about 6 months ago while out walking my male weimarwner, he was pounced on by a lare male boxer , the boxer had my male around the throat and was going for my dog hell for leather, while i was trying to seperate them the owner of the boxer was too affraid to go near his own dog and get him under controll. ever since this day my male has been very offish with any other male that comes near him while we are out walking, should i mussle my dog , get him castrated or never go to this walking place again. i am open to any suggestions please help.

Hi Guest

IMO if you feel your dog is a risk to others then I would muzzle him when out, this way if anything does go wrong he cannot bite anyone.  People often give muzzled dogs a wide berth but I feel it is a sensible option nad you will be able to relax. 

Problems can arise where ever you walk so avoiding one particular place is unlikely to help

My girl developed an aversion to men and when a man went to stroke her she would go to bite them. We have been making steady progress since that day but she wears a halti due to pulling but it works very well in directing her away from mens hands ;) Unfortunately i don't think she'll ever be without the halti (she is 10st and growing anyway) it gives me piece of mind and ensures relaxing walks and if a problem arises i know i can now handle it.

Sarah.

One thing to bear in mind with using a muzzle is if the dog himself gets attacked, he can't defend himself.  For example, if he is showing signs to another dog that are unfriendly, the other dog may jump in first - it won't know your dog has a muzzle on.  If your dog is attacking back, but can't mouth or bite (a lot of fighting is simply mouthing rather than biting), things could get out of hand and your dog could be seriously injured.

I would consider training classes which emphasise socialisation to get him used to strange male dogs.

Frequently when dogs wear a muzzle they know they can't attack and so their body language is different.  Surely it is better to have one dog with holes in it if it is attacked by an aggressive dog, rather than a full scale file with two dongs needing attention and probably anyone who tries to separate them as well.  At least in this instance a muzzled dog cannot be accused (and possibly pts under the DDA) of being out of control.

You don't say how old your Weimi is which would be a help.  Male Weimaraners are very assertive dogs; they like to be Top Dog and can, unless very carefully trained and socialised and controlled, be "difficult" around other males.

The first thing I would ask is how was this boxer able to pounce on your dog?  Was yours on the lead or was it running free?  My dogs are kept under close control in the vicinity of unknown dogs so that confrontations like this can be avoided or they are put on the lead.

There is no reason why you should not run your dog in a muzzle however this is no substitute for proper control ie having an instant recall so that situations like this can be avoided.  Also be aware that tension runs down the lead and/or through your body and voice so that you may inadvertently be telling your dog to be suspicious. 

Not going to a particular place does not mean this situation may not be repeated by another dog in another place!

What makes you think that castration will solve the issue?

Your first line of "defence" should be proper and adequate control of your own dog so that a repeat is avoided whatever the temperament of your dog.

HTH

How about trying the castration injection first to see if this makes
a difference? If it does then thats your answer, if not why have
castration. Oh yes, to stop unwanted puppies. However what age is
your dog? If its getting on then I dont suggest castration at all.
Weimaraner males are difficult dogs and if had a bad experience then
they do asert themselves more so. I know many that do.
Its a shame to muzzle him off the lead. Cant you walk somewhere else
so he has free running off the lead with out meeting another dog?
Re-call is so very important with a Weimaraner as they do go up to other dogs.
But I was horrified at the weekend when a couple half a mile away let their
two black labs come belting up to my two Weimaraners and started to
fight my two dogs. Mine were minding their own buisness. luckily for the
black labs mine did nothing back, we pulled the labs off my dog. But it
could of been nasty. I would of strangled the owners but they were so far
away I could not be bothered, however their dogs did it again to some collies
further down the beach. Did the owners care? Not a toss.....
Anyway you should be able to call back your dog if another dog approaches and put your dog on a lead. Sometimes a halti is enough to get control of the head of a dog with out putting a muzzle on.   If you feel however your dog is a problem then think carefully.