ive just been to the bakery,took flynn,left him  in a down outside the shop. hes in a gen-con (which most people think is a muzzle).anyway ive just had someone,see him & without even talking to him first just drop onto  their knees ,hugging him,with their face right up to his.
what happened to asking first?????
then the mother of the girl (who was about20,the girl not the mother) gave me a dirty look when i just took him away.
hes fine,but im annoyed,IF he had bitten her what then??????

That's one of my pet hates too!  You wouldn't go and touch someone else's umbrella, child, shopping bag, pushchair, so why their dog?  Regardless of the inherent dangers of touching dogs you don't know; it's downright rude.

i nwouldnt go up to any dog especially one i didnt know without at least talking to it first,wouldnt just drop to my kneess & try to hug it!

I think in this instance, if the owner can get in first, it's best to be very straightforward and take charge to protect the dog. Easier said than done sometimes though, isn't it!!
It might help to also explain the reasons behind not wanting peeps to just grab a strange dog, but some people will either not understand or get shirty, although others may take it on board.

I think some people still have this Disney comprehension of a dog, instead of understanding that they do come with a full set of teeth and that they can bite!! I love it when mothers have instilled in to their children to "ask first" - very sensible! :)

Lindsay
x

i couldnt trust myself to explain ;) on this occassion,i just wanted him out of there!

Its not just the possible bite that can cause problems.  I  witnessed a horrible accident years ago. The child was petting the dog and the dog, all friendly, jumped up and knocked the child to the ground cracking the childs skull of the pavement. It all happened so quickly there was no way anyone could have stopped it. 

ohhhhhhh! :O

I used to have a smilar problem with Nemo but people used to try and pick him up as well it really made my blood boil that people couldn't just ask me

If I child touches one of mydogs without asking, I always say, you should always ask before stroking a dog, even if the parent is standing beside them!!!!! :o :o :o Alot of kids walk away very quickly!!!
I also over praise the children that come up and ask!!!!!!
Lea :)

this was a 20year old (ish)"child".
i do always thank the child for asking if they do!
i like him to wear his headcollar because i like people to think it COULD be a muzzle & think twice!!!!

hes a lovely dog but hes not public propety!!!!!! afterall i lkie alot of cars but i dont just go & sit in them!!! :D :D :D

It really bugs me when kids walk past and run there fingers down the dogs back luckily my dogs are ok with kids

Oh yes. And run them the wrong way up the fur :( :( :( :(
Lea.

I'm afraid to say if they did that to my two girls they are liekly to have gotten told off by the dogs as well as me. :-(

It happened to me once with one of my GSD's, I'd tied him up outside the shop, just popped in to get some bread, and came out to find a young girl hanging round his neck with Mummy looking on and smiling.  I was fuming.  He's a great dog, and thankfully, loves kids, but he's also a very big dog, and this mother could have had no idea of his temperament.  I untied him, gave the mother a filthy look and walked off, couldn't even bring myself to speak.
It was drummed into me as a child, never to touch a strange dog, and I never have without asking.....I can't understand these people, why take the risk?
Lisa

I don't actually think that it's a good idea to leave your dog tied up outside a shop anyway :(. Apart from the fact that you are not around to supervise other folk with your dog - there is the very real danger of the dog being stolen. Times have changed and if someone got bitten ( even if it was their fault) then YOUR dog would be in trouble. There are a growing number of dogs stolen either to sell on, for breeding, as dog fighting fodder or to 'ransom' back to their owners - in my opinion the risks are just too high now  .

Yvonne

Completely agree with you Trevor.  I wont leave either of mine outside shop even though I know I could.  They are BCs so the likelihood of them being stolen is remote but I just dont want any tom dick or harry prodding them or trying to hug them.  One of them is only coming up for 18 months old and gets wound up very easily and he then has a tendancy to jump up which means someone could get scratched, which in turn of course means under the DDA if a parent complained he could wind up dead!  Just not a chance I am willing to take.

Claire

i would never leave my dog outside a ashop where i couldnt see him.EVER. this shop is a small bakery with a glass front,so i can leave him right by the door & can see him AT ALL timesw

Not being rude or anything, but most of the time the people who hug the dogs (especially kids) are the people who don't own dogs themselves, so they don't understand about some of the problems dog's can have (nipping, getting over-excited, jumping up etc.) and the dangers of not asking first. I know it may be hard sometimes, but coming out of the shop and just untying the dog and giving a filthy look will only make you appear snobby! (the people wont know what the look was for and will probably just think you have a stuck-up problem!)

Not trying to get at you... just showing you how it can appear from the otherside!

Hi Ana,

With hindsight, I agree with what you're saying.
Didn't think like that at the time though unfortunately.

Lisa

It bugs my dog as well - he tries to bolt if they do that which usually panics the child as well.

Well I am glad to say I took my 2 affies to the park today and they were cuddled by dozens of kids,,,ALL OF WHOM ASKED FIRST! People in my area must be unusually polite :D

Could be dangerous - one of the reasons I muzzle - because Copper's a small dog, lots of children run up and grab him because they think he's a pup (mostly big dogs on our estate).  Cops does not really like children and for him to be grabbed round the neck and kissed/half strangled/attempted to be picked up, does his temper no good at all.

To be fair to the dog he tolerates it but he is unpredictable and could bite. If I warn the kids off I'M the one who gets snipped at by the mothers that "they're only kids".  Yes, but my dog is ONLY a dog and he may not understand that a half nelson hold was only meant to be playing.

Sorry if that sounds harsh.

CG

I have a 4 month old Westie puppy who is very cute as people keep telling me.  Everytime I walk her people want to pet her.  I have had people banging on their house windows to catch my attention and then come running out asking questions and wanting to pet her. 

I want her to be socialable but I also want to be able to walk past people in the street without her expecting to get some love!

Last night I was walking her and some young kids came running up behind us and started touching her, 1 even stood on her paw.  I was mad, there mum came up and I did lose my temper a bit saying how would you like it if I stood on your kids toes.  Yes I do see Maggie as my baby.

I might get a T-shirt printed up asking them to leave the dog alone! Wonder if it would work?

I hope all these children are washing there hands after touching all these dirty doggies!  Today I took my dog down to nursery after giving him an off lead run in the fields on the way.  I don't tie him outside the nursery in case he jumps up and scratches a child so I put him under my arm and carry him in.  All the children make a fuss of him which he doesn't seem to mind and one child reached up and touched his head and immediately the woman who was with him (could have been his childminder) scolded him and ordered him back into the toilets to wash his hands after touching our dog.  I couldn't believe anybody could be so petty, its not like he is a flea ridden scabby dog or anything and he only had a bath a few days ago and was all white and fluffy.  That kid probably picks up more germs playing at nursery than he does off a dog. :-)

It is strange, but there is even a section on children and dogs in the good citizen tests that list everything that you should watch for with children and dogs. Most are sensible, tell the child not to scream near a dog, stare at a dog, take away his food etc, but one says that they must wash their hands after touching the dog. Well in most average households you would forever be in the bathroom washing your hands, as most kids are always petting the dog. Given how much contact kids have with germs i always think some parents are a bit obsessive.

And dont you think the ones that are always made to wash their hands after touchin anything are the ones that get ill the most. My 2 kids average about 1 day off a year ILL, not including routine dentist, hospital, doctor appointments. And I have 2 dogs and 2 rabbits. And i certainly dont expect my kids to run up stairs everytime they touch the dogs. Besides My bathroom isnt big enough for their beds/table/chairs.TV etc etc etc that would need to be in there as they wouldnt spend anytime anywhere else LMAO :D :D :D D: :D :D :D :D :D
Lea :) :)

Although the Tibetan Mastiffs are big dogs children seem to like the over the back tail, it seems a magnet for childrens fingers, mine are well used to children I have 7 grandchildren under 7 years old, but to go up to a large dog and start pulling at its tail is not a good idea, the parents seem very put out if you ask the children to please leave the dog.

You could get one printed with'dog in training, please do not distract him/her"

Gosh good idea Sheena
I hate this too - people take public ownership - a bit like when you are pregnant and give unwanted, unsound advice.
I have labs and people think - oh lets pat them. Well our boy is very protective and hates unwanted attention. He is a one person dog - my daughters, and he wont snap or anything if anyone pays him undue attention, but he is very clever with his tail. Unwanted attention means tail goes into overdrive and whilst people think he is pleased with the attention they can't get near him because his tail is whip like. He's a clever boy. Our bitch will turn her back when she's had enough and then the boy will be in front of he whishing the tail. Perhaps at some point we might fit attachments to the tail i.e. spikes, leathers, birch etc!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As my staffie makes grunting noises she sounds like she is growling & not many people say hello!

My friend has a dobe who will knock over kids (being friendly) with his head & start licking them - the kids dont mind this & usually find it funny! & my friend has had to deal with a few irate mums when he has just knocked there child over :-(

She tells them that the children should not come up to strange dogs anyway!

Jo

Yes and the strange thing about this is that the childs grandma and grandad own their own farm with cows and horses etc so no doubt the child will pick up a few germs along the way when he goes there :-)

Don't want to upset anyone, but i really don't mind when people come up and stroke my dog as he loves it, most people ask which is nice. As for the germs from dogs my brother in laws wife has just had a baby and they have lots of pets, the advice they were given were children brought up with animals build a stronger resistance to germs.

louise123 IF people ask, I dont mind. What scares the he!! out of me is that my dogs probably wont do anything(I say probably but you can NEVER be 100% sure) but what about the dogs that WILL. What goes through my mind is if they do that to my 2 and they dont do anything and I dont say anything. What happens when the kid goes up to a nasty dog, that is not muzzled and will bite as soon as look at the kid(and unfortunatly there are some around where the owner just couldnt care less :( ) At least if I say 'you should always ask before stroking a dog' maybe if they go up to a dog that does not like kids. they will ask before hand and not get bitten.
I dont mind people stroking my dogs at all. What I dont like is people not asking me first!!!! LOL
And the people that ask, are praised like mad (ok maybe I take to many training tips from my dog LMAO)
Sam has been brought up with Gemma and now Beano. James had about 6 weeks without a dog. SO proves the point really. they are VERY rarely ill!!! LOL
Lea:) :) :)

I dont like it when people com up without asking either, Leo doesnt really like strangers so usually they would be lucky to get near him as he runs away behind us - he is good with kids and if they could get close enough probably could hug him as he doesnt mind peoples faces around his although if it had been my old dog she hated people around her face and would have been likely to snap - although she did let strangers stroke her

I totally agree with you Lea that people should always ask to stroke your dog when you are out.  Many years ago I heard of a child who approached a GSD from the back and patted it on the rear.  The dog bit the child because it had recently been stung by a bee and was feeling rather edgy.