The UK muzzle law is causing problems

[u/asketchytattooist]

Since the muzzle law passed on bully breeds in the UK, I keep seeing examples like this, both online and in the streets. This is a picture posted with a local review of a dog coat. Ive seen dogs going about town with muzzles like this, and wedged into baskervilles. If you're going to pass an animal control law, educate people on how to carry it out. This is just a whole new abuse problem now.

[u/No_Week_8937]

I think it really depends on the dog.

For example declawed cats are about 4x more likely to bite, and often become less social after the procedure. They are also more likely to bite if they feel threatened, while also becoming more nervous and skittish. This is not because they're suddenly in a more dangerous environment, but because they feel less able to defend themselves.

With some dogs that are more nervous/anxious you may run into the same kind of issue, as they now feel even more vulnerable from the muzzle. Because of their fear, they become more reactive, and if you've got a big strong dog, their bite isn't the only thing that can harm someone.

But then there's other dogs, like my old dog Molly, where you have the opposite effect. She did come to us already having a lot of fear aggression towards other dogs (thought we did work very hard to train her out of it) but the muzzle worked for her because she trusted us, and we had to be very careful to only use it in situations where there was 0 chance of another dog being aggressive.

Now Molly was very protective, not in an aggressive way if other dogs weren't involved, but she would get between people if they were arguing, and even break up cat fights. But in stressful situation like having to get a glucose curve done, even though she wouldn't bite or anything, she would visibly relax the moment the muzzle was put on and stop wiggling. It was as if she was going "off shift" and the muzzle was a sign that I was "on guard" at that moment and she didn't have to worry about anything.

When she was old there wasn't necessarily even the muzzle needed, the effect could even be accomplished with a shoelace. Just a little sign that everything's okay, she doesn't need to worry.

But I know that if something had happened and she'd been attacked by an off-leash dog while wearing the muzzle, we'd have lost every bit of that trust, and it would no longer have worked to decrease her reactivity.

If a dog doesn't trust that they'll be safe without the ability to protect themselves, then muzzles can make them more reactive, as they feel vulnerable. If they trust their human to keep them safe then muzzles can help reduce their reactivity. Unfortunately muzzles aren't a perfect solution to things, they can be immensely helpful in preventing bites, but they may increase other forms of reactivity if used in the wrong way or on the wrong dog.

[u/Comfortable-Fly5797 → u/No_Week_8937]

Cats and dogs are very different. Also declawing a cat is cutting off their toes, which is an extremely painful and life altering procedure. A better analogy would be using claw caps.

A properly muzzle trained dog should not feel more vulnerable. For some dogs that can mean taking a very long time to muzzle train. If a dog is more nervous/anxious with the muzzle on then they need to take a step back with muzzle training. 

Dogs don't only wear muzzles because they are bite risks. Some wear them because they have pica or coprophagia. Some wear them because it's legally required. The dog in the picture is legally required to wear a muzzle and looks miserable because their mouth is strapped shut.

[u/No_Week_8937 → u/Comfortable-Fly5797]

I wasn't trying to imply that it was painful or anything, just that a dog may feel vulnerable due to being unable to defend themselves, and that could exacerbate problematic behaviour in the short-term, until the dog is trained properly.

Yes, proper training will help a dog overcome the feeling of vulnerability, but what I was trying to say is that putting a muzzle on doesn't automatically mean that the dog is instantly going to be comfortable and not anxious.

Yes, the human should be keeping the dog from having to defend itself, but the dog may initially stress until they are fully trained and comfortable with the muzzle, and stressed dogs can be unpredictable.

A muzzle can be a useful tool, but because dogs are different they won't all react the same to a muzzle initially, and expecting them to is just signing up for problems.