Help ,strangers picking my dog up...

[EezerGoode]

I've a 19 week old pup..small and cute.going to training classes learning how to walk nicely...she's a bit of pug a bit of terrier and plenty of chihuahua..so we are out walking and obviously we get stopped quite a lot ,how old is she ,what breed is she etc etc....that's fine ...but also what is happening is people /children with parents with them.are just walking up to us ,stroking her without asking ,or worse just picking her up....they've done it before I say don't pick my dog up.....so obviously she's a puppy .she nips she's teething.she doesn't like being picked up..she's a dog not a doll..so if she did nip a child who grabbed / picked her up with out asking..who's in the wrong....

They are, for not asking. I give them The Glare.

I glare too.but they are to busy grabbing pup to notice...I think I need a teeshirt with...DONT PICK MY DOG UP...SHE BITES..on it

Even when they have asked you still need to be careful.
A family asked if their toddler could stroke my dog, I said yes.

The toddler walked towards the dog, gave him a stroke.
And when my dog started to walk away he pulled his tail.
My dog turned round and nudged him over which the dad wasn't happy about and said my dog wasn't normal. WTF!!!

Get the dog a T shirt with 'hands off' written on it .

It's hard .im not used to a small dog,had a whippet before..so all this fuss is new to me..perhaps I'm not being assertive enough..she's adorable and has a lovely nature,but I just wish people would say ..is it ok for my child to stroke yr dog...

I have a tiny dog and people do this all the time. If people start stroking I tend to either say "Oh God, no, you need to be very careful" as if she's a mad danger. Or I let them finish and say something like "God, that went well. She usually bites people she doesn't know. The last guy needed stitches". Or if I'm really in a bad mood I just say "Don't stroke my dog without asking".

When people pick up my dog (which she hates) I give them a death glare and say very slowly "Put my dog down NOW".

As you can imagine, I've had a lot of run-ins

That's awful that people actually pick her up. I thought it was bad enough when my Cavalier was little and kids ran up, practically diving down to stroke him.

Tbh I'd start saying "She bites" as soon as anyone looks like they are going to approach. That kind of handling is bad socialisation. I'd just get people you know to do some socialisation with on walks by pretending to be strangers - walking up and sometimes just talking to you, sometimes giving her a gentle stroke, then continue walking away.

Depends on how you feel about what strangers think. Walking our guide dog (big yellow lab golden X) when people start being ridiculous I put on my best brown owl voice "doggy is training/working right now so we need to follow the rules" and "he's been rolling in fox muck".

I don't care that people think I'm a bit weird about it but you might.

Also I need a photo to offer more advice though.

Im surprised how many ppl touch your dog without asking. A few do but many just take it for granted that they can touch.

But ultimately it is my problem if she did nip someone who picked her up even though I said don't...I taught my kids to respect dogs and they always asked permission before approaching a strange dog for a stroke..I wish other parents would afford me the same curtesy

I've had it a few times with young kids, and to be honest when a group suddenly pounds after you going "ooh, puppy!" it makes me jump, let alone the dog. I always say she's not good with children, and they back off.

Good morning...I'm surprised too..she's only 2 kg so I'm hoping she grows bigger to put people off..it's the smallness of her that's attracting people I think

And cuteness I imagine

Yes OP we would be delighted to see a picture of your dog to ascertain for certain the level of smallness and cuteness that we are dealing with here and advise you accordingly puppy puppy puppy squeeeee