Hi guys,
Just wanted to get some advice, I have a working line gsd, father is from the West and mother is from the East. He has a lot of prey drive but is always under control with either his prong collar and a leash or e-collar and/or a leash if need be. He has gone through a lot of training for his e-collar and is great off leash with it. We have a dog park and open space near our home and while I would love to be able to take him to the dog park it is just too crazy as far as dog temperaments, owners, and the fact that 90% of the dogs I have seen there have no recall. The open space is great and we run through it and then also take the old lab out for walks.
The reason I am looking at a muzzle for the slower walks is there are a number of other dogs along the trail. Usually when we are walking and another dog is coming up I'll have him in a heel or depending on how the other dog is reacting I my let him have a quick sniff or just keep walking by the other dogs with no interaction. The incident that has me looking at a muzzle is my wife and I sometimes take our neice with us which really slows walking down so there is more time for dogs to interact potentially. A week back we were walking with my niece and my lab and GSD, both were off leash and ahead of us sniffing around and just being typical dogs. Coming down the trail is a man with his lab who is also off leash.
So fast forward our lab, Cody, who is 11 y/o, has cancer all over so is slowing down but is pretty hardy and gets excited when he meets other dogs but is super mellow and friendly so we let him meet most dogs along the trail. Once the man and is dog coming towards us get close enough I put Gunner my GSD in a heel and let Cody say hi. The lab runs up and usually they will do their standoff with tails wagging and ears perked up sniff butts and then go on. But this man's lab runs up his hackles raise and he starts growling at Cody who does his does his playful stance but then just moves on and ignores the other lab that's growling at him. When the lab started growling at cody I feel Gunner tense and lock on to him while heeling at my side so i put him in a down right next to me. The owner calls his lab after he starts growling and the dog leaves Cody and walks past us with the owner. Then unknown to us the lab flips back around and comes toward me and Gunner who is in a down next to me. I don't realize the dog came back until too late and we are still in a down because our niece is playing with her stroller trying to push it. The man is still walking forward and once he realizes his dog isn't with him starts yelling for his lab to come, the lab ignores him and slows once he is near us. Mind you at this point I am facing the opposite way as the man who walked past me, Gunner is in a down on my left looking forward and this man's dog comes from behind and to my right at which point the man yells that his dog is friendly while also still trying to get him to recall...On approach his hackles raise and he reaches to sniff Gunner, I tell him to be easy which is our command to relax when on and off leash and stay to enforce his down, I don't really have a choice cause the dog kinda snuck up on us and I didn't want to make a big scene that would potentially escalate a situation.... Then the lab starts growling and in an instant Gunner lunges for the other the dog, he grabs his cheek at which point they are about 5' away, I tell him no and leave it and he complies by releasing the dog and moving away then I tell him to come and heel so he comes back to my side while the other owner still can't get his dog to listen so he runs up and grabs his lab before he comes back.
The man looks over his dog and says he has a small puncture on his cheek to which i say something along the line that if your dog won't listen to you and growls randomly at other dogs along the trail he probably shouldn't be off leash. My wife ask him if he's ok and and if his dogs ok and we offer to give him our number but he refuses and we both go off on our separate ways.
So after that i am thinking about getting a muzzle for these slow walks or walks in areas with lots of other off leash dogs. Seeing as I can't really control other people's dogs I'd rather have a safe guard so if it were to happen again there wouldn't be any damage.
I don't think having him on leash would have changed anything because the puncture was from the initial lunge, so what could I have done differently? Was I in the wrong and Gunners training lacking because he broke his down/stay when the dog started growling?
I also don't know if this is dumb or naive of me so please tell me if it is but I don't expect him to stay there and do nothing in that situation because that dog could have easily been growling at my niece or wife.
So after that long winded explanation of what led me to looking at muzzles do people have a recommendation for a comfortable muzzle that won't hurt Gunner or impede his breathing? I have mainly been looking at leather muzzles, specifically at:
- Leerburg police style leather basket weave
- Ray Allen agitation muzzle or leather basket muzzle
- Hortons sport/police agitation muzzle
Any advice or 2¢ will be appreciated!
Just wanted to get some advice, I have a working line gsd, father is from the West and mother is from the East. He has a lot of prey drive but is always under control with either his prong collar and a leash or e-collar and/or a leash if need be. He has gone through a lot of training for his e-collar and is great off leash with it. We have a dog park and open space near our home and while I would love to be able to take him to the dog park it is just too crazy as far as dog temperaments, owners, and the fact that 90% of the dogs I have seen there have no recall. The open space is great and we run through it and then also take the old lab out for walks.
The reason I am looking at a muzzle for the slower walks is there are a number of other dogs along the trail. Usually when we are walking and another dog is coming up I'll have him in a heel or depending on how the other dog is reacting I my let him have a quick sniff or just keep walking by the other dogs with no interaction. The incident that has me looking at a muzzle is my wife and I sometimes take our neice with us which really slows walking down so there is more time for dogs to interact potentially. A week back we were walking with my niece and my lab and GSD, both were off leash and ahead of us sniffing around and just being typical dogs. Coming down the trail is a man with his lab who is also off leash.
So fast forward our lab, Cody, who is 11 y/o, has cancer all over so is slowing down but is pretty hardy and gets excited when he meets other dogs but is super mellow and friendly so we let him meet most dogs along the trail. Once the man and is dog coming towards us get close enough I put Gunner my GSD in a heel and let Cody say hi. The lab runs up and usually they will do their standoff with tails wagging and ears perked up sniff butts and then go on. But this man's lab runs up his hackles raise and he starts growling at Cody who does his does his playful stance but then just moves on and ignores the other lab that's growling at him. When the lab started growling at cody I feel Gunner tense and lock on to him while heeling at my side so i put him in a down right next to me. The owner calls his lab after he starts growling and the dog leaves Cody and walks past us with the owner. Then unknown to us the lab flips back around and comes toward me and Gunner who is in a down next to me. I don't realize the dog came back until too late and we are still in a down because our niece is playing with her stroller trying to push it. The man is still walking forward and once he realizes his dog isn't with him starts yelling for his lab to come, the lab ignores him and slows once he is near us. Mind you at this point I am facing the opposite way as the man who walked past me, Gunner is in a down on my left looking forward and this man's dog comes from behind and to my right at which point the man yells that his dog is friendly while also still trying to get him to recall...On approach his hackles raise and he reaches to sniff Gunner, I tell him to be easy which is our command to relax when on and off leash and stay to enforce his down, I don't really have a choice cause the dog kinda snuck up on us and I didn't want to make a big scene that would potentially escalate a situation.... Then the lab starts growling and in an instant Gunner lunges for the other the dog, he grabs his cheek at which point they are about 5' away, I tell him no and leave it and he complies by releasing the dog and moving away then I tell him to come and heel so he comes back to my side while the other owner still can't get his dog to listen so he runs up and grabs his lab before he comes back.
The man looks over his dog and says he has a small puncture on his cheek to which i say something along the line that if your dog won't listen to you and growls randomly at other dogs along the trail he probably shouldn't be off leash. My wife ask him if he's ok and and if his dogs ok and we offer to give him our number but he refuses and we both go off on our separate ways.
So after that i am thinking about getting a muzzle for these slow walks or walks in areas with lots of other off leash dogs. Seeing as I can't really control other people's dogs I'd rather have a safe guard so if it were to happen again there wouldn't be any damage.
I don't think having him on leash would have changed anything because the puncture was from the initial lunge, so what could I have done differently? Was I in the wrong and Gunners training lacking because he broke his down/stay when the dog started growling?
I also don't know if this is dumb or naive of me so please tell me if it is but I don't expect him to stay there and do nothing in that situation because that dog could have easily been growling at my niece or wife.
So after that long winded explanation of what led me to looking at muzzles do people have a recommendation for a comfortable muzzle that won't hurt Gunner or impede his breathing? I have mainly been looking at leather muzzles, specifically at:
- Leerburg police style leather basket weave
- Ray Allen agitation muzzle or leather basket muzzle
- Hortons sport/police agitation muzzle
Any advice or 2¢ will be appreciated!
