The dog or its muzzle as a Signal of danger for humans

In France, dogs of specific breeds as well as dogs trained to attack (police, security services, etc.) have to be muzzled in public areas. A dog wearing a muzzle may constitute an ambiguous cue for humans as it indicates that the dog is potentially dangerous while at the same time that the dog’s potential danger is controlled. The aim of our present study was to determine whether a muzzled dog would induce a greater fear response in humans than the same non-muzzled dog. We were interested specifically in the German shepherd dog as it is one of the typical breeds used by police and security services, but also very popular as a pet.