Question about muzzles on DA dogs?

Alfie was attacked today, it was my fault and he is totally fine..

Basically we were on a lovely walk we do a lot on the footpath round a reservoir, always busy at the weekends, alfie was off lead and we went round a corner and coming the other way at the same time was a man with a dog on lead and muzzle on, it was so close I didn't have a chance to grab alfie before he ran the 10 or so feet to see it... I ran after him but at the same time the dog on lead was growling and going for alfie and in less than 10 seconds the muzzle was OFF
Alfie was then screaming and trying to get away as it had "got" him, I grabbed him and moved away.
(I didn't lift him and "cuddle" him and be like "aww it's okaaay", I literally lifted him away from the situation, checked him over, he was fine and didn't seem to hurt so put him back down and was like your fine on ya go).

I shouted sorry to the man as alfie was off lead and went over to his dog... but what I don't get is how the dog got it's own muzzle off so fast and managed to grab alfie..... If alfie's hair hadn't been so long/thick maybe he would have gotten more hurt.

Was just wondering how secure muzzles really are as I assumed they were pretty securely fitted?

Alfie is fine btw, after I had checked him over and put him back down and told him to carry on he just carried on like normal. He did "hang back" a little more before running to see other dogs after that, but was still as confident and friendly as usual.

what type of muzzle was it? i dont think it could have been fitted properly if the dog was able to get it off.

glad everyone is ok

Depends on the muzzle, the build of the dog's head, how well fitted it was..all sorts. Casper managed to get his old muzzle off maybe once, my Christmas foster doggy went to be assessed with other dogs and figured how to get the muzzle off within 5 minutes then kept pulling it off, and I've seen a muzzle been pulled off in the whole kerfuffle of a dog kicking off a couple of times before.
The problem is, you can't do them up completely and utterly tight because it would dig in and hurt the dog - so even at their tightest comfortable fit, if the dog's skin slids around, it can slip off. Think of a pair of sheos - you could tie the laces as much as comfortably possible and the shoes would probably say on 99.9% of the time, but there are odd occasions where they may get caught or you may fall at a certain angle and knock a shoe off.

As far as I could see it was one that looked like the beige plastic type ones.

This kinda thing
http://www.pet-gift.net/muzzle/dog-muzzle.jpg

Oh dear just seems an unfortunate accident and I am glad Alfie was not hurt.

Cherry has an Ancol harness and I didn't think she would be able to get that off but she got out of it when I fell over her on the park last Monday. At least the owner had his dog muzzled but he probably needs to check the fit is correct and secure as sometimes you can't help bumping into other dogs.

Ahh right yeah.
It was when it dived at alfie through the guys legs that it was suddenly not on any more, maybe the angle he lunged at it caught the guys jeans and it unclipped or something.. not sure, was just a bit shocked! lol

Aw glad alfie's ok xxx Don't blame yourself, it was an accident, shame too, the guy was trying to be responsible but it happens...

As much as I do hate to say it, I am glad it happened (and that no one was hurt) as Alfie was not always great at telling when dogs don't want to see him, so maybe it will teach him.
About 100 yards up the path there was two 4.5 month old short haired jack russells - hate to think if this other dog had got them instead of Alfie!

It was my fault as Alfie was off lead, but we did't see him coming so not much I could have done really

Thanks
Yeah he did shout over and ask if Alfie was okay, and I said yeah he's fine and then shouted sorry.
No harm done really.

Depends on the muzzle I think. The baskerville ones don't seem very secure, Rupert can remove a correct size one and one a size too small. I can't tighten it any further without it digging into his skin. You can get muzzles with a strap that goes up between the eyes and over the head, I would imagine they're more secure.