From: ce293@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Gail E. Brookhart)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Re: muzzles
Date: 7 Jan 1993 12:41:35 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: ce293@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Gail E. Brookhart)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, szeff@informix.com (Sharon Zeff) says:

>
>I was wondering what the general concensus was on the use of muzzles to
>help curb aggression.  
>
>I have a greyhound who, unlike any other greyhound I have met, has a problem
>with aggression and dominance.  She is not in the least aggressive toward
>people, just some dogs, cats and the like.
>
This may not be aggression displayed because she is an aggressive dog but
could instead be her "prey drive" manifesting itself.  She is, after all,
carrying thousands of generations of hunting dogs in her genes and
chasing/hunting is a greyhound's reason for being developed.


>Cats are the worst, but I am not particularly concerned with that since cats
>know enough to stay away and she is always on a leash when she is outside,
>accept for when I bring her to the off leash area.  This is where the 
>problem exists.
>
>She got bitten a few months ago when she tried to dominate a boxer pup (11 mo)
>and she has been even more aggressive ever since.  She will occassionally 
>lunge at dogs that bark at her when we are walking, but since she is on
>a leash she does not get too far.  I want to be able to take her to the
>off leash area on a regular basis so she can play with the other dogs and
>get a chance to go full speed in some place besides my condo.  The problem
>is that some dogs set her off.  The dogs she goes after are the more
>submissive type, but for some reason even submissive dogs do not like to be
>dominated by her, even when they take it from other dogs.  She has never
>bitten a dog (drawn blood) that I know about.
>
>I read somewhere that a muzzle would make the dog more docile and stop the
>aggression and then, when the dog realized how much fun it was to play with
>other dogs, would not be aggressive any longer, does this actually work ?
>It seems like wishful.  I have brought her to the off leash area with
>a training leash on, 30 foot, which is fine, accept that she gets tangled
>around everything and she is on her leash behavior, which is healing with
>me when I move and stopping when I stop, which kind of defeats the purpose
>of bringing her to the off leash area.  She does not know the command heal,
>it is something she learned at the track and she always heals and always
>stops when I stop, kind of nice, huh.  She is somewhat trained to sit,
>stay, come, etc. but we are still working on her being able to apply the
>commands outside, she is great in the condo.
>
IN MY OPINION, I would NEVER turn my dogs loose with other dogs if my dog
was wearing a muzzle.  Your dog may be an aggressive/dominant bitch but she
is going to show that to other dogs if she is wearing the muzzle or not. 
She will attempt to dominate the other dogs with more than her teeth --
posture, vocalization, mounting other dogs, etc. -- and if another dog
takes it unkindly she will still get bitten by them.  With the muzzle on,
she has no means of protecting herself.  I am not promoting the ability of
a dog to fight here, just that I don't agree with this kind of setup when
it involves so much risk to your dog.

I would keep working on training her with a leash and correction and
motivation to modify the behavior.  If you want to post to me, we can
discuss more ideas on this at length.


>So, this has gotten long, but let me know about the muzzle and if there
>are any other suggestions that might work I would be willing to try it
>out.  I do have a friend with a backyard and two dogs so try this stuff
>out on.  One dog my dog is alright with, the other one my dog has a 
>small problem with, it takes a while before she tries to dominate him.
>
>Oh, just to let you know I am trying to correct the lunging problem when
>on a leash, and she has made considerable progress, she has even gotten
>better about her reaction with cats, so I know she can learn to be good
>with all dogs.
>

Since a greyhound is a sprinting dog with great cornering ability, in order
to exercise her and distract her from other dogs, you might see if she is
interested in frisbees.  Another thing that you might try is letting her
chase a lure.  Could be as simple as a trash bag on a fishing line attached
to a cane fishing pole or a bamboo rod.

>Thanks,
>
>Sharon
>szeff@informix.com
>

Just another opinion from Ohio...

Gail Brookhart
ce293@cleveland.freenet.edu

Xref: sparky rec.pets.dogs:15746 news.answers:4975