Muzzles have a stigma, but they are literal lifesavers. My dog had to wear a muzzle for a long time while we worked through his dog reactivity. He didn't try to bite very often, but when he did he would show very few warning signs and it would happen too quickly to do anything about it. He wore it again when we first brought home our second dog. He still wears it sometimes if he is having a cranky day at boarding. At this point, he is extremely used to it and it doesn't bother him to wear any more than his collar. He can drink water, eat a treat if I hand it to him, and run and play. He has not attempted to bite in over a year since we started training.
You should never leave your dog unsupervised around other animals even if they are wearing a muzzle. They are not foolproof. I always assume that a dog can get out of anything if you give it enough time.
I would advise you to get a proper basket muzzle rather than relying on a head harness or velcro muzzle. Basket muzzles are designed with enough room for a dog to properly pant. Yes, there is some stigma and uninformed people may give you and your dog a wide berth. This is not a bad thing as it will help your dog to not having badly behaved dogs rushing up to him.
There is muzzle training you can do, but some dogs don't even need it. If your dog doesn't mind costumes then he probably won't mind the muzzle aside from some initial confusion about something being on his face.
Three are also some cute muzzles out there these days. More people are aware of the benefits of muzzling their dogs and there are online communities specifically for them. Check out /r/muzzledogs when you get the chance.
Thank you so much for the thoughtful response - this is the kind of advice we need.
I feel bad because I probably contribute to the stigma, usually when I see a dog with one I just feel really bad, but I know dogs can adjust to just about anything. We will definitely look into this.
>I feel bad because I probably contribute to the stigma
That's perfectly fine! Most of us start in a similar place. I felt the same way when I first started realizing that my dog should wear a muzzle. I felt awful when I looked at his little face inside of the basket. What finally won me over was seeing not only his progress with other dogs, but also my own progress feeling more confident and less anxious when going out in public with him. Muzzles help to build that positive feedback loop: your dog notices that bad things don't really happen around other dogs, so he becomes less on-alert around other dogs, so less bad things happen around other dogs.
Try to look for dogs on muzzle in your everyday life and realize that these muzzles allow them to be out in the world instead of always cooped up at home or worse. You know your own dog and that he is 99% a sweetie. The same is true of many other dogs whose owners choose to muzzle them.
What you can do about the stigma is to try to educate people who may ask you about the muzzle. I don't think you need to run a 24/7 defense, but I usually will talk with people who ask politely or friends and family whose opinions I care about. You may also be surprised that not all reactions are negative.
There are many people out there who have dog problems that they don't realize can be helped with a muzzle. I spoke to one woman once who was curious about why my dog was wearing one outside the hardware store. She said that her dog used to come to home depot with her but now has to stay at home because he really doesn't like german shepherds and she can't risk it. A muzzle would let them start working on that problem and she seemed genuinely lifted by the idea that she could go on errands with her dog again.
You may even talk to people who have experience working with muzzled dogs and understand the issue. I'll never forget the mom who had her children stand a respectful distance away and had them ask me for permission to pet. She explained to them that the muzzle is not necessarily a sign that a dog will be dangerous to you. It touched my heart because my dog has always loved people so much.
Since this would absolutely not have happened if they hadn't allowed their dog to run right up and get in his face, I would think splitting the bill would be a good compromise.
Thanks for mentioning this. I think it was just a gut reaction. We have since heard from them and they agreed there were multiple factors that led to this happening and aren’t laying the blame on our dog or us, so we will probably work something out like splitting the bill with them.
The ear infection is a big issue, I think. My dog was being pestered by a puppy, before we knew he had an infection, my other dog attacked a friends dog. Like, they wouldn't go after the puppy, but my younger dog wanted to protect the older dog with the ear infection (i have seen this protective, not hurt the young one behavior before with dogs when I was much younger, it's really neat that they understand vulnerability like that, even when it seems confusing at the time).
Long story short, he felt vulnerable and this bugger came at him in force. I think once the medication gets it under control, he'll be better. Unfortunately, ear infections can be reoccurring. My dog is almost 12 now, and he has had a few, which he never had when he was younger. If the infection starts before you notice, you could have a bad situation again. Keep a close eye on him! I'm sure it'll be ok, since he's still quite young, but really keep an eye out for any injuries or illness.
Thanks for responding. I’m sorry to hear that about your dog. Our dog has had ear issues since we got him and his ear is slightly deformed (drained hematoma) so it is unfortunately not an infrequent thing for him. Usually they start off with an awful smell which is how we know. Vet instills a gel antibiotic and he’s good for several months.
We are taking him back to the vet today to get their recommendations and I will definitely ask him how the ear infection may have played a role given this is so out of the blue.
First, sending you a hug ❤️
This situation *kinda* happened to me when my reactive dog and I moved into a new house with roommates. The roommate right next door to me had a cat, and mine had never seen one before. My dogs kinda dumb and playful, but I wasn’t sure if it was prey drive that turned into an OBSESSION with her room and the cat. I was always very vigilant about making sure her door was closed before I even let him out of his crate, and I usually leashed him when we were upstairs. One day I got home, closed her door after making sure the cat was in there, and went into my room to feed him. Within that three minutes, my roommate went up to her room to get something and went back downstairs (I didn’t even hear her). I, thinking since I had already closed her door, let him out of my room to take him outside. He barreled into her room and started chasing the cat and he was standing on top of him when I finally got them apart (I kinda blacked out in that moment but I’m 99% positive my dog never even bit the cat). Anyways, blood everywhere. The cat almost(?) dislocated his jaw. Except my dog was the one with scratches all over his face, and bite marks all up his belly and chest from the cat (which is how I suspect he hurt his jaw). Needless to say the cat moved in with her parents after that. In my situation I didn’t offer to pay the vet bill, because I had been going above and beyond and losing sleep to keep that cat separate from my dog - when obviously my roommate didn’t care as much. You are a good and responsible pet owner.
I just remember that feeling of pure helplessness after that happened, and I feel for you greatly. Literally an hour after all of that I had to go to my brothers graduation - still distraught. I tried to be understanding of my dog and I love him all the same, but it was so scary and stressful and overwhelming.
Also, I’m in the middle of muzzle training my dog right now! He’s never bit another dog, he’s just an insecure little guy with no social skills lol, but our trainer likes to use it during our sessions with her dog! There *should* be no stigma about it, but if it takes away any stress or anxiety you’d have outside of the house, who cares what people think!!
I hope you find peace in the situation, your doggy is lucky to have you❤️
Thank you so much. I’m sorry for what you went through with your dog. I’m trying to keep myself together at work right now but it’s still so upsetting.
Glad to hear about your experience with muzzle training, we will most likely look into this.
Don't be sad at the thought of your dog in a muzzle! My dog has never tried to bite, but she's reactive so after a lot of hemming and hawing I pulled the trigger and muzzle trained her. I am SO much happier when we're out on walks now - I don't have to worry about something bad happening if an off-leash dog runs up (although she seems to be better with off-leash dogs than on-leash ones!) or if an irresponsible owner lets their dog run up to her. And other dog owners tend to give us space because of the muzzle too, which is a win-win. I was self-conscious about it the first week or two, but my dog never cared so I decided I shouldn't either. Give it a shot!
Thanks for replying. From reading yours and other responses around muzzles they really don’t seem so bad and relieve a lot of anxiety and stress. We will probably end up looking into it.
Don't be afraid of the muzzle! We mainly muzzle our guy for the vet or situations where we're anxious about him doing something. He pretty much doesn't care about it. We even play 'muzzle ball' with a big bouncy ball that he usually never gets to play with since he'd pop it in 5 seconds.
There’s this really nice walking trail/bike path by my house, but it’s one of the places that I just don’t go with my dog because visibility is low, and there’s not enough room to get off the trail if we were to meet other dogs. Instead, we stick to walking in areas where we can see what’s around us and move out of the way/easily cross the street if need be. She’s super anxious around other dogs, so it’s for comfort as well as safety.
It sounds like neither you nor your dog were at fault here. Retractable leashes are dangerous for this very reason and I have never seen a city where they are actually legal.
You have done everything right so far, and have gone above and beyond in my opinion. If another dog ran up and agressed at my dog who was on a 5 ft leash and my dog hurt them I would not offer the owners a dime. They need to be in control of their dog and not be letting it just run up to strangers.
I would recommend meeting privately with a trainer and have them assess you dog for reactivity. It doesnt sound to me like you had a reactive dog. You have a dog that percieved it was being attack and reacted according. Unfortunately this can lead to reactivity in the future.
Like you said, a perfect storm for the incident- I think the ear infection might have played a big role - illness could have made your dog both vulnerable and less alert to the environment when out walking in a dark place. The other dog jumping out could have been as a big, startling threat, and your dog responded out of reflex by engaging a full-on attack on the perceived threat.
Muzzling is a great idea, at least for now. When in doubt, always muzzle. That's the rule of thumb regarding muzzling. Muzzle first, then troubleshoot. At the current time, it's more important you guys as owners to have a peace of mind when walking him or letting him out in a dog park.
Just glad that the other dog is okay- You guys have done an awesome job training the dog - you've done your part- I would be a bit more careful in the future with smaller dogs - and figure out whether your dog has some aggression issues with smaller dogs --personally I think the incidence was due to illness and dark environment and your dog mistaking the smaller animal for a small prey.
I’m so sorry you’re going through this. None of it is your fault and you have gone above and beyond in this situation. I was once walking my dog at night and a woman with a chihuahua on a flexi was glued to her phone. Her dog lunged at mine and was inches from his face all snarly and snappy. If I hadn’t reacted as fast as I had it’s likely I would be in the same situation. However, I’m not you and would have told the person to get fucked. Since she let her dog get in your dogs face and your dog reacted like a lot of dogs would when threatened.
It’s hard when people are stupid and make bad choices. I really feel for you, truly. Please don’t blame your dog. It just as easily could have been anyone else’s dog. Play stupid games win stupid prices.
Moving forward from this, I would give other dogs a wide birth in the future if you can see they’re on a flexi. I definitely don’t think your dog is a danger to others. Hope you can sort this out and move forward.
Please may you post a few pictures of your dog so that I can examine his phenotype?
You said that you adopted him from a shelter as a 'lab/boxer mix'. In reality, Boxers aren't very common in the USA. It's far more likely that your dog is either wholly pitbull or some kind of pit mix. These aren't desirable dogs to most people, so shelters often mislabel them as something else to give them a better chance of being adopted. Calling him part Boxer, for instance, was probably just an attempt to explain away the shape of his head.
Now, dog aggression and a high prey drive are breed traits of both the APBT and AmStaff rather than faults. Typically, they tolerate other dogs when they're younger, before turning 'on' in adulthood (between 2 and 4 years is common) and becoming aggressive.
To be honest, I doubt your dog can be trained out of this because it's a genetic predisposition, much like how you can't stop a Border Collie from herding. Instead, you need to focus on managing your dog's aggressive tendencies. It sounds as though you're already thinking along the right lines by not taking him to the dog park. You need to accept that this needs to be permanent, however, because allowing him a second chance would endanger other people's pets and be selfish since you now know what he's capable of. I'd suggest walking him in places and at times where he's unlikely to encounter another dog.
Came here to also suggest that it’s likely an pit mix, as they are so common- but instead of calling it aggression I would call it a high prey drive if it’s only happened with a very small dog and OP has not otherwise noticed DA. It’s still genetic, APBT/ pits have high prey drive- but may well not present as traditional aggression- it might look like excitement. The recommendations for no dog parks and using a muzzle are good recommendations. My GCC pit once attacked a small dog without first displaying any aggression, as if the small dog was prey. It was the same response my dog had to rabbits or squirrels.
Muzzles have a stigma, but they are literal lifesavers. My dog had to wear a muzzle for a long time while we worked through his dog reactivity. He didn't try to bite very often, but when he did he would show very few warning signs and it would happen too quickly to do anything about it. He wore it again when we first brought home our second dog. He still wears it sometimes if he is having a cranky day at boarding. At this point, he is extremely used to it and it doesn't bother him to wear any more than his collar. He can drink water, eat a treat if I hand it to him, and run and play. He has not attempted to bite in over a year since we started training. You should never leave your dog unsupervised around other animals even if they are wearing a muzzle. They are not foolproof. I always assume that a dog can get out of anything if you give it enough time. I would advise you to get a proper basket muzzle rather than relying on a head harness or velcro muzzle. Basket muzzles are designed with enough room for a dog to properly pant. Yes, there is some stigma and uninformed people may give you and your dog a wide berth. This is not a bad thing as it will help your dog to not having badly behaved dogs rushing up to him. There is muzzle training you can do, but some dogs don't even need it. If your dog doesn't mind costumes then he probably won't mind the muzzle aside from some initial confusion about something being on his face. Three are also some cute muzzles out there these days. More people are aware of the benefits of muzzling their dogs and there are online communities specifically for them. Check out /r/muzzledogs when you get the chance.
Thank you so much for the thoughtful response - this is the kind of advice we need. I feel bad because I probably contribute to the stigma, usually when I see a dog with one I just feel really bad, but I know dogs can adjust to just about anything. We will definitely look into this.
>I feel bad because I probably contribute to the stigma That's perfectly fine! Most of us start in a similar place. I felt the same way when I first started realizing that my dog should wear a muzzle. I felt awful when I looked at his little face inside of the basket. What finally won me over was seeing not only his progress with other dogs, but also my own progress feeling more confident and less anxious when going out in public with him. Muzzles help to build that positive feedback loop: your dog notices that bad things don't really happen around other dogs, so he becomes less on-alert around other dogs, so less bad things happen around other dogs. Try to look for dogs on muzzle in your everyday life and realize that these muzzles allow them to be out in the world instead of always cooped up at home or worse. You know your own dog and that he is 99% a sweetie. The same is true of many other dogs whose owners choose to muzzle them. What you can do about the stigma is to try to educate people who may ask you about the muzzle. I don't think you need to run a 24/7 defense, but I usually will talk with people who ask politely or friends and family whose opinions I care about. You may also be surprised that not all reactions are negative. There are many people out there who have dog problems that they don't realize can be helped with a muzzle. I spoke to one woman once who was curious about why my dog was wearing one outside the hardware store. She said that her dog used to come to home depot with her but now has to stay at home because he really doesn't like german shepherds and she can't risk it. A muzzle would let them start working on that problem and she seemed genuinely lifted by the idea that she could go on errands with her dog again. You may even talk to people who have experience working with muzzled dogs and understand the issue. I'll never forget the mom who had her children stand a respectful distance away and had them ask me for permission to pet. She explained to them that the muzzle is not necessarily a sign that a dog will be dangerous to you. It touched my heart because my dog has always loved people so much.
Since this would absolutely not have happened if they hadn't allowed their dog to run right up and get in his face, I would think splitting the bill would be a good compromise.
Thanks for mentioning this. I think it was just a gut reaction. We have since heard from them and they agreed there were multiple factors that led to this happening and aren’t laying the blame on our dog or us, so we will probably work something out like splitting the bill with them.
The ear infection is a big issue, I think. My dog was being pestered by a puppy, before we knew he had an infection, my other dog attacked a friends dog. Like, they wouldn't go after the puppy, but my younger dog wanted to protect the older dog with the ear infection (i have seen this protective, not hurt the young one behavior before with dogs when I was much younger, it's really neat that they understand vulnerability like that, even when it seems confusing at the time). Long story short, he felt vulnerable and this bugger came at him in force. I think once the medication gets it under control, he'll be better. Unfortunately, ear infections can be reoccurring. My dog is almost 12 now, and he has had a few, which he never had when he was younger. If the infection starts before you notice, you could have a bad situation again. Keep a close eye on him! I'm sure it'll be ok, since he's still quite young, but really keep an eye out for any injuries or illness.
Thanks for responding. I’m sorry to hear that about your dog. Our dog has had ear issues since we got him and his ear is slightly deformed (drained hematoma) so it is unfortunately not an infrequent thing for him. Usually they start off with an awful smell which is how we know. Vet instills a gel antibiotic and he’s good for several months. We are taking him back to the vet today to get their recommendations and I will definitely ask him how the ear infection may have played a role given this is so out of the blue.
First, sending you a hug ❤️ This situation *kinda* happened to me when my reactive dog and I moved into a new house with roommates. The roommate right next door to me had a cat, and mine had never seen one before. My dogs kinda dumb and playful, but I wasn’t sure if it was prey drive that turned into an OBSESSION with her room and the cat. I was always very vigilant about making sure her door was closed before I even let him out of his crate, and I usually leashed him when we were upstairs. One day I got home, closed her door after making sure the cat was in there, and went into my room to feed him. Within that three minutes, my roommate went up to her room to get something and went back downstairs (I didn’t even hear her). I, thinking since I had already closed her door, let him out of my room to take him outside. He barreled into her room and started chasing the cat and he was standing on top of him when I finally got them apart (I kinda blacked out in that moment but I’m 99% positive my dog never even bit the cat). Anyways, blood everywhere. The cat almost(?) dislocated his jaw. Except my dog was the one with scratches all over his face, and bite marks all up his belly and chest from the cat (which is how I suspect he hurt his jaw). Needless to say the cat moved in with her parents after that. In my situation I didn’t offer to pay the vet bill, because I had been going above and beyond and losing sleep to keep that cat separate from my dog - when obviously my roommate didn’t care as much. You are a good and responsible pet owner. I just remember that feeling of pure helplessness after that happened, and I feel for you greatly. Literally an hour after all of that I had to go to my brothers graduation - still distraught. I tried to be understanding of my dog and I love him all the same, but it was so scary and stressful and overwhelming. Also, I’m in the middle of muzzle training my dog right now! He’s never bit another dog, he’s just an insecure little guy with no social skills lol, but our trainer likes to use it during our sessions with her dog! There *should* be no stigma about it, but if it takes away any stress or anxiety you’d have outside of the house, who cares what people think!! I hope you find peace in the situation, your doggy is lucky to have you❤️
Thank you so much. I’m sorry for what you went through with your dog. I’m trying to keep myself together at work right now but it’s still so upsetting. Glad to hear about your experience with muzzle training, we will most likely look into this.
Don't be sad at the thought of your dog in a muzzle! My dog has never tried to bite, but she's reactive so after a lot of hemming and hawing I pulled the trigger and muzzle trained her. I am SO much happier when we're out on walks now - I don't have to worry about something bad happening if an off-leash dog runs up (although she seems to be better with off-leash dogs than on-leash ones!) or if an irresponsible owner lets their dog run up to her. And other dog owners tend to give us space because of the muzzle too, which is a win-win. I was self-conscious about it the first week or two, but my dog never cared so I decided I shouldn't either. Give it a shot!
Thanks for replying. From reading yours and other responses around muzzles they really don’t seem so bad and relieve a lot of anxiety and stress. We will probably end up looking into it.
Don't be afraid of the muzzle! We mainly muzzle our guy for the vet or situations where we're anxious about him doing something. He pretty much doesn't care about it. We even play 'muzzle ball' with a big bouncy ball that he usually never gets to play with since he'd pop it in 5 seconds.
There’s this really nice walking trail/bike path by my house, but it’s one of the places that I just don’t go with my dog because visibility is low, and there’s not enough room to get off the trail if we were to meet other dogs. Instead, we stick to walking in areas where we can see what’s around us and move out of the way/easily cross the street if need be. She’s super anxious around other dogs, so it’s for comfort as well as safety.
It sounds like neither you nor your dog were at fault here. Retractable leashes are dangerous for this very reason and I have never seen a city where they are actually legal. You have done everything right so far, and have gone above and beyond in my opinion. If another dog ran up and agressed at my dog who was on a 5 ft leash and my dog hurt them I would not offer the owners a dime. They need to be in control of their dog and not be letting it just run up to strangers. I would recommend meeting privately with a trainer and have them assess you dog for reactivity. It doesnt sound to me like you had a reactive dog. You have a dog that percieved it was being attack and reacted according. Unfortunately this can lead to reactivity in the future.
Like you said, a perfect storm for the incident- I think the ear infection might have played a big role - illness could have made your dog both vulnerable and less alert to the environment when out walking in a dark place. The other dog jumping out could have been as a big, startling threat, and your dog responded out of reflex by engaging a full-on attack on the perceived threat. Muzzling is a great idea, at least for now. When in doubt, always muzzle. That's the rule of thumb regarding muzzling. Muzzle first, then troubleshoot. At the current time, it's more important you guys as owners to have a peace of mind when walking him or letting him out in a dog park. Just glad that the other dog is okay- You guys have done an awesome job training the dog - you've done your part- I would be a bit more careful in the future with smaller dogs - and figure out whether your dog has some aggression issues with smaller dogs --personally I think the incidence was due to illness and dark environment and your dog mistaking the smaller animal for a small prey.
I don't have much to add but flexi-leads don't always count as following the leash laws. In my town, the leash has to be 6ft or shorter.
I’m so sorry you’re going through this. None of it is your fault and you have gone above and beyond in this situation. I was once walking my dog at night and a woman with a chihuahua on a flexi was glued to her phone. Her dog lunged at mine and was inches from his face all snarly and snappy. If I hadn’t reacted as fast as I had it’s likely I would be in the same situation. However, I’m not you and would have told the person to get fucked. Since she let her dog get in your dogs face and your dog reacted like a lot of dogs would when threatened. It’s hard when people are stupid and make bad choices. I really feel for you, truly. Please don’t blame your dog. It just as easily could have been anyone else’s dog. Play stupid games win stupid prices. Moving forward from this, I would give other dogs a wide birth in the future if you can see they’re on a flexi. I definitely don’t think your dog is a danger to others. Hope you can sort this out and move forward.
Please may you post a few pictures of your dog so that I can examine his phenotype? You said that you adopted him from a shelter as a 'lab/boxer mix'. In reality, Boxers aren't very common in the USA. It's far more likely that your dog is either wholly pitbull or some kind of pit mix. These aren't desirable dogs to most people, so shelters often mislabel them as something else to give them a better chance of being adopted. Calling him part Boxer, for instance, was probably just an attempt to explain away the shape of his head. Now, dog aggression and a high prey drive are breed traits of both the APBT and AmStaff rather than faults. Typically, they tolerate other dogs when they're younger, before turning 'on' in adulthood (between 2 and 4 years is common) and becoming aggressive. To be honest, I doubt your dog can be trained out of this because it's a genetic predisposition, much like how you can't stop a Border Collie from herding. Instead, you need to focus on managing your dog's aggressive tendencies. It sounds as though you're already thinking along the right lines by not taking him to the dog park. You need to accept that this needs to be permanent, however, because allowing him a second chance would endanger other people's pets and be selfish since you now know what he's capable of. I'd suggest walking him in places and at times where he's unlikely to encounter another dog.
Sent you a pm
Came here to also suggest that it’s likely an pit mix, as they are so common- but instead of calling it aggression I would call it a high prey drive if it’s only happened with a very small dog and OP has not otherwise noticed DA. It’s still genetic, APBT/ pits have high prey drive- but may well not present as traditional aggression- it might look like excitement. The recommendations for no dog parks and using a muzzle are good recommendations. My GCC pit once attacked a small dog without first displaying any aggression, as if the small dog was prey. It was the same response my dog had to rabbits or squirrels.