Protective Foster Parent Criticized For Using Scary-Looking Muzzle On Nervous Dog, They Only Wanted To Stop Unwanted Petting

"He is a beautiful husky cross and everyone wants to pet him. He isn't ready for that much attention yet."

May

• Published in Interesting
• June 19, 2024

As much as pet owners want to keep other people from petting their dogs, some people just won't respect boundaries. They won't take "no" for an answer.

One Redditor had the best idea of preventing passers-by from petting their skittish dog. Unfortunately, their partner didn't like their idea.

Over at the "Am I The A**hole?" (AITA) subreddit, a foster parent told the community that they were fostering an abused Husky cross.

The dog is very nervous and doesn't like strangers approaching him, so the original poster (OP) has been teaching him basic commands like walking on a leash, sitting, and healing to prepare it for its forever home.

Despite the dog's beautiful appearance, which makes everyone want to pet him, he's still too skittish and shy for that kind of attention. The OP attempted to manage the situation by crossing the street when they saw other dogs and politely explaining to people that the dog wasn't ready for petting.

However, not everyone listens. They wanted to prevent potential incidents so they bought a muzzle that looks like a snarling dog, which effectively keeps people away and has helped the dog gain confidence during walks.

The OP's partner, however, believes that the muzzle gives people a bad impression of the dog and makes him look aggressive. This disagreement led them to seek opinions and judgments from the online community.

The foster parent only wanted to keep people from petting the skittish dog.

The OP is fostering an abused dog that doesn't like strangers.

So far they've been practicing the basics in preparation for its forever home.

No matter how much the OP explains that the dog doesn't like to be petted because it's skittish, people won't listen.

The OP wants to prevent the dog from snapping at people. They decided to give it an intimidating look with a muzzle.

The muzzle has been working great, but the OP's partner believes it's giving people the wrong idea.

A muzzle is a harmless tool and it works.

There's nothing wrong using it, especially since it works.

The scary muzzle is the perfect solution, and it has allowed the dog to enjoy its walks without incident.

The OP is only doing their job of preparing the dog. And they're doing excellent at it.

People are on the OP's side, especially since it works as a protection from people who cross boundaries.

People wouldn't listen to the OP, so they decided to give the dog an intimidating look with the muzzle. It works perfectly, and that's all that matters.

The OP's purpose is to keep people away, and with the muzzle, the dog can enjoy walks without snapping at people or attacking other dogs. The partner should understand that it's not about what people think.

If they insist that the OP remove the muzzle and an incident happens, the dog could potentially be put down. Unfortunately, it seems that the partner refuses to acknowledge that this could happen.

May