CM's Daily Poll: Who Can Stroke Your Dog?

[CollieMan]

You're walking along, merrily minding your own business with your trusty canine friend at your side. As you walk past a local, he stops to stroke your dog. He doesn't ask, he just does it. Are you filled with joy that your dog must appear really friendly to all passers-by. Are you aggrieved that someone took a liberty with your dog? Let us know...

 

[CollieMan]

I'm of the "I allow it, but don't really like it, so tell the person for future reference." type. I try to be nice about it as, in the grand scheme of things, it's not a big deal. But I just prefer people to ask first out of courtesy really.

 

[bocephus]

I agree with the "common courtesy" rule
but
We have no problem with a person reaching out for a touch,(long as it is a friendly touch) other wise they get a little more than a kick in the shin:msnwink:

 

[Jean Cote]

Hehe, I wish everybody had the common sense of asking to pet the dog first.

For all you know that dog could have aggression problems!

 

[fletcher]

There are several distinct types of people that pass us, those that ignore us - great. Most "touchers" I come across are doggy people in the dog parks and they, as a rule generally wait for the extremely excited bouncing fluffball to calm down and sit and then pat him. I like him to have positive experiences with people. He is very confident, loves and wants to meet everyone he comes across and I think that is important. I do get a bit annoyed by people that just go "in for the pat" before he has settled into a sit position but usually only meet them once so there is no point in saying something. (obviously if I am likely to meet them again i would say something)

 

[CollieMan]

I do get a bit annoyed by people that just go "in for the pat" before he has settled into a sit position...

I hear ya! Even people who come to my home get strict instructions -- no talking to the dog, no looking at the dog, and no physical contact with the dog, UNTIL it has completely settled. If it jumps up at you, IGNORE IT. They all nod and then promptly ignore everything I asked of them.

 

[bipa]

Heh...heh... I don't really have this problem. As soon as someone gets within Little Joe's reactive radius, he goes into his manic, barking and lunging routine. Few people dare to continue to approach at that point, although I'm sometimes surprised when people stop and ask about whether he really would bite. At that point I can sometimes get Joey to calm down enough to accept a pat, but rarely. We're working on the reactivity, and his radius has shrunk quite a bit over the last 6 months. At the moment I'm happy if he can sit calmly and eat the treat thrown by a stranger from a short distance away.

My real horror scenario is a toddler running straight for my dogs with no parents within reach. I'm not worried about Bonnie since she's most likely going to just back away or sometimes allow petting and get in a few friendly licks. Even if she jumps up on a toddler, nothing horrible will happen since Bonnie weighs less than 10 kilos. She might be barky but has excellent bite inhibition. But Little Joe is a fear biter, has once already bitten in the past (not bad, but did break the skin), and will most likely do it again if I allow such a situation to develop. It's bad enough dealing with loose dogs running around, but uncontrolled young children really give me the shivers.

Hmm... guess there's no appropriate choice for me again. I'd need a choice like "If someone is brave enough to approach, and accepts all risks, then be my guest" :dogtongue2:

 

[storm22]

well just the other day we were walking the dogs storm and luka a black pug whos nearly two, we had four kids run out and chase at our dogs, they were on their leads, they love being around kids but poor luka got abit scared as hes soo young and they were trying to hit him and pull my dogs tail, and where were the parents? no where in sight but those kids followed us and kept trying to grab them, they didnt even listen to us telling them to go home and storm started barking (he doesnt really like kids grabing his tail and luka was getting stressed) but about four to five houses down the road they backed off and let us carry on but that really annoyed us. Im the kind that would rather have someone ask first only so i can calm storm down cause he loves meeting people and will lick when he isnt calm and its not a nice lick he makes sure he licked some skin off with his tounge lolz

 

[szecsuani]

I don't say anything, but I don't really like it...

 

[mopar53190]

I became used to it having a puppy, everbody loves puppies! I do agree people should ask before greeting, however I like to exposed my dog to other people so she does not develop aggression problems.

 

[addictinganimal]

It really depends on the situation. :dogtongue2: There are a few different scenarios:

1. Tank is a good, calm little boy that obeys me 100% of the time.
This happens most of the time, actually. :msngrin: He'll Heel on over to the person, since both of us are social and want to say Hi, he sits, the person greets both of us, no problem.

2. Tank is in a spazzy mood and goes all "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"ish.
We're currently in the process of weeding this behavior out completely. Tank will jump up and be overly excited about everything going on. The person will come over, and I'll tell them to stop. They keep coming. I get my cat-ears-folding-back-in-annoyance look on my face, and repeatedly tell them to give me a minute because he's in training. They either:

• Stop and wait for him to calm down.
• Decide he's some messed up case and leave, or otherwise get bored of waiting.
• Keep on coming, regardless of what I've said. :dogdry:

3. Tank isn't paying attention, or is otherwise surprised.
This happens at the dog park a lot, when little kids are involved and think nothing of running up to a strange dog and touching his face. My boy has never bitten anyone in any way other than play (mouthing), but him whipping his head around suddenly could look a lot like aggressive behavior. :msncrazy: Most of the time (actually, every occassion so far), I haven't had any previous warning either, which adds to the uncomfortableness of the situation.

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Dunno what to answer! I guess I'll go with Scenario #1, since both of us are paying attention and in control... most of the time. :msnwink: