Hello Gang, have a question for you guys, maybe some of you can take a stab at it.

When my dog was just 4 months old, I took him with me to Feeder's Supply for the first time, just to get him some exposure. As I was checking out, the lady at the register reaches down & hands Cato a treat. I guess they do this with all pups or friendly dogs people bring in, I don't know. But Cato naturally refused it, moved away from her as she was trying to give it to him and barked at her. No hackles were up or any fearful signs were shown, so I told him to leave it, got my recept & we left. She probably called me an a--hole under her breath, lol.

But if I read him correctly, he's basically saying, "Get that thing away from me, or get out of my face lady." lol. Is this a good thing? Any of you have similar experiences when strangers hand your dog food or treats? I realize some people spend a lot of time working on food refusal training, but Cato's response was natural, so I'm not really sure what to think.

By the way, he has very high food drive and naturally very edgy in his personality, confident & civil. He's not the type of dog that happily greets everyone, he's always in neutral. He's 4 yrs old now and turned out to be pretty exceptional. I may be getting excited over nothing, but I have nothing to do at work at the moment and the the thought just stunned me, lol. Thanks guys!

I had a malinois that wouldn't take food from people, and she totally ignored them. It was comical. Everyone thought she was a puppy GSD, so they'd harass her in the park (you know, like "here puppy! Cute puppy! Come here, you cute little munchkin-pie") and she'd not only NOT go to them, she'd give them this look that I SWEAR can be summed up only by "what an idiot!" LOL

It wasn't a mad look or aggressive look, she honestly just thought everyone but HER person was a total reject.

I would certainly not worry about it. Your dog has the type of personality I like in a dog, and my guess is a lot of other people here would agree that an aloof dog (not aggressive or unpredictable) is WAY better than a compulsive crotch sniffer.

Mike,

My female GSD (almost 9 years old) has always refused food treats offered to her by anyone outside of my family. (This does offend some people.) She is not aggressive about it but very,very aloof (always has been). Last night in obedience class, the trainer (has known her since 12 weeks old) used her as an example of how he likes a dog to respond to a food offer. On a sit at my side, he offered her a hot dog, she simply turned her face away from him towards me. When he started talking to lure her to take it, she turned her ears away too. He described her attitude towards him as "Whatever! You are nobody and nothing to me". He has told me how lucky I am she does this. I did not teach it, didn't have to. The trainer also knew her sire (police dog and French Ring) very well. He said you could leave a whole roast in front of him and he would turn away and not touch it.

Mine is very similar to these dogs also. Not aggressive w/out provocation, but won't take food from a stranger. At family gatherings, he'll "ask" me if it's ok for him to take a treat, and only when I say "it's ok" will he eat it. If I say "leave it" or even just shake my head, he'll turn and walk away from it. I don't know how he'd react if I wasn't there, but since these are people I know well, maybe he'd actually refuse it on his own, too. Hmmm. I can only hope.

I'd be pleased w/the dog, too, but then again, I don't mind what people call me under their breath;-)

Mike,
My young male did the same thing but you know if you smell those treats they hand out at those pet stores have absolutely no smell.When I take him to a holistic pet store that makes homemade treats for dogs, he would eat any treat they handed out to him.He knows the command leave it but if I don't say it he'll eat treats from strangers, it doesn't bother me.But I think those cheap treats in boxes have no smell and probably not much in taste and dogs love things with a nice or bad smell to it.But I have to say none of my dogs have ever taken a treat from pet stores other that homemade treat store.

Can someone give me a recipe for treats we can make-up at home , and which are not 'messy' to carry around? Perhaps something we could bake?

Thanks... we used to use chopped-up mini hot-dog sausages, but they are very, smelly, messy, and full of dubious ingredients (although Dolly does like 'em!)

Try Natural Balance rolls cut up in little pieces. They're not as messy and they're dry but soft. That's what I hear anyway...I'm too lazy to use treats...or too mean;-)

There's a thread going on about that right now , look it up

my dog is also like this. and if people persist in trying to get his attention (even after i tell them to stop), he will bark at them, telling them to back off.

but i don't know why this is considered desirable. he's aloof, he's a one-man dog, ok, so what is so great about that?

i've had dogs that love everybody, and they were at least as smart and had just as much if not more working ability. having a dog who loves everyone seems more advantageous to me.

My dog is a lot like Alice's- ignores, ignores, then warns. IMO, "what's so great" is that he's MY dog-not the guy at the coffee shop's, not my boyfriend's, not my cousin's, etc. He's not dangerous, per se, as long as someone besides me is using their brain. What I mean is, he does not initiate conflict with anyone, anywhere I take him. I only allow children to approach him; there's no reason, IMO, why my dog needs to tolerate affection from other adults. He's not the screw-loose type that's gonna lash out for no reason. He really doesn't want to bite, tries to ignore you as long as possible, but if you're really gonna push it...

If we all wanted Golden Retrievers, we'd get them. A lot of people don't think my GSD is a very nice dog, but that' s ok. I don't care what other people think of my dog, because he's MINE, and I like him the way he is. It's ok by me if he reserves affection for me and others don't see his sweet side. They don't need to-he's not their dog. Every time someone says to me "He's not a nice dog" (and I don't know why people feel the need to express this), I reply "Well, then I guess it's a good thing he's not yours."

I, personally, like having a dog that is in tune with only me; I don't want a family, so I don't want a family dog. Does that make sense? I guess if you're very social and like your dogs to be that way also then a dog who loves everyone is a good thing. For me, they seem like a burden. My APBT is like that, and I can hardly get her to do anything until she's had what she feels is sufficient attention from anyone within a 10 mile radius. When I'm trying to train her, this is just plain annoying. My GSD sits there and patiently waits for my direction, ignoring any and all passersby. Much easier to deal with. Call me lazy, lol:-)