Teaching stranger danger.....to a labrador

[Madblondedog]

Is this possible? He loves everyone, which is lovely but he'd be scarily easy to steal. He's got good recall but I still get nervous when anyone gets near him as he would just go willingly if they produced good treats.

[ownerofagingerfurball]

Ddog1 doesn't even need treats to be tempted to go with a stranger. If they make eye contact she wags her tail and goes towards them. If they smile/laugh/stroke her she will sit/roll for a belly rub/lick them/follow them for miles
I'm sure people think she is starved of love and affection.

Sorry, I can offer no help, but you're not alone!

[Cirsium]

I worry about our very friendly staffy boy. Not just about theft but if he did his over exuberant welcome to the wrong person and they freaked out about his staffyness. We are lucky to have some very quiet walks nearby and I put him on a lead as soon as we spot other people.

I suppose a good recall is the best you can do - perhaps train by enlisting friends with treats while you always have something even better. I have also taught ours 'straight on' if i want him to go past something without paying any attention to it, mainly when he's on lead. 'This way' usually gets him to come back to whatever track i'm on if he wanders too far. To make him stop, stand and wait for further instruction/me catching up he has a pretty good emergency 'stop!' However he is only 2 and I haven't done nearly enough practice with him since 9-month old DD arrived. DH lets him away with murder on walks so he is definitely not 100% on any of it.

[TooOldForGlitter]

If the recall is good then the dog isn't in a position to be taken. If recall isn't reliable don't have him off lead.

[Madblondedog]

His recall, as long as someone doesn't have treats in his face, is spot on

Glad I'm not alone.

He just believes all people are lovely

[daisydotandgertie]

But that's the point of him. That's what labradors believe!

You won't be able to train it out of him, they've been bred for years to cement the behaviour in them. Tackle it another way and make sure your treats are always better than anyone else's could possibly be, that his recall is properly faultless and that you never, ever leave him anywhere which is less secure than Colditz. That's how I keep mine safe.

[Madblondedog]

Yeah I've got really strict on him coming back even when I know the person I can see in the hope that eventually he will ignore others.

I do spent a fortune on treats so no worries there, they're usually pretty good

[lavendersun]

Lavender dog's finest friendly moment has to be when the UPS man came back to the house 10 minutes after delivering my parcel.

"sorry to bother you again but could you come and get your dog out of my van, she is in the passenger footwell and I can't get rid of her"

We had a lot of land at that house and had an electric dog fence some way from the house so she had a lot of room to run around in but never went far. He was near the house on the drive.

He did give her a treat every time he came though! She adores everyone.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

The mobile mop spends his entire walk trying to gift himself to other families.

[Noitsnotteatimeyet]

Ddog (2 yr old Toller) is polite but aloof with other dogs unless they're his special friends but is convinced all humans will automatically adore him. When he was little he'd bounce up to complete strangers in the park, drop his toy in front of them, sit beautifully and then do this pantomime of looking up at the person and then looking meaningfully at his toy and then back up at the person again. The vast majority of people thought it was charming, laughed and played with him which made it very hard to train out of him as he was being reinforced so often with play and attention. He's better now but I will still call him to me if I see dog-less people approaching

[Madblondedog]

Lavender thats brilliant

I am glad its not just mine!

I am hot on it and don't let him get near dog less people but it would be nice if he ignored others as then it would be a little easier.

Sounds like his friendly nature is here to stay and I love him the way he is, so we will just have to keep doing what we're doing.

[CreepingDogFart]

I have this exact same fear with my lab.

[lavendersun]

I think the poster upthread has it really - these labs have been bred to befriend the world. Never mind all that retrieving business .

Wouldn't change her for the world, she is now 11 and still completely unspoilt. Smiles at snarling dogs too, better that than the other though for a family teddy bear of an animal.

DH found some random delivery man sat on the lawn playing with her a few months ago - her sole purpose is to be a friend.

[Madblondedog]

Ddog came with me to an event the other week, I had to briefly tie him to a bench where I could see him to go pass someone something. Friend was keeping an eye on him too as she knows how much I worry.

Turned around to see him surrounded by children, on his back, getting his belly rubbed. We don't have DC yet but he seems to instinctively know how to be around children

[ChairRider4]

Ah I have a lab but he is a funny bugger about people some people he adores mainly regular dog walkers we know or anyone that looks like them

But then there's a certain look of man (and I swear it's tied into a dog that snarls owner look ) and some other people he will just ignore

Have noticed prefers women over men (bar my boys and one guy in woods )

[Pigleychez]

My lab is the same! Gets quite upset if someone just walks past and doesnt make a fuss of him. He's only 5mths old so generally people do stop and make a fuss!

He thinks everyone and anyone should be his friend :)

[HenDogismylife]

Mine doesn't even like strangers yet still attempted to climb into a car yesterday! He just loves being in the car and I'm guessing saw the wide open door as an invitation to join the young boy on his driving lesson.