Depends. Has she been muzzled before, and what was her reaction?

No she hasn't. I bought a plastic one from the site, but haven't tried it on her yet. I could spend time getting her used to it beforehand.

Ruth,

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If your dog hasn't shown any aggression with the other dogs why do you want to muzzle her? I think this will make the job harder.

If you feel the need to use the muzzle then make sure she's very comfortable wearing it before you try anything. Do a search of this site for muzzle introduction to learn the correct way to do it. If I had your problem and wanted to use a muzzle for doggy interaction then I would make sure the other dog has one on as well. All you need is to have her get attacked and she can't defend herself, then you would have a bigger problem than you have right now. Just a suggestion.

Howard

i have to admit, while i'm not hugely experienced, my thought is this....

if you have to muzzle her in order for her to play with other dogs, than she probably shouldn't be playing with those other dogs.

especially if you're talking about strange dogs outside of the pack, when she is already demonstrating that she can play well with the other dogs in your pack. and she can have good, social interaction with the dogs in your pack, i guess i'm just not sure why you would want her playing with strange dogs, as opposed to having a goal of her staying calm and well-behaved when strange dogs are nearby, and then having her playful and happy with the rest of her actual pack.

if you do this though, i agree with howard that the other dog should be muzzled too.

for what it's worth, i have a dog-aggressive female (very prey-driven and territorial) who is muzzled outside of the house. she is not allowed near strange dogs. she does, however, get along fine with my other two dogs (for the most part....she can be a bit rougher/prey driven than my male likes at times, but they live together well) - and my other 2 dogs are her 'doggy' social circle. all the dogs are each others 'doggy' social circle, actually.

teagan is actually calmer when muzzled, i think for her b/c she knows that avenue of aggression (biting) has been removed, so she kind of doesn't even go there. is she still aggressive and reactive? yes, but the muzzle does have impact. that said, having her muzzled - it's a necessary precaution, but it does also mean that i have to be even more watchful to make sure i protect her, b/c she couldn't defend herself (if any dog was ever stupid enough to decide to attack her....she doesn't exactly give off welcoming vibes though).

 Quote: Howard Knauf

If your dog hasn't shown any aggression with the other dogs why do you want to muzzle her? I think this will make the job harder.

She hasn't met the other dogs before, I was just saying I'd make sure they were all relaxed before letting her offlead. I guess I just wanted the muzzle to make sure nothing bad could happen.

Dog-directed fear aggression is often the result of being attacked by other dogs, and really difficult to cure. Management is more practical, and a muzzle can be a real help in that area.

Regardless of the cause of aggression, we owe it to the dog in question, and everyone that will come into contact with the dog, to ensure that the dog cannot cause injury. In many cases, a muzzle may be the only way to achieve that.

Regardless of whether or not you decide to go ahead with this play date (and please consider the second half of my post before you do), acclimating your dog to wearing a muzzle is a wise choice if it has aggression issues. Your vet will probably thank you.

That said, I don't regard allowing dogs to play together as a wise move, prior aggression issues or not.
I just don't understand the reasoning behind allowing dogs to play together.
It's not as though my dog's life is void of companionship or play- I provide that for her.
The only thing my dog can receive from other dogs, that I cannot provide, is a vicious attack, disease or bad habits. Any positive thing another dog can offer, I can easily provide myself.

On leash "neutralization" is a terrific idea, that is, teaching your dog to ignore, or at least, not interact with, other dogs.

It probably varies by dog, but when I adopted Luc, he was terrified of other dogs. B/c I was dumb, I kept taking him to the dog park, which was just a bad idea.

I don't know if it'd be true for your girl, but for Luc, what taught him to be relaxed around strange dogs was actually me taking over all interactions with other dogs, handling them and having him not have to worry about them at all. He plays happily with my other dogs, he gets along with them, but he's happier not having to deal with strange dogs.

I seem to have a retarded view that she's missing out on having fun! I'll get over it. Thanks for your input