No, the way it sounds is like she is annoyed that someone can come into her property without her dog barking, and her dog is outside with an unlatched gate (or no gate?) where people CAN come inside. It also sounds like if that person does come into the property that the dog should ignore the person (which is kind of a contradiction to wanting the dog to bark at them?). She also wants the dog to ignore people who stick their hand over the wall to make nice with the dog. Again... this is nothing more than obedience under distraction and it will go out the window when you're not there to correct it with proper timing every single time, and even then it's 50/50 as to whether it sinks into the dogs head WHEN THE DOG IS ALONE.

You could train him to ignore people when you're watching him, but he'll fall back on genetics, most likely, when you're not around. AND STOP YELLING! (JOKE)

I agree with the obedience under distraction and the 50/50 part when the dog is alone. I do really think she was a bit misunderstood though.
I think she wants to know how to train this when she is there and she also knows the odds of when she is not home.
Therefore, could we give her the advice she is looking for: Which is how to start trying to train the behavior (ignoring people and treats) while she IS present?

Same way you train anything else in obedience. When the dog goes to someone sticking their hand over a fence (even if you have to set up the situation) recall the dog n if the dog doesn't listen then correct the dog for disobeying a recall (long line or e-collar... although most dogs figure out that the long line means they better listen n recall fine when there's a line). Maybe this isn't as obvious to other people as it is me when I say it's "obedience under distraction"? In which case I apologize.

I agree with Carol. I'm lucky enough to know Judy better than that! Time to call off the dogs, so to speak.

I think people were put out by her calling him "the village idiot" when she was only being facetious. Also, someone mentioned PPD and then everyone jumped on the bandwagon.

Those of you who have been on this board awhile should know that Judy will accept good advice. The reason why she hasn't been accepting some of the answers she got is because they were answers to a question she didn't ask, IMO.

I just had to speak to this because I hated seeing people thinking Judy didn't love her dog (she DOES, oh does she!!) or assuming that she thinks her dog is stupid (she doesn't) or that she doesn't appreciate his friendly side (she really, really does.)

You know how they say dogs resemble their owners? Well, Judy's got a good heart...just like Gunnar does!

Judy, I meant to add this link to my post above, and Janice's post reminded me: http://www.leerburg.com/poison.htm (poison proofing).

And Mike, I'm glad to hear I'm not off the mark as far as these things being taught as obedience.

I understand Amber, I don't know about others, but I myself see ALOT of dogs n ALOT of handlers, n ALOT of people wanting their dogs to behave a certain way when that dog is not destined to behave that way. When I made my own commentary on PPD etc, it wasn't so much as referring to her dog as needing protection training or bite training, but rather I treat any dog that way, n when it's not a biting dog then I still apply the same logic to the training. If I want a dog to bark at someone stepping on my driveway, safety tells me that following a bark is a bite, even if it's not intentionally trained that way, the bark comes from defense. I don't want a dog barking at someone out of defense when I'm not around and that person can come on the property, because all that has to happen is the dog feel cornered for 1 second n you have a bite and a law suit. Not saying that's what Judy's dog will do, but if I have a dog that barks at people, which she DID mention in her original post, I don't want anyone to be able to approach the dog without a fence between them just for liabilities sake. If she wants the barking and protective stuff out the window n just focus on the dog ignoring people then that's a whole 'nother situation and as I said before and as Jenni mentioned, dogs fall back on genetics. So unless I am trying to create this image that my dog is a mean dog that nobody can approach, I really don't care if a dog is social with people because it is better than the alternative, especially in a situation where the FedEx guy can get to my front door with my unsupervised dog in the yard.

A better way perhaps for Judy to have approached this topic is as an obedience question... "how do I stop my dog from going to strangers when called", rather than as a "my dog let the FedEx guy get to the front door without alerting me" type question.

JM$0.02

The poison proofing Sandy linked should be good! You could also start correcting your dog for reacting to distractions like someone directing their voice at your dog during training.

I don't know how effective it'll be in teaching your dog not to accept affection or treats from strangers, but you could certainly try (there's been some good advice in this thread).

I personally have one of those "love everyone" dogs myself, and I just don't bother trying to make him more aloof. He is what he is. (I'm not trying to criticise you though, I'm leading into something here) I always thought that if our house was broken into, he'd lead the thief around, showing off our valuables. But a few years ago we left our front door wide open by mistake and our neighbours called the cops, who then came to check on the house. He didn't even let them on the porch, let alone in the house. He's a golden retriever mix, who normally begs to be loved by everyone, and he stood like a rock in the doorway snarling, all his hair raised. (The officers told us all about it) The police had to call us and have us remove him so they could check our house - as if they really needed to after that display. Heh.

My point is, even if your dog is seemingly a big suck, you never know. (Not that I think you want a PPD out of him or anything)

Carol, a helper IS NOT the right way to go for this dog, this dog will go into avoidence INSTANTLY with any kind of pressure (i'm talking a stranger with a tug), like i mentioned, i've met gunner, he's the perfect family pet, i own one almost like him. Judy, i know the "right" answer isn't coming to you, if you think you want "more" dog, just add another dog to your household with the temperament you want. Gunner is a nice pup and a good dog for you, enjoy him for what he is, that's all he can give you,
AL

Cool, I am glad that someone knows this dog and can offer advice based on first hand knowledge.
I recommended a helper because the helpers I work with and learn from would first evaluate and "interview" the handler before actually doing anything like this. Isn't that the way it should be?
I have watched them turn people down that were wanting to "test" their dogs, saying that the dog did not have what it takes (this is just after watching the dog interact and finding out history) so they did not want to do anything to negatively affect the dog.