Inappropriate dog touching

[LeonardosYoungerModel]

if one more child or adult touches my dog without asking I may scream. Dogs are not toys!!!

Shes very young and a very family friendly breed. I’m socialising her at the moment and doing first walks. I’ve had her breed before and I know that if not properly trained they are a sodding nightmare (bouncy, bitey and big).

It’s a sodding bloody nightmare. Every child, person, stick insect and tosspottingwankweasel going seems intent to not only approach her and touch her, but also encourage her to jump up!!

Half the time they don’t even ask but when they do I’ve said no and they do it anyway!!!!!!! I’ve taught her to ‘place’ between my legs so people have to get level with
my fanny to touch her, and they still do it! Get your head away from my fanny!!!!!!

Why are people so damn thick?! AIBU to think that if it is clear the owner does not want you touching their dog, then you do not touch the bloody dog?! And you definitely do not touch any dog and more importantly do not let your bloody toddler touch a dog without asking but particularly when the owner has said no?! And you don’t bloody put your head near someone’s bloody fanny (thankfully not literally at the moment) to pat their dog who is ignoring you?!

He was “asleep” when he’s awake he can have cuddles and play with our dogs and race around the beer garden with the local pub dog. He’s being socialised.

They walked in straight over to a sleeping tired puppy and woke him up!

Of course people should ask, but you want her socialised, so....

This is the problem with dog complainers - the OP is literally in the process of training her dog NOT to behave in the way you describe and people are hindering this.

So you are complaining about her being annoyed that people are preventing her from training her dog. Talk about damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

The Kennel Club is not the be all and end all of training. In fact it exists more to represent and regulate breeders rather than people with family pets. Most reputable trainers and behaviourists advocate the 1 in 4 rule when allowing direct interaction. Apart from anything else it teaches the dog that they also cannot approach everyone they like the look of and can only do so when permitted. It's great for that but no good at all when people just refuse to listen to the owner. I was once sworn at when someone fully swooped on my puppy and I said "Please don't do that". She had just come out of the pub though.

Feeding another person's dog is unacceptable.

I love dogs, don't get me wrong. But if dog owners want to be able to take their dog to busy places full of humans like shops, cafes, pubs etc. they have to accept it is going to attract attention. There are inevitably going to be humans who want to touch the dog and some will not understand that one should ask first. They are not thick as pp suggested, they just might not be familiar with dogs,how they are trained etc. Not every one's world centres around dogs!

Exactly this!!!!!!

I want her to ignore people. I don’t want every Tom, Dick (heavy emphasis on this one) and Harry touching her and encouraging her to greet them.

YANBU. I also hate it when dogs touch me. Too many bad experiences. I obviously try to avoid dogs.

I've had multiple dogs over a period of 40yrs and have never had this happen. Weird thread. People always ask if they can say hello before touching any of my dogs.

I have the most tactile looking dog, think fluffy cuteness with daft batty eyelashes. He's also super human orientated but only if he knows you/you have approached appropriately/read his signals. He's actually a bit nervy and can can reactively bark/growl if something sudden happens from the side/rear. I live in fear of him being accused of being aggressive due to someone rushing up to stroke him. I am no wallflower and perfectly able to assertively tell people no but some people just move so quickly and others ignore you. So..... I'm pleased some people have never had this happen. But for those of us with cuteness personified pups let me tell you it does.... and it's a problem....
Op my only advice is to bat unwanted hands away and use a 'teacher voice' "I told you NO"....

You’ve just had different experiences. I’ve had dogs just as long as you and have had people touch them without asking. I’ve also had the do it straight after being asked not to. One of whom immediately tried to unclip the lead to steal the dog.

So tell them, why are you telling us? We are not touching your dog.

When we’re out we are minding our own business, he’s under the table, perfect manners, we are approached and interrupted, why do we have to stop going to quaint places and shopping courtyards because people have to touch or feed an animal that’s not theirs?

Recently there was us and a family at opposite ends of an otherwise empty train carriage, we had to stop a child from getting under the table at least 5 times to get in his face and pet our dog. I told her parents he wasn’t friendly just to get her to take the child away. I don’t want anyone petting or feeding him. It’s not encouraged.
People who can’t stop touching them they people’s things should not be allowed in busy places. You’re victim blaming!

I'm asked first about 99% of the time. My current dog is extremely human-friendly but my previous one had been horribly abused in her previous life and didn't trust new people, so I always pre-empted if I thought someone looked like they wanted to approach her - and she wore a 'nervous dog' collar.

And when they’ve been asked not to touch it they should stop. They don’t have an entitlement to touch it just because it is there. They are not for ‘everyone’. ‘Everyone’ can get their own puppy. If you told me that my puppy was for everyone you’d be told to piss off.

I don’t want to “know” about dogs. I just want dogs to be totally safe in public, even if they attract unwanted attention, and not foul pavements, playing fields etc.

Dogs are not children. They cannot be compared.

My dog is very cute and fluffy. So many people stroke her and tell her she's gorgeous I swear she thinks walks are actually for fan meet and greets. She loves it 😂

"To the pp who lumped all 'bull breeds' in together, please don't do that. I've known many staffies who have been the biggest people pleasers. It's all to do with how well a dog is socialised."

Absolutely correct. I've had a Staffy who was an absolute angel and loved all humans and now have a Staffy-Labrador cross who's even more angelic and adores every human she meets.

I met a gorgeous dog the other day who was wearing a harness that said "I am friendly", so he was obviously of the same mind as your dog.

I never said that people touching dogs after being told not to is OK. That child's parents were really stupid.

Victim blaming is a bit strong.

Tbf I’ve voted yanbu because I would hate that BUT my dog was super cute, fluffy and friendly and everyone wanted to say hi to him but I don’t remember anyone ever not asking!

Put on one of those leads/harnesses that says "aggressive dog" or something. People will soon back off.

We’ve got 2 large breed dogs, both look very different - one handsome and the other cute. I find there’s a mix of people wanting to interact. Some do ask but others just dive right in and touch them. Or, a new one I find happens particularly in cafes, parent and small child will come over and hover, dogs are generally asleep one under the table and the other beside it. Dogs ignore humans, humans keep hovering and eventually we’ll cave in and ask if they want to say hello to the dogs and they always say yes so we direct them to the handsome one beside the table as he loves children more than the cute one under the table does!

Can you swerve them, go off the path, obviously avoid, use your words?! I’d be speaking to people before they got so close that their head was in line with my fanny! My current dogs were possibly over socialised after having a very dog/people aggressive dog who needed to be kept under very close control, but they ignore people now, which is exactly what I prefer.

Did you train them to ignore? If so, how?

Even worse when you own a horse - public seem to think kids have the right to not just touch but to feed them.
My horses have been fed things that are harmful to them & I know several people whose horses have died after being fed.

People think their kids have the right to touch/feed animals just because they want to and some how the owners owe them this 'experience'