could engage her in a discussion on dog body language and recommend some You Tube videos or books on the subject - use your own dog as an example, say things like 'look how he/she is doing that'..

I am so new to obedience classes with Zig (did basic stuff years ago with Ollie dog but that was 15 years ago or so).. There is a father and son there with two gorgeous stafford pups and I watch them pull the pups back all the time - the kid actually lifted his pup of the ground pulling him back so hard one day.

So I just walked past one day with Zig and when he pulled a bit toward the pups (I knew he would), I gave his lead a quick flick sideways and the said 'back to me' and he turned to me. The guy said I can't wait until my dogs do that and I explained how hard it was with Zig being reactive etc, then showed him what I have been doing every single day a couple of times a day, to get him to the point where he will come back to me when I flick the lead and call him.

The next week they both turned up with martingale collars on the pups and I was watching them give much lighter tugs, sideways (instead of pulling back)..

Just a conversation can change the way people do things.. Some listen to suggestions and others don't - all we can do is offer support and advice.

[juice]

True SL, i have worked out over the years its best to go "softly softly" with people.

I have had lots of people ask me what breed Bonn is, and they have been surprised at how placid and chilled she is, the dobe owner even asked for a pic of her.( although because she is such a slug the first thing everyone asks is "is she really old", she is 5) :laugh:

I would love to see diagrams in dog parks with dogs posture on it, sort of like "if your dog is doing this its scared, uncomfortable etc"

Edited April 24, 2013 by juice

[Staffyluv]

I agree, the softly approach works.

If I was you, I would try to engage her in conversation.

Good luck with it - I still think she is nuts taking a muzzled dog into a leash free park.

My brother had a BT years ago, gorgeous little thing he was but he was totally manic. Poor little mite got parvo and he lost him at just a few months old.

Our family has most experience with Staffords and we have had varied personalities. Mum had an old girl, Ellie, who was a total sloth - all she ever wanted to do was stay with mum. All the others have been relatively normal as far as staffords go.

[corvus]

If she is the one that muzzled her dogs maybe despite what she says she actually knows deep down that they are the ones likely to cause problems. In which case, don't offer her advice! She is probably deep in cognitive dissonance and will be super defensive. Anything you say will probably cause her to dig herself in deeper. I prefer to lead by example. My dogs aren't perfect, and even if they are engaging in some very minor misdemeanour I can say "Hey, boys, she doesn't like that. Leave her alone." and it's a way to open a conversation about it. The owner of the other dog often says something like "Oh, don't worry, she has to learn." and I get to say "I don't want them to frighten her. She'll just learn that some dogs are scary. She's trying to get away from you, Kivi. Just be gentle with her." I'm not framing it as a problem with their dog, but as a problem with mine. They sometimes look at me like I'm nuts and that's fine. Other times they start asking me questions. Praising them for doing something sensible also helps. I saw someone at the dog park once off to the side sitting with their dog and letting her meet one dog at a time in controlled circumstances, lots of support. I just smiled and said "Keep at it!" and they flooded me with questions.

As far as muzzles go, I don't think it's the big deal other people seem to think it is. I have never ever broken up a dog fight and thought "Gee, I'm glad that dog didn't have a muzzle on because he would not have been able to defend himself." One somewhat disabled set of jaws in a confrontation is fine and dandy with me. I think there's every chance altercations escalate with pain. If one dog is not in as much pain, I think that is a safer situation than two dogs raining pain down on each other. Having said that, muzzles and off leash running is not a combination I'm especially comfortable with for the more practical reason that I'd be worried about them getting the muzzle caught on something. I'm sure just being there is the most upsetting thing for the whippets, muzzles or no.

[juice]

I think if it picked a fight with either of the 2 young powerful amstaffs i have seen in there most days , who get very overstimulated the muzzle would be very detrimental.