I guess the fee for a pet giraffe would be higher :D

Look at Kimptons, if it fits through the door; they'll let it in.

I am still at the same RI in SC and go on to NC tomorrow.

Tonight, I opened the back door for a young family with 3 small kids and one more coming soon.

The father had a medium sized door that had a muzzle. I do not remember seeing a muzzle at an RI, but I find it slightly curious that a dog that can manage these small children might be a threat otherwise.

Doubt if the muzzle was for the kids. The dog might react badly to other dogs (or even adults), hence the muzzle.

Cheers.

I should have elongated my sentence because I meant that that muzzle would have to come off in the room so if the dog is not threat to the children then what sets him off? Fortunately, I did not have my little dog at the time.

Those children may know how to act around a dog and/or the dog is familiar with those children. The trigger may very well be unknown men, other dogs or something that kicks off prey drive like a squirrel or bird.

I've dogsat for a friend's Great Dane for a # of years. He's the sweetest thing, loves to play catch w/ the ball (including in the living room). But when he's walked he has a muzzle because he has a tendency to lunge at other dogs or even humans who might be running by. Presumably sees them as a threat or somehow defending his turf. Not sure which. They stay at RIs with him. No muzzle in the room, but when they walk him outside the hotel then the muzzle is on.

Cheers.

This is a good example of why it would be fine to make the pet rules even more strict. Dog owners tend to think they know all about dogs, and other people are mostly oblivious. But every breed is different, and every dog can have it's own personality.

Our dog is the most docile, friendly, even lazy dog I've ever seen. An adult could bite his tail and he'd probably just look up and walk away. I'm convinced that if a burglar entered the house, he'd roll over and wait to have his belly scratched...seriously, that's not a joke or exaggeration. I can put my face right up to his and he just turns his head away. BUT, if a kid gets anywhere near his face, he snarls, shows his teeth and sometimes will nip at them.

That owner had a muzzle for a reason. Maybe kids weren't his trigger, maybe it was other dogs. Maybe it's people wearing hoodies, or men with beards, or something else. I cringe when I see people, especially kids, running up to strange dogs. If someone does that to ours, I immediately say "he's very nice if you pet him but he doesn't like anyone to get near his face".

This sounds just like mine, except that instead of kids it's men (other than me). Extending the back of your hand to be sniffed is the right way to meet many dogs, so I am extra vigilant when someone meets her for the first time or we're in a public place.

Every dog owner thinks their little ball of love is perfect until it goes off and eats some kid's face - see above posts. And while the fur-baby-mama will still invariably find some way to claim that the kid deserved it because perfect fluffy had never done such a thing before, the property is on the hook as an enabler. So, hence the fees - as a deterrent and/or to cover liability and insurance costs.

Catalina Express requires any dog that travels on their boats to be muzzled. Perhaps the traveler had encountered policies like that in the past and was being cautious/proactive when walking the dog in, rather than the dog really needing it.