Will,

I have seen your picture AND Fetz, You are an intimidating looking guy. (Please don't take offense.) I can't BELIEVE that ANYONE would just walk up to you and grab at your dog.

I am AMAZED when I see people just walking up to ANY dog and grabbing or petting it. I have children and rule of thumb is..KEEP your DISTANCE and ASK to touch the dog.

I had my child pet a ROTTWEILER. Yes, you read correctly. I sat and observed the dog for a good hour or so. He was very calm. I kept my distance and asked the owner if the dog liked to be touched, how he felt around children, where he LIKED to be touched et cetera. The owner said it was okay and he said he was trying to get the dog socialized. The dog was in the sit position and I touched him first to see what his response was. I then allowed my child (under 5) to touch the dog. I, of course, positioned myself between the dog and my kid. The dog didn't give any aggresive cues - but still. I figured if he decided to bite it would be me first. Needless to say my mother had a heart attack when I told her.

Carolyn

I have seen them both too, and although I might try Fetz, I would be pretty leary of Will.... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Just kiddin....

I don't pet other people's dogs and by the same token they don't pet mine <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> I have only been asked if they were "mean" I just say yes and they leave the dogs alone!

The only dogs I interact with or pet are my own or dogs I am working with for Search and Rescue. I really was kidding about trying to pet Fetz..... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
To be honest, sometimes it is not the dogs I distrust, but the owners handling the dogs that make me more nervous at times.

When someone asks to pet mine and I say no, and then they ask if they're mean, I answer "No. Their Mother is." People usually don't say anything at all and just walk away. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

We don't allow adults to pet our dogs, but we do allow children. We don't have any small children; my neices and nephews are a state away. The only exposure any of our dogs get to children is out in public. We certainly don't want them to view kids as a bad or strange thing. Working them around playgrounds and school yards, when kids are screeching and running and acting looney, didn't seem like the best exposure method to us.
Oddly enough, we seem to luck into (mostly) very well behaved children that actually ASK first.

Hmm, I have problems with children petting, I only let my two little sibling siblings pet her when I'm holding on to Abi. This weekend my parents had a gethering for my sisters 16th. birthday. All these kids gathered around here crate and just stared at her and putting there fingers in. This really annoyed me so I took her out and these kids just kept following me and asking if they could pet her, when I said yes only while I held on to her because she has some socializing toc atch up on, they would just scream when Abi wanted to play. Now I don't let stranger kids play or pet abi unless they already know how to interact with animals.