I like your sentiment, too.

We buy the dogs, train the dogs, take care of the dogs, put up with the good and the bad ... and then someone that doesn't want the responsibility of a dog, thinks it is their "god-given" right to pet someone else's dog.

I love reading these forums ... and all of our discussions!

I have only once had strangers approach my GSD. This is while I was training the sit stay with distractions and had her sitting in a park (away from any children). Five little boys came running to her and tried to pet/play with her. Robyn did really well - she held her sit and accepted the petting, even giving out some kisses. But I sure returned fast to tell those boys to never again run up to a strange dog and pet it!! I didn't want to scare them but it seems no one else had told them this before.

From a non-working dog point of view there are still benefits to not allowing strangers to pet your dog.

I was in a AKC competition obedience class. On the long down, when a dog got up the handler would walk across the room and put the dog back into the down. (It didn't happen often.) Every single time it did happen the dogs on either side would break the down and start begging and sniffing the unfamiliar person for treats.

This really solidified in my mind that I don't want people to pet my dogs.

Of course, the only dog of mine that is matters with is also the one dog that MUST be petted. We have done stunt dog performances where the dog must be offleash - no collar either - and be trusted not to run into the audience to get attention. However, before and after a performance, she has to tolerate (she enjoys) being petted by literally hundreds of people.

The way I have learned to balance this is by refusing to allow people who are over-the-top to touch her. However, when I see a kid looking at her with those big "notice me" eyes, I ask the kid if s/he would like to pet her. No surprises that way. She has learned that she can't seek out attention, but it will come to her. I think this is a balanced way to approach allowing strangers to pet a pet dog of sound temperament.

You'd think our pup spent the day home alone with me instead of going everywhere with me when he sees a new person. He starts whining and pulling like I have to go see them NOW. I insist that he go into a Sit when he starts acting that way.

If they ask to pet him, I ask them to wait until he is sitting still 1st. If they walk by, even better IMO. He's a puppy, so I figure it is a long road, but he'll get there.

 Quote: Louanne Manter

You'd think our pup spent the day home alone with me instead of going everywhere with me when he sees a new person. He starts whining and pulling like I have to go see them NOW.

Louanne, I can really empathize with you.

I got my very first GSD puppy when I was 11 and she was the same way as your pup. She'd act like I didn't even exist if there was even a remote possibility of being petted by some stranger

This was especially frustrating during our obedience tests at the training club.
I always trained her on leash so I could correct her for breaking a stay and running off to be petted, but as we progressed through the training levels, she was expected to do sit-stays and down-stays off leash, with other dogs next to her, and an audience.

Needless to say, she saw these off-leash obedience tests as the PERFECT opportunity to socialize. She broke her stays 3 seconds into them, ran over to the audience and got petted by just about every one of the 30 strangers sitting in the stands

If I could back and do things over with her, I wouldn't have let ANYONE pet her EVER.

If your puppy/dog understands that strangers won't offer anything pleasant (petting, attention) and that the good stuff only comes from you, it really helps in training and in generally keeping the dog under control and focused on you

 Quote: Yuko Blum

is was especially frustrating during our obedience tests at the training club.
I always trained her on leash so I could correct her for breaking a stay and running off to be petted, but as we progressed through the training levels, she was expected to do sit-stays and down-stays off leash, with other dogs next to her, and an audience.

Needless to say, she saw these off-leash obedience tests as the PERFECT opportunity to socialize. She broke her stays 3 seconds into them, ran over to the audience and got petted by just about every one of the 30 strangers sitting in the stands

If I could back and do things over with her, I wouldn't have let ANYONE pet her EVER.

Yeah I totally hear you, I hooked up over the weekend with some members of the local GSD club and we did some open training with them. I was so surprised my 7 mos Mal did a real good job on the long down stay. She only went off near the end and it wasn't another trainer that put her off. It was the other dogs that distracted her. As she still has fearfromdogparkitis where she either wants to rassle the other dogs or bark at them when they are doing their things.

That is where my dog got most of her smooshy run up to people and get pet/treat behaviour was from me attending dog parks with her in the past.

I really wish that I knew better then, as I wouldn't be struggling to untrain/break 'the love everybody but my owner when the going gets tough' syndrome.

Sure I will let kids and others pet her but only when she is by my side in a sit. That way you the dog owner controls the action not the dog going for the action.

 Quote:

Originally Posted By: Yuko Blum
That was just a demonstration on how to socialize a puppy that needs it.

 Quote:

That's exactly what Ed said in the DVD.

Thanks for clarifying that!

Too much info in the last few months (6 Leerburg DVDs, 3 raw feeding books, Ed's enormous website, AND this forum:-)