A local woman got pulled over yesterday by her muzzled rottweiler dog so she let go of his lead and he came straight at my two onlead dogs. He was in a total rage and very scarey, especially as his bottom jaw ended up outside of the muzzle. I was shouting at the woman to get hold of her dog but she was completely useless & just kept saying it's ok he's muzzled. It was an awful experience and I honestly thought the muzzle was about to come off totally. It took several minutes for her to get hold of his lead and she could still barely hold him so I yelled at her to pin him down until we could get out of sight. I have two large breed males so the outcome could have been a lot worse but thankfully my dogs have fantastic natures. We were all very shaken!
What I want to know is would it be possible for a muzzle that was correctly fitted/correct size to come off his bottom jaw like that? It was a leather basket type. Surely the muzzle should have stayed firmly in place despite everything? Never used one before.
I've seen this woman a few times with the dog and she always struggles to hold him (he has a known history in our area too). My OH says I should contact the RSPCA or someone and ask them to assess the muzzle etc before someone/dog gets seriously hurt.

That sounds terrifying :(
At least she had a muzzle on him and didnt just pretend he wasnt aggressive.

Dont know much about muzzles but from what I know the jaw most definitly shouldnt become loose!

Unfortunately bint i am doubtfull the RSPCA would do anything. Sorry to hear what happened to you though.x

If I were in your shoes....
I'd want to see if I could meet up with this lady and have a chat (a NICE one) there's alot of risk factor here and I'd want to help.. to avoid that risk...rather than shout and get annoyed or righteous which would exacerbate it.

We dont know why... (maybe she's novice, maybe Hubbie has forced dog on her..maybe she herself is scared of it)
But we do know.. she cant fit a muzzle in the first instance and she's struggling.

Do you yourself go to any Dog training clubs in your area..Maybe you could recommend to her to have a chat with the trainers, who in turn may be able to recommend a tried trusted and respected trainer (or 'Bahviouralist') who could one to one with her and her dog????

My sympathies are of course with you, horrid to have a nice walk shattered (next time tho' dont shout.... its petrol on fire!! in this situation ;O) for dog more than owner)

My sympathies are also with this woman tho' you hear of people like this and just wish you could get them to come out for a walk with you, to show them how much better life can be with training the right attitude and the right behaviour.

Sad story...

Thank you all for your comments, sorry it took me a while to reply.
HuskyGal, I hear you and realise shouting at the woman to get her dog was counter productive to say the least but it was in desperation. She just stood back helpless, didn't attempt to pull her dog away. He had my smaller dog pinned down & I was unable to get him free, that's when I snapped and shouted at her. My friend says I should have let my dogs go free but as we were close to 2 roads I didn't want to risk it. Once she did pull him off she literally had to lie on him to keep him still while we got out of sight. I do feel for this woman as she obviously loves her dog but she is physically unable to control him. We know of other incidents involving both people & other dogs where outside agencies were involved so one assumes someone has since checked he is wearing a suitable muzzle. My OH suggesting RSPCA was due to the fact that this dog will most likely already be known to them. Maybe the advice could come from them? Will watch out for her when I don't have my own dogs with me & see if I can engage her in a friendly chat.
I do know a trainer who may be willing to talk to her, will let you know if I do catch up with her.

One other thing to consider is that you need to have the right type of muzzle for a Rottweiler, due to their head shape a lot of muzzles won't fit properly, it would be interesting to know what style this one was.

Ian

Ian it was a basket type leather one. Sorry I can't be more specific but if I do see them again I'll have a better look.
Thanks

Of course it could be that if it was the kind with plastic fastening that it slipped looser and the dog was able to paw at the muzzle getting it off the short jaw.

I like the ones with proper metal and leather buckles that you see abroad.

I have tried the Baskerville muzzles on my dogs to stop scavenging, but never manged to get them to stay on, even when threading a collar through them as they just got them off, just as well it wasn't needed for aggression.

Sorry to hear of your experience.  If I were you, I would contact the local dog warden.  The wardens obviously vary as to how helpfull they are, but where I live, they are very good.  If you contact the owner in person you don't know how many other people may have had a similar experience to you and maybe spoken to the owner direct, rather than contacting the warden..  If the dog warden has a number of reports about the same dog they are more likely and able to take some sort of action even if it is giving the owner advise about the correct type of muzzle and how to fit it properly.  I have never used a muzzle, but I would have thought the whole point of them is that they DON'T come off when a dog is being aggresive. 

Hope your boys (and you) are not too traumatised  by this experience.

That incident sounds terrifying.  Muzzles need to fit the dogs face and dogs faces and noses/muzzles are different shapes.  I had a job finding a muzzle to fit my border but the vet fitted a mikki on him, although we had to order a special half size.  Perhaps this lady needs to get one properly fitted for her dog although sounds like it might not be the right kind of dog for her if she can't hold on to him.

CG

Thanks everyone for your comments and advice.
As yet I haven't contacted anyone, nor seen the woman again. I think I should do something though.
The dog warden sounds like a good idea, thanks.