My golden is driving me NUTS!! everytime we're outside and someone walks by, she tries to run over to them. She thinks everyone wants to pet and play with her. I've been keeping her on her leash and making her sit when ever she tries to go. I also tell people not to pet her. I thought that would make her realize that every person that walks up isn't going to play with her. But to no avail! She is just a very social dog and wants to meet everyone. She is a family pet but I still want her to be protective of us. What else can I do?

Trade her in for a GSD?

J/K. You can prevent her from approaching strangers, but you really can't change her basic nature. Without some drastic (and abusive) measures, she will continue to be a social dog. It's just something you have to accept.

Also, don't think that being social and friendly in public, on a leash neccessarily equates to being social and friendly to a midnight intruder.

Sounds like you have a very nice golden. There are things you can do (ask people to ignore her including eye contact, exercise her before meeting people, etc) but that friend to all nature is something that has been strived for with the breed. I know they are some of my favorites in the groom shop for this reason.

 Quote: Alyssa Myracle

Also, don't think that being social and friendly in public, on a leash neccessarily equates to being social and friendly to a midnight intruder.

or that not being friendly would equate to a dog that would protect against a midnight intruder.

i think with big dogs, you've got an effective deterrent, but unless they've had specialized training, it's probably not a good idea to assume anything more. i dunno.

 Quote: Alyssa Myracle

Also, don't think that being social and friendly in public, on a leash neccessarily equates to being social and friendly to a midnight intruder.

Yes, Yes, YES!

My GSD is a very social girl...loves people and is quite an attention hog. However, she has proved 3 times in her life that she will protect if necessary.

I had a golden mix as a child, and my Mom now has a lab of equally friendly disposition. Just because a dog is friendly does not mean it has no protective ability. A friendly dog can just as easily bark at strangers coming to the door, and size is a deterrent to those that don't know your breed. (Where I live, people are very ignorant about the dog breeds, most people around here keep dogs for protection and foster fence running and aggressive tendencies in their dogs.)

I'm not saying that any particular dog wouldn't have any protective ability - I'm just saying it isn't something I'd assume. Teagan has gone after people who could be considered to have threatened us (ex-k9 and k9-washout attacked, she went for the owner when he approached us), but I would never assume she would protect me. She's also chased off a creepy guy in a mask when me and dogs were alone in a park, and she will sit next to me and stare, silently, at anyone near us, and alerts if someone approaches, which I've had people tell me is off-putting, and most people who know her think she would protect me, but I personally would never assume that I can rely upon her to protect me, in any given situation. That's all I'm saying.

I fostered a Golden Retriever once for a coworker that had to go overseas. He was, well, a Golden. Friendly and happy all the time. I used to walk him 3 times a day and the last walk would be at night. I lived in a busy area of town. One night he surprised be my growling and barking nastily at a shadow as we walked past a pizza store. Turns out an employee had stepped out the back door for a cigarette and looked very suspicious hiding in the shadows. I was surprised this dog would do that.

Dogs get uneasy in situations that don't feel "right" just as people do. A golden is by nature less suspicious than a more aloof breed, but they still have it in them to feel uneasy. Just don't expect any dog that doesn't have years of special training to actually protect you. An alert is all you can expect from any untrained dog.

Goldies are family dogs but also working dogs, so they thrive on having "jobs" do to. If you would like to build on your dog's protective abilities, you should read Leerburg's discussion of the training you can do to teach the dog some basic protection behavior (not PPD stuff). I have a two year old male GSD and because he is still young, I have not introduced most of the methods Leerburg discusses. One exercise I have introduced is the Bark and No Bark commands. There is discussion of how to teach this on this site as well (pretty simple). First he learned the Bark command, which I taught along with a hand signal of bringing two fingers to my throat so I don't have to say "bark" every time. This is just ONE bark per request. In case you are wondering - my dog would not bark when someone came to the door. Nice actually in many ways, but I wanted him to give a warning bark. Once he had the Bark signal down, I asked him to bark each time someone rings/knocks on the door (I just signal to him as soon as I hear the door ring). Once the dog gets the fact that he is supposed to issue one bark each time someone is at the door, he anticipates and barks as they approach. So that's a nice warning to all. Then you can have someone (friend, neighbor) jiggle the doorknob and make noise like they are trying to break in. Once he matures a bit more/approaches 3 yrs old, I will add the exercises Leerburg discusses.

On the topic of social skills, I second what the others have said regarding the dog's nature. However, it is also important to work on the behavior you expect. I have been diligently teaching my overly social (and still immature) boy that I expect certain behavior in social situations (e.g., sit to be pet and don't mouth the hand that approaches you). The reality is that, like you, it is very rare that I will allow others to pet him because he has not yet learned impulse control. He's just got too much puppy love and playfullness in him (although it has thankfully improved a lot over the past 6 months even). Don't forget that it takes tons of repetition to get through distraction training - and what you are introducing (friendly people) is a HUGE distraction to a social dog. One thing I did in the house was to isolate him and have him earn the right to come out and be with visitors in the house. This is also discussed by Leerburg. Basically, when someone comes to the door, he is expected to go sit in a certain place (for us it is the landing near the entry). If as I open the door, he even budges and acts all wiggly (even if still on the landing), I tell my visitor to please wait one minute, that I need to put the dog away and will be right back. And I crate the dog. With consistency, he has extended his ability to manage his impulses. Still a work in process, but he has improved dramatically. In fact, while he may still need to be crated when the person first arrives, we do let him out after a while (30 minutes or so roughly) and then instruct him to go to his bed, and he just hangs out with people milling around. He has learned we expect him to be calm and hang out. Then he will get to be with us and get praise and petted (a bit!). Any overly excited behavior with guests and he goes back in the crate.

Whew! I have lots to say on this topic Hope this helps.

I forgot to address the wanting to approach everyone when you are out on a walk. We had that problem too, and still sometimes will is the stranger approaches him in that "oooh what a cute dog, can I pet him?" way. What's cute about my 2 yr old GSD is beyond me, but heck...that's just dog lovers assuming all dog owners want their dogs pet by strangers.

To help with the dashing to play with everyone problem, you need to have a command like "leave it" and "look" or whichever you use to pull the dogs attention away from the distraction and onto you. This is different from NO alone. When walking down the street and you see a person approaching with or without dog, you get into a heel, get dog focused on you (if you have a treat with you it can help a great deal) and walk a bit faster that usual. Keep the dog focused on you and mark the good behavior (praise is good or give a small treat, but keep moving). The dog will likely still look at the person/dog as soon as you see your dog's attention go to them, say Leave It and get him to LOOK to you. As soon as you get the eye contact, mark it with the treat. If you find that this doesn't work (can't get him to focus on you), then keep walking fast and let the collar yank as he turns to interact - repeat Leave It command, add a Let's Go or whatever you use, verbal praises; quickly get him to Look and then treat. There are a few other things I have used, like turning away when within about 10 feet and as doing so saying Leave It, Look and treat. Repeat, repeat, repeat. It takes a lot of repetition to learn...Leerburg says it takes 30 times for a dog to learn a command, but this takes even more because you are under significant distraction, and you are also training an expected behavior in a situation. So, keep at it. It WILL pay off. Just to give you an example, 6 months ago I could not play have my dog off leash in the front yard of the house (not fenced) - had to have the long-line and he would try to dash across the street to visit my neighbor if they stepped out of the car or something. Now, he can be off leash and he will stay put even if a jogger goes by with a dog or harder even, a kid walks up the street (LOVES kids). In fact, I can tell him to stay in the front yard (reinforced by hand signals) and walk across the street (reinforce with hand signal)and greet my neighbor and his new little puppy!! Then head back while he stays in the front yard looking at us very longingly. So, you have hope!!