When my pet dog was a pup, many people and kids wanted to pet him, and I obliged, becasue I wanted to socialize him. Now at 22 months, the only people who want to touch him are those who know him, and people who grew up with GSDs; others prefer to leave a large dog alone, so this works out well for all of us. If he has his ball in his mouth, I do not allow touching.

Do not allow people to pet your dog without asking. When they start to, just pull the dog back and explain why. It's hard for me to do this too though since either they catch me off guard or I just hate sounding rude but yeah. You could also just say that your in the middle of training her or whatever that what I say and they almost always say thing like "oh, I'm sorry", I just answer it's O.K.

Basically, I enjoy taking my dogs places and people are inevitably going to run up and pet the dogs without asking (like if I'm in line at a pet store in the middle of paying for my dog food or supplies and my dogs are in a down stay in front of me). That happened yesterday actually. I was in a pet store picking up the new weight pulling harnesses for my Malinois and my husky/Rott mix and I had my Mal and a female GSD from the local humane society in tow (I take dogs out on "outings" to the park and to the pet stores to give them a few hours break from the shelter to gauge their temperament, especially big less adoptable dogs like GSDs, Dobes, Rotts, etc). I had Zoso my Mal in a down stay, but the female GSD didn't know that obedience yet and as I was signing the credit receipt for the harnesses, a lady came right up and tried baby talking to them and petting them. I turned and told her to wait, which she did, but she had already got to both of them. Granted, if she would happen to get bit (unlikely, but you never know), it would be her fault in the dog's eyes, but when you've got a Malinois (i.e.-a small skinny hyper GSD looking thing), a GSD, or a big black intimidating looking husky/Rott mix, it's not quite like having a golden retreiver in the eyes of the law, ya know? If it was a pit or a purebred Rott, that person just signed the dog's death certificate with their lack of common sense, so yes, even though I greatly prefer to have people ask permission first, it's going to happen if you take your dogs out in public. I say prepare for the worst case scenario if you like taking your dog out in public and get your dog at least somewhat used to it so they don't freak out.

The reality is that there is nothing to gain and EVERYTHING to lose by letting people interact with one's dog.

I read this thread with interest. I know most people here have GSDs and Malinois. Don't you find that many people are a little leary of those dogs and will tend to ask you before trying to pet them? I've had rough collies and find that people tend to rush up while yelling, "Lassie," and start petting sometimes before I could get a word out (LOL). Kids were usually better about asking first. My dogs generally handled it very well but if I could see that the dog was leary of the person I would step in front of the dog (assuming I was in time) or stop the petting by politely telling the person to not pet the dog, backing away to break the contact if necessary.

Now with children, if they asked, I'd allow them to pet the dog after showing them the proper way to approach and pet a strange dog. If the child tried to pet one of my collies without asking my permission first, I'd stop them and use the occasion as an opportunity to teach them to ask the owner first and then ask the dog (Gave an opportunity to teach the child a little about how to tell if a dog wanted to be pet and how and where on the dog's body to pet).

"Don't you find that many people are a little leary of those dogs and will tend to ask you before trying to pet them?"


You'd think that would just be common sense, wouldn't you?
Nope, I've had literally dozens of idiot advance on me and me and my dog to try and pet him ( the worst one being some Goth lookin' teenager who actually bent over to try and hug my dog! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> ).
And beleive me, I don't look too approachable to begin with.
What is wrong with some people!?! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />
( I guess I should just walk up to children and pick them up and hug them, let's see how comfortable those same idiot parents feel with me making contact with their kids and not asking permission.....

Will, I think Fetz looks very cuddly and I have only seen him in pictures!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Maren,
Personally, I would never take a large shelter dog to a public place when a child might pet him, especially if I had another dog in tow. I realize that I may have far less experience judging dog's temperment and posture then you do, but the dog is an unknown quantity, and I would not take that chance. I am concerned about the law, but more concerned about the kid. There must be a safer way to gauge their temperment.

Elaine, in my experience, you are correct. Very few people want to pet my GSDs, certainly not without asking. They are almost always people who grew up with a GSD. My dogs are pets, so I do not have the same training concerns as the owners of working dogs. I just make my decision based on the individual dog's behavior.

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Will, I think Fetz looks very cuddly <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Funny, I was going to say the same thing about Will. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

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Maren,
Personally, I would never take a large shelter dog to a public place when a child might pet him, especially if I had another dog in tow. I realize that I may have far less experience judging dog's temperment and posture then you do, but the dog is an unknown quantity, and I would not take that chance. I am concerned about the law, but more concerned about the kid. There must be a safer way to gauge their temperment.

You are absolutely correct though I didn't fill in some of the information. That particular dog actually came from a home with kids under 5 and did just great with them (she was given up because the people didn't have time for a 1 year old GSD), so especially after I took her and my Mal on an hour and half hike, I felt comfortable with her and my dog on prong collars approaching strangers. The only kids she met were middle school age girls and the only reason I let them pet her because they and their mom were interested in adopting her. When I take shelter dogs on "outings," I make sure they get at least an hour run or hike in first so they are nice and calm before we try to go to a pet store and usually only then if the shelter knows about their background. But your concern is understandable as any shelter dog is a potential liability.