Do you muzzle your sighthound? Discussions

I dont own one either but have seen both - muzzled and non-muzzled.

I see someone very experienced in racing greys regurarly (have done for about 26 years) and they (even once retired) are muzzled on leash. Its not so much plain out aggression (as you will know) at least I don't think, its the keen drive and a small dog running in the distance, well a fast dog can go....

Iv'e seen him with some dogs not even go into the park if there are small dogs off-lead and thats with a muzzle on though that person has done extremely well in racing so perhaps these were very keen dogs?

but then these are the dogs that someone will have as a pet when retired...

Well Im the one who voted always muzzled - because they are!! Ive seen the damage they can do when on lead and a cat runs right out in front of them - trust me its not a thing I would ever want to go through again!

My old girl (now at the bridge) was an ex racer and extremely well trained and very succesfully raced! If it moved you killed it.

I do make exceptions when walking those I have now but only if I am walking one at a time. The boo I would have no problem with the biggest danger is that he would lick a cat to death (see its not actually about small dogs) hell he went through days of depression when he licked a bumble bee to death

But my lurcher and grey would have no problems with it event though my grey only had one race before being dumped because of a broken toe. Its what they have beedn trained to do.

So yes I do muzzle not just for the safety of other animals but for the safety of my dogs.

Ive seen the damage they can do when on leads and not muzzled trust me you do not want to see it.

Maybe its a case of knowing your own dog and what is the best for them and those around them.

Only for offlead although that's in garden (too many suicidal neighbours cats & neck nipping) or safe areas rather than where we'd meet other dog owners as recall is still selective.

Unsure what i'd do offlead in public area as i don't like the idea of my dog being defenceless in a muzzle, but not sure if i'd trust my dog never to accidently mistake another dog for prey even though he is usually friendly perhaps that comes in time maybe. Unfortunately general public still often judge racing greys as being trained to kill stuff, so although an attack could happen with any dog they'll suggest you should expect it from ex-racer (if anyone remembers the awful article TV vet emma miln i think, wrote about greyhounds ages ago).

I muzzled my 2 greyhounds when i first adopted for walks during the first month or 2 while i worked out their reactions to other dog breeds (untested by rescue), but as they were friendly i've not bothered since. If i had a grey which could pose a risk to other dogs then i'd probably muzzle seeing as most greys accept it so we could relax as its easy to become distracted & people do just let their dogs wander over to an on lead dog and even wind it up but think its your fault if your dog shows any aggression back .

On a US grey forum i go on they are very big on muzzling all greys when left home alone or while offlead in the garden, but not in a dog park or while out walking. However on the walking thing they do seem to have a higher risk of dog attacks & many carry some form of defence.

I muzzle 3 of my sighthounds when out but if I only have Danny and Guinness with me and they're on the lead I sometimes don't.
I do muzzle if I take them out at night because there are loads of cats around and once Danny's collar snapped and he got free so it's to avoid any mishaps really.
I don't muzzle Poppy because she's ok with other dogs all the time and has excellent recall.
Guinness is an ex-racer and Danny is an ex-lamper so when off lead, although rare with Danny, they are always muzzled. Jenny is muzzled too because she play bites quite hard.
Also when they are running free they are in a pack and I'm aware that a dog may suddenly appear and they may go into pack mode. It's safer to muzzle mine.

Sounds like you've got the right idea with Lily...I was also advised to keep Axel muzzled around small children and dogs at first until we knew him. He's now unmuzzled around all little people.
I know lots of people with Greyhound 'packs' who muzzle when off lead playing because of thin skin, sounds sensible in that respect.

What a scary incident to witness! I hope the dog was ok I guess sometimes when you only know placid ones, it's hard to remember what any dogs are capable of. I don't blame you for being cautious after seeing that, how terrible

I know what you mean, sometimes when they're really good racers, it's hard for them to turn off their training and prey drive. When I 'tested' some dogs at the RGT before we met Axel, some of them were highly fixated on a JRT and no matter what you did wouldn't break their gaze - Axel is easily redirected, so perhaps if he wasn't then he would be 100% muzzled all the time. I think if he was like that he certainly wouldn't be off-lead either.

Sorry you've had to see that too I know what you mean about safety of your dogs too. Did he really lick a bumblebee?!

On the highlighted bit - I said the same thing, but someone made the point that it's easier to pull off one dog who's gripped on, but much harder if they're both locked.

Ex-lamper? Like coursing?

I used to muzzle my grey when i first had her but i don't now and i don't muzzle my lurcher either, they are both really good with other dogs BUT i always recall and put them on a lead if i do see really small dogs, i.e. chihuahua or similar, i wouldn't risk it.

Thing that bugs me though, i had it the other week, a woman with 4 mini daxies i saw them approaching and called mine back on put them on lead. I heard her say "makes you wonder why shes put them on lead" so when she got up to me (she didn't attempt to call her dogs or put them on lead) i said because they were very small dogs etc etc - she was clueless !

I realise sighthound owners need to be careful but why do little dog owners think its ok for their dogs to be offlead and coming up to your dogs when your are on lead, they should take some responsibility too

With mine, as most will see they are mostly unmuzzled, but I always make sure that there are muzzles in the house, I can't imagine not doing so tbh, and if the dogs are way too excited they will be muzzled, for one thing I'm fed up with having to put the Honey back together from accidents playing , also it depends where we are, were I use to walk they had muzzles on as per farmers request, and we didn't mind, they would rub their face every now and again, but the muzzles didn't restrict thier exercise or their fun at all.

I would always muzzle a greyhound until I was certain that it did not present a danger to itself or any other animal. I personally think that 20% of greyhounds quickly prove that they are not a problem, 70% require a fair amount of work with them and 10% will always want to chase and kill. At the moment I have 2 greyhounds who are ex-racers and both are placid and gentle with all animals that they meet. They will occasionally chase a squirrel but if they did reach it they would just run alongside as they occasionally do with our 2 cats. These 2 were ready to be unmuzzled after about a week but I do know dogs whose owners always keep them on a lead, a lot depends upon the dog and also the time that you can spend with the animals. At the end of the day these are the most wonderful of dogs.

Thanks guys - I'm surprised to see by far the winner is never muzzling your dog. Been interesting seeing different sides of the discussion and varying experiences. Thanks. Any you're right Trevor - they' are fantastic dogs!

Does anybody muzzle their whippets? Pippy is nearly 8 months old and has recently started chasing other dogs and roughly playing/nipping at them to get them to chase her. It is accompanied by snarling and bared teeth but she has never bitten/attacked another dog. However, I have still become very concerned about this and another dog owner was very unhappy yesterday as she just wouldn't leave his dog alone. She does tend to get very over excited and can occassionally grab our arms (not biting though) when playing and wound up. We are working hard on bite inhibition and sensibly don't ever leave her playing with the kids on their own. She is a very gentle and loving dog 99% of the time and it is just when she gets overexcited that she forgets her manners!

Her recall used to be fantastic (other dog owners would comment on it) but along with the chasing other dogs, it has gone totally downhill in the last few weeks. She is brilliant however with bigger dogs and she is fantastic onlead - she NEVER shows any aggression or snarling or pulling when meeting other dogs onlead or in the park cafe and most other dog owners comment on what a sweet thing she is! She is really well socailised and meets other dogs of all shapes and sizes every day. She was spayed about a month ago and this has only been happening since she then.

At the moment I have decided to keep her onlead until we can put a plan in action to stop this chasing/nipping and recall isses. I have contacted the puppy trainer for advice and am also going to call the breeder, but I wondered what you guys thought? Phew! Any advice would be really appreciated. We love Pips lots and want to get this behaviour nipped in the bud. Thanks

We don't muzzle on-lead or in the garden. Lots of people would, I believe get the wrong idea if I muzzled for a street walk,they look like Hannibal L with the muzzle on. Both came from a general rescue centre and in the time they were there (4 mths vs.8mths)became well socialized with other breeds. All we've had to do is maintain that mixed contact. Good with all sizes and types of dog,but not cats AT ALL. Tasty-looking! Both recognize a dog as such,small and furry is very different. Good control is important though so we dont use a neck collar,we go with harnesses on both dogs

From the point of view of someone who has had an unfortunate encounter with a non muzzled ex-racer I would say if I had a sighthound - unless I knew for certain it could tell the difference between small dogs and small furries then it would be muzzled.

However if I encounter any with my dogs - I'm not so fussed as they are big enough, I am more wary when walking the little dog due to what happened to her.. but as it is there is only 1 grey we see regularly around here so I'm not too worried about it all.

Oh and I'm not fussed about Axel either

She's a sighthound cross so i guess it counts lol.
I only muzzle her when we are going in the countryside where dogs are likely to be off lead (dog aggressive) and when we're around children as she can be unpredictable

I never really muzzle my two. When I walk them on lead I have control over them.
When I let them off lead it is always in a controlled environment without any other dogs and without any chance of escape (Either RGT paddocks or Indoor horse arena) so no need for the muzzle there.
I take the muzzles with me if we are going on a long walk away from the regular walks (I pop them on if I spot smaller dogs off lead). The muzzle also comes with us if we are going somewhere where I know the dogs will be meeting other dogs at close quarters.

I wouldn't let them off lead in a park or public place without muzzle, ever.

Paddy hates JRT's and Pippa finds most small dogs curious.

Oh and Paddy's hate of JRT's came from when we first got him, we were introducing him to other breeds of dog. He was sniffing an off lead JRT and the JRT bit him on the nose.
He now seems to think every JRT will bite him he is fine with other smaller breeds.

I did muzzle my 1st Whippet from 4mths to 18mths, & by then he was well trained with the use of a ball, & if that did not work I always carried a plastic bottel with stones in, but by this time he was well trained all round. before then I did not trust him with anything that run. I think that to muzzle or not depends very much on th individual dog. Good Luck.
Yvonne.

It is very quiet where I live and all the locals know each other. I have never muzzled any of the greyhounds we have had as they are mostly lead walked. Even those going free have not been muzzled but I call them in when another dog appears in the distance on the tracks and river banks where we walk. Never had a problem (yet) despite having had several which would not tolerate other breeds or smaller dogs in their face. My current lurcher girl is muzzled always but only because she is a scavenger and loves poo of any sort, anything else revolting and discarded take aways which humans dump everywhere. I also walk greys at a local rescue and we never muzzle them either.

I use muzzles with my two , if they are running in the paddock , they are both muzzled as they play rough and I dont want them to injure each other unintentionally. Bella is never muzzled day to day , she has shown no agression to any other dogs or humans, she came from a racing kennel but never raced, Tom on the other hand is very vocal with other dogs if they are off lead and he is on lead , he makes a ot of noise but has never taken it any further but I play safe with him, he has no issues wearing his muzzle and happily lets me put it on.

I guess its back to being a responsible owner , locally walking I dont muzzle Tom , I can keep him under control and this has been through intensive training , its taken a long time but we can walk happily and not worry , my biggest problem with Tom is off lead dogs and irresponsible owners who think its ok for thier dogs just to run right up to him and say hello, I just avoid these situations and aways carry a muzzle in my bag in case I need it, The muzzle works well at keeping people away too and thats a good thing at times !

So in terms of the vote , muzzle as required but should not be compulsory. I know my dogs and know when a muzzle is required and would never take any risks.

Toffee my 1st whippet started the some behaviour at 4mths,so he was only off lead either on his own or with 2 boxers. He is now 3yrs & has been going to a VERY GOOD trainer/ behaviourist since he was 10wks. I have used a ball to get controll (2 balls if need be) & so long as I work hard he will ignore other dogs that come up to him, I also use the STOP comand. This did take along time & for the Ist 1yr it was very depressing as he took no notice at all, but it has been worth while as he is now growing into a lovely dog. I do not let him have a ball at any other time as this is MY TRAINING TOOL. It is important to reinforce his good manners at ALL TIMES. Is this your 1st whippet?
Darcy Boy.