should these dogs have muzzles on?

And just to say - I in no way think all dogs should be on a lead and only exercised that way, it IS impossible
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I only let B off in an enclosed area or somewhere where I know there will be no one else around, he loves yomping about.
However him running up to people and other dogs could be very intimidating, shepherds already have a bad rap and I don't want to contribute to it any further by having him bomb up to other people, which he probably would
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I understand that other people don't have this luxury and I don't mean to offend anyone.
 
My puppy is 6 months old, and I'm not trying to be rude either.
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I'm not here to cause arguements either, just getting my points accross.

not to be rude though but he's an extremeley energectic dog. We've owned pointers for 20 years and these dogs need a LOT of excersise. Infact, with Quest, the last time we took him for his jabs, we spoke to the vet about his excersise as he was becomming tiresome at home (and yes we do play with him, varying games and amounts) We felt the '20 minutes' a book was recommending was a ridiculous amount to suggest for such a large, energetic dog. And he was the person who actually suggested that he needed MUCH more to keep his body and mind occupied. So to be honest, whilst I appreciate what you're saying re the long walks, we're experienced with dogs and with this breed, we know what we're doing.

He has an hour off the lead, usually at the beach or whatever and then he is road walked (on the lead obviously!!) which has been recommended to us, as said, by a proffesional. Infact, he's also a pointer owner, weirdly enough so he knows exactly what this breed is like. When we got our first pointer I remember the woman saying to us that if we were not prepared to let the pointer Gallop away on his own, this was not the dog for us. Simple as.

(I've just read that back and it sounds like I'm saying pointers are like NO other breed and I hate it when people say that about their own breed of dog so I'll just say that I don't think that AT ALL, just saying he's not a dog that can handle the '20 minutes a day' that the books recommend - if you know what I mean?)

Also. I think it's unreasonable to suggest that puppies are going to come when called. he's learning, we do our best and he does his. We're experienced dog owners, we know what we're doing but we can't be expected to keep him on a lead until he comes back precisely when called.

I have to say, I've never been in this situation that the OP has descried. BUT, it always suprises me when sometimes I've been out with Quest and dog owners have treated him like a lepar. He's a puppy, he's playful. Some people are great and they'll say 'aww he's young, let them play' and we'll chat whilst our dogs run up and down. Other people just seem intent on being as miserable as possible and one thing that really gets my goat is if I'm trying to call Quest back and he's ignoring me (like I say, he's learning he hasn't got the hang of it yet) they carry on walking and thusly Quest follows them.

How difficult would it be for them to stop for 5 seconds to wait for me to get Quests attention for him to come back to me? And I know some people are about to say it's not their responsibility, but it's not about that always, it's common courtesy to think 'I'l stop, they want to catch their dog and I'm preventing that' Some people forget their dog was a bounding puppy too once upon a time.

Again, not having a go at all
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While I agree the an hour and a half of off the lead running for anything under a year is just asking for trouble, Otto really does need an off the lead run at least once a day.

Whilst he was on the long line he was getting 30 mins - 1 hour of training and free-ish running around, a couple of times a day, plus on the lead walks around the farm. We were having awful trouble with him jumping out the garden, jumping up on the kitchen surfaces, doing wall of death around the house.

He now gets 30/40 mins off the lead every morning, with short on the lead walks around the farm throughout the day and he is a different dog. He sleeps non-stop in the house, which quite frankly is a god-send
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It could be attributed to him growing up and chilling out, but having had him on the lead at Burghley and him still manic after walking pretty much non-stop from 8-5, I'm not betting on it
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Fortunately I have no worries about him and other dogs, he never goes up to other dogs, they always have to make the first move and he will leave them stright away when called. Nothing to do with my amazing training skills, he just doesn't give a toss about other dogs!
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He is actually pretty fab at coming back if we see another dog or person, he is too big a wuss to say hello without his 'Mum'
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However, if his recall hadn't improved I would have had no choice but to keep him on the long line!

There is one thing that does drive me up the wall though. When I have spotted someone else's dog on the lead and have made the effort to stop and call my dog back, WHY does the person with the dog on the lead INSIST on keeping walking towards me, without slowing??? Then get within two feet of me, just as I have managed to grab Otto and tut at me for not moving out of their way as their dog goes absolutely mental at mine!!
Or even worse, pretty much tailgate Otto the whole way back to me, and then glare at me when he has stops to say hello. He is good at ignoring other dogs, but not when they have their noses shoved up his backside!!
 
Ok, thanks guys, I'll get back in my box
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Bayjosie, I recognise the name Quest (haha, I know the dog but not his owner) and as I recall he is a gorgeous boy!!!

I am a big advocate of the long line when recall training too, as you know, Hen
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My collies are better off a lead than on. On a lead they are quite aggressive towards other dogs but off leads they couldn't give a flying fig about other dogs and happily go about their business.

Can you keep Beau's interest with a ball or his favourite toy so that when he's making a beeline for other dogs you can throw his ball and divert his concentration back to you.

BTW I don't think the greyhounds should be muzzled either.
 
This is why I don't like walking dogs in designated "doggy walk parks".

Too many loose dogs approaching. I always used to have Jasper on a lead as he wasn't overly fond of other dogs bounding up to him when he got older. Luckily for me I could just pick him up if one kept coming, but not so easy to do with two adult greyhounds.
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I decided to stick to the fields at home. Not without it's own problems as walkers dogs would run across fields (way off the footpath) to get to Jasper. If I said "sorry...but he doesn't like other dogs approaching him like that" I would often get a "you shouldn't have him off a lead then". I ended up giving up, as my attempts to point out that their dogs were trespassing off the footpath, I was on my own land well away from them always fell on deaf ears.

Being an owner of a dog who got nervous when approached, I do tend to sympathise with the greyhound owner. That said, I would call out to you to call him off way before he got near my dogs.
 
beau is the same as many other dogs here in that he NEEDS off lead walks or else the house = destruction zone!! (where as if he has the off lead walk he is 100% sound!)

HEN you hit the nail on the head, that is what upsets me the most in this situation is that I do get beau back to me and get hold and put him back on the lead to get past them etc, but as you say, she just walks straight towards us whilst I do the whole come here, not the other dogs bit and its like thats right make life just that little bit easier!!!! GAH!
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CC - I hope your bin is nice!
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don't worry I wasnt upset or anything by what you said, as I say your posts were ok and explained its when people just give narky little digs I dont like it coz its like wow that is really constructive thank you!! :P

Its been interesting to see what peoples opinions were about the muzzles so thank you for all the replies!
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and yes I will try taking a ball or a stick or something for beau to keep his attneiton (yes I know sticks aren't ideal but he is a FANATIC and at least he can grab on and play pull with me even if I dont throw it! he isnt ball interested so thats a bit of a bugger too!! damn dog not obeying any sort of collie guidlines!!!)
 
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