Experienced Dog Owners. Long.

Find a very experienced vet who has special training with behavioral modification. Don't start with a muzzle until you get a professional opinion. He sounds like an amazing dog with a bit of a challenging personality.

I can not take my dogs to the vet without them on.. I would use a Muzzel Knowing the Presa Like I do they are unstable...I have owned 3 I now co-own them ... Someone could open the room door if you put them in another room..The Presa is no joke..

No, a muzzle would not make me feel more safe. It would just make me think the dog was more dangerous than I thought. Also, like others have mentioned, I think it will make the dog more angry/upset. You need to get your vet to take this seriously and I think some kind of pill for anxiety would be the best option. Get a prescription and use it in situations where you know he will act that way around people. Also talking to a trainer that specializes in this kind of behavior if you can.

If you get the soft muzzle they do not hurt and i do not believe they cause any kind of aggression issue or state of mind with them. Dont wait until the visit to introduce it though. You need to introduce the muzzle just as you would anything new. Calmly with praise and treats and make it a positive one on one interaction. Maybe put the muzzle on before going for a walk or grooming or anything that he enjoys but doesnt really need his teeth for (fetch wont work here) so that he doesnt see it as a punishment or a bad thing and it doesnt put him on edge even more. The muzzle will not make your dog feel more relaxed to have it on so keep that in mind but you and your guests might be more relaxed so that he can.If he senses your stress about who he will react to them or their stress about him he will react, most every dog will. The muzzle might help you all relax so he can or it may make him more frustrated just because he feels he cant adequately protect you. Not sure exactly how he will react. Keeping him seperated from them (but frequent visits by you) may just be the best thing for everyone. Give him some yummy chews and new toys to play with so it isnt a punishment. Obviously meet his food water and bathroom needs but make sure you walk him, tire him out, play with him, tire him out (before you leave him alone) and visit frequently. My rottie hates to be seperated from me. If i put her in my bedroom and shut the door she will freak out until i let her out with me, it stresses her too much to be away from us.
My 1st rottie mercury was very sweet she never met a person she didnt love, but when she got old and was in pain and couldnt walk, she was muzzled when we took her to the vet because she had to be lifted and moved and carried and it hurt her so in defense she would snap. She never meant to hurt anyone just to say ouch you are hurting me stop. We knew that certain things caused her pain so we put the muzzle on her to protect everyone (including her since she could be "labled" for biting).
I dont believe it is a bad thing or damages them in any way but he is your dog and you know him best. I am sure you willmake the right decision for him.

I own a 120lb American Bulldog that is 7, I have had her since she was 7 weeks old. You would have to shoot her to get into our house or yard uninvited. She follows my lead when it comes to who I allow to enter our house.
That said, there have been two people in the past she would not let out of her sight or to pet her. One was very scared of her and I know that is why with him. His fear of her made her unsure of his intentions.
The other person was just a shady guy and Kali must have sensed that. I trust my dog's instincts.
I would never muzzle Kali and she wouldnt keep it on anyways. When I was pregnant she wouldn't let the vet get near her because she was protecting me. They muzzled her and she had that thing broken in 10 seconds, no joke. I ended up leaving the room and she let them take care of her after that.
I just feel like a muzzle is wrong. He is doing what his job (in his mind) is, protecting his family. I would put him in a separate room and keep him there until your guests leave. Something about them is setting his alarm off, don't punish him for that. Just keep him separate. If he was this way with all guests I might think it a bigger issue.
Let us know what you decide. He sounds like a sweetie and soooo cute!

Here is the deal, regardless whether you have a tiny little poodle or a huge presa - when guests come over it is most fair to the dog and your guests to keep the dog confined in a safe space.
We have a Beagle, a six months old pup. She is the sweetest thing, LOVES people, even strangers, not protective at all.
Yet, when we have guests over, like for thanksgiving dinner, I crate her in a quiet part of the house with a yummy new bone or something else to occupy her. Our friends don't have dogs and while they don't mind having her around, I feel it is much more relaxed when there isn't a dog in the mix.

I strongly support crate training for dogs of all sizes. You can teach your dog that his crate is a safe and enjoyable place to be confined in. You don't write whether he is destructive in your bedroom, if he will just be hanging out in there and relax, then I think that's fine too. If he is still anxious and basically growling at the door the entire time, a smaller confinement like a crate can help with that as well.

Having him muzzled in a stressful situation will NOT alleviate his stress, but make it worse! Not only will he be in the presence of people he perceives as a potential danger, he will be uncomfortable and unable to defend you and himself. Knowing that, no, it would not make me feel safer - if anything I would prefer not having to confront the "dangerous" dog (muzzles make most dogs look more dangerous than they are) - especially if he keeps growling at me. If anything muzzle him only when you have to take him out of confinement for a walk.

I would suggest that even though you may have a dog that is wonderful for you and your family - he is potentially very dangerous when it comes to strangers. This is a HUGE liability! Many people have NO TOLERANCE when it comes to getting bitten and even people you are related to, may sue you if your dog injures them. This truly is a situation where you do not want to find out how well you have your dog under control. I would keep him securely confined (under LOCK AND KEY so no curious child can mistakenly open the door) while you have company.
Good luck!

I know you have asked the vet, but I would advise seeking out a vet who is a board-certified behavior specialist. A lot of aggression in dogs is rooted in anxiety, NOT dominance, and your dog may not feel very confident and relaxed around certain people - hence the growling. While isolating him will keep people safer, it also does not teach your dog to be okay with the situation. Google "Dr. Sophia Yin" - she is a veterinary behaviorist that we like to refer to when discussing behavior issues with our clients. Sometimes we will even prescribe a low dose of Xanax for dogs who get worked up in certain situations.

I should also mention to that many veterinary behaviorists are NOT big fans of Caesar Milan!

I do not have experience with large dogs. Ours have all been American Cocker, English Cocker and Toy poodle.

Our dogs, 3 now, are very protective of me. If hubby is here when a repairman, etc is here, they are fine but you let someone in this house (ex cable repair), my dogs will not leave my side and I have to be careful just to greet and shake a hand. Because of that, I do keep them contained in an area where they can see me be ok but they can't get out. We have golden gates to block off areas of the house and keep dogs contained without being in a cage.

I love having dogs and can't see myself without one. We back up to an 85 acre wooded area with lots of wildlife. My dogs have alerted me when the bobcats or coyotes are outside and the poodle has twice alerted me to copperhead snakes in my garage.

They have distinctive barks... one where they want attention, one where someone is on our property and one when they see wildlife, etc on the property.

I would not muzzle the dog when guests were around. It would make me think you don't trust what you dog would do for starters so I would be more leery of him. f people are arouns your dog and they are leery of him, he will sense that and you are not 100% sure how he will act on that.

Second, it would "shame" the dog which in turn could make him agressive because he would have no control. My dogs have had to wear the cone of shame and I HATE it because you can see how hurt/shamed they are. They didn't do anything wrong and it was for their protection after surgery or injury.

How long will family be there? Is there a way to board him in a doggy day care? I am not talking about being at a boarding place in a cage... there are some very nice doggy "spas" here which are more than a cage, los of interaction, etc. OR, can you simply have him secured in another area of the house?

Sorry for being too winded... I hope you find a good solution.

I think the muzzle will give the dog a complex and piss him off. Have you ever had to put the lamp shade on him for medical reasons? That really pisses them off and they are ashamed of that stupid lamp shade on their head.

My Rottie is the same way. I stopped walking her because she was too aggressive on the streets and would make men walk on the street about 6 feet away from me. And, no my family does not care to visit because my dog.

I would just put him in the bedroom like you have in the past.

I suggest that you ask this question of a veterinarian, too.

first i will answer your question- this is just my opinion but when i see a dog in a muzzle i automatically assume that they have bitten/tried to bite someone before or their owner thinks they could bite someone.. i think it would probably make me more uncomfortable, it would make me think like well if the owner doesnt trust the dog enough that they wont bite and need a muzzle i definatley dont trust him... i have a very large yellow lab hes somewhere between 110-120lbs, hes a big baby, he wouldnt hurt a fly, but he pulls when we walk him (still at 10 yrs old) so we have one of those spiky metal collar things on him and when people see us walking him down the street they will cross to the other side immediatley.. now my dog does not in anyway look like a mean/aggresive dog, hes big yes, but i sware its that collar that when people see it theyre like oh no!

and second- ive never heard of a presa and i just looked it up OMG they are beautiful !!!

First off a muzzle won't do what you think it will do overall. I don't know of a single dog that will willingly keep a muzzle on if let to his own devices. It may take some time but most can learn to take it off. I muzzle should not be used without constant supervision. It does sound like he is either anxious around people he doesn't know well or he is protective of you. I agree that you may need to speak with a board certified animal behavioralist. They can deduce what is causing the anxiety and teach you the best way to handle it. This will not be an easy/quick fix. Behavior problems tend to take a long time to fix.

Being that Christmas is so close and I'm sure this probably won't be fixed by then I would recommend confining Brooks into your bedroom for the event. Overall it would make him more comfortable not to be around so many people and you could always bring him out to visit on a leash. Good Luck!

No, a muzzle would not make me feel more comfortable around any dog. I was always raised with the motto - if it has teeth, it CAN bite regardless of whether it has ever tried to or not. The muzzle for me is a visual reminder a dog is not to be trusted which does not instill calm, only more fear/discomfort/distrust.

From personal experience I am not convinced a muzzle brings out the best in a dog and as such does not improve the situation. I had a groomer I used for a time until they insisted on muzzling my dog as a precaution. My perfectly mannered dog became prickly and hard to handle which was very out of character for her. I insisted they remove the muzzle and get a more dog savvy groomer to deal with my dog. Once the muzzle was taken off, my dog was fine again.

If your dog's behavior bothers you that much, I would consult a dog trainer who specializes in guard dogsmaybe the police canine unit might have suggestions for trainers of super intense dogs). However, if you are doing everything right (by the book), you might not get much out of one. If leading the dog from a closed room works, then I would keep that up. If I were so uncomfortable around a dog, I would stay out of of the same space as the dog. In other words when you took the dog out, I would be in another room where te dog would never be and would stay there until the dog was put up again. Dogs are like people - they trip to their own beat and I can't expect any dog to conform all the time to everything. Good luck.

I would be very leery of putting a muzzle on the dog. The reason for that is the dog is not going to understand and isn't going to like it no matter how much he loves you. It could lead to some issues that might make matters worse. The dog will link the muzzle to the guests. Which could mean that any future guests are going to put the dog on alert for fear of the muzzle.
Has your dog seen you be super friendly,touchy feely with these family members? The reason I ask is that might help. If your dog sees that you can be all over these family members it might show that you are at ease with them and it might make him more at ease with them. You might be unintentionally avoiding contact which can make your dog more tense around them. I have certain inlaws that I'm standoffish with not on purpose just I like my personal space and they have no respect for personal space. What has happened is my dogs have picked up on that and hence are more tense around those people than other people who I'm not standoffish with. I didn't mean for it to happen but it is what it is and now my dogs tend to stay close to me and "enforce" my personal space when around those inlaws.
So maybe look and see if getting more close and comfortable with them might help. Instead of sitting away from those people, sit close to them. Let your dog see you touch and be at ease with those people.

Muzzling a dog does not make him less aggressive - it freaks him out.
We had a pit/boxer mix who was funny about strangers. What we did was put him in his kennel (coated wire) in the middle of the room where he could see us interacting with visitors. His kennel was his happy place - he had been abused by a former owner and he knew that in his kennel no on e would hurt him. We let him see that the visitors were being treated as part of our "pack" and when he calmed down, we sat visitors on the sofa, each with a dog biscuit in hand. We told them not to call him but to let him come to them. When he did, he got the cookie they were holding and was told that he was a good boy. After that, he knew they were okay.

I think it would help if your dog interacted with the 2 BILs outside of the home - get to know them in a non-territorial situation. Then he might welcome them into the home in the future. That may not be practical depending on where they live, but it's a start. It doesn't solve the problem of you allowing other people into the home without the initial "practice" session, however. So on some level, your dog is not accepting you as the "alpha" dog - the dog still thinks he's in charge.

I would consult a trainer who specializes in aggressive behaviors and behavior modification. Your vet may be able to refer you.

There are issues in individual dog breeds, but also you have no idea what history your dog had. In general, pet store purchases are highly risky because you know nothing of the background or the early treatment. You are lucky you made out as well as you did.

My dog is a rescue and has a real fear of people getting too close to her until she knows them very well. Even so, no one can bend over her or put their head close to her, even if she's being very loving. The vet says someone hurt her when she was 12-16 weeks old - so it stays with a dog no matter what wonderful things you do to and for them afterwards.

I don't like the muzzle idea much - I think it makes people more nervous. Your dog also needs more socialization. I know it's hard since you keep to yourselves, but that may be one reason the dog is so protective. Again, consult an expert.

I don't think a muzzle would help me feel comfortable and it wouldn't help the dog. The Dog Whisperer had an episode on this , you might be able to find it.
Check his website.
This behavior is a problem. http://www.cesarsway.com/keyword/overprotective