To get irritated by people who touch your dog without asking for permission!

[ohsheglows]

We have a puppy. A very cute puppy but he loves jumping up at people to say hi on walks. We're trying to train him to ignore people, so in the advice of our puppy trainer, we sit in a park and teach our puppy to settle and ignore people. SO many people came up to our puppy and start petting him without asking us, despite us having a big yellow badge on his lead saying 'training, do not approach'. Argh. We even had one lady have a go at us after we said sorry, we're training him, saying we were depriving him of human contact and she does this with every dog! 🤦‍♀️

Do you find that people do the same with your pups/dogs?!

Yep - you just need to be thick skinned about it.

My dog is a rescue, who is reactive to strangers (it’s actually more of an issue in the house, outside he just keeps out of touching range and doesn’t react) you’ll be there standing in front of him going, he’s scared of people and they’ll try to go round you still 😐

Yep all the time - (that lady will also be the one to frown and ask why your dog that no longer looks like a puppy is jumping up at her in a few months time!)

Everyone will know better than you on how to train your puppy. dont listen to any of them.

Big smile on your face and move away

More annoying for me was when one random stranger stopped to say hello to my puppy, how cute he was etc, AND THEN PICKED HIM UP!!!!!
Like what the hell do you think you're doing?

Yes, and just as irritating are the morons who walk between me and my dog when I am training him. It's always men. I know it's a free country and a public place but those of us who bother to train our dogs should be encouraged, surely, not smirked at by some prat who never bothered.

My pup is the other way around,
She literally adores people and goes running over the say hi! She also gets loads of attention because she's a Samoyed so very beautiful 😍

People don't read those leads and badges - they're a lovely idea but in reality they're a total waste of time unfortunately.

You need to be prepared to offend people and stand up for your puppy. If you don't want people to fuss him you need to say that when they approach - move your puppy away if necessary.

It happens all the time in my experience.

Don't worry, it will pass! In a few weeks you'll be shouted at because your dog wants to say hello to everyone it meets.

Can you get a bright colour harness/ jumper saying assistance dog training? People would be more understanding... sadly.

Agree with the PP. I have a nervous dog and I think part of her issues stem from people randomly reaching out to touch her when she was a puppy. I’ve even had one lady who my dog is especially frightened of now and will react by barking when she sees her TRY TO TAKE HER LEAD because she insisted that would ‘cure’ her. Fml you have to learn to advocate for your dog, say no and get them the hell out of situations ! It’s done wonders for my own self confidence.

My dog wears a bright red 'do not pet' harness. People still try and pet him and get offended when i tell them them to back off

I always ask the handler if it's OK for me to stroke their dog. It's for my safety as much as anything else.

My dog has lots of health issues and is very nervous. He will growl at people to stay back and then hide behind us. He is over 60 kg and extremely handsome. He wears a muzzle, nevertheless, we still get people wanting to pet him after saying how beautiful he is,and asking is he friendly. I still dont get it, he growled at you to stay away, he is muzzled, yet you still want to pet him.??
Please Fuck off!!!!!

She literally adores people and goes running over the say hi!

I hope you're training her out of this?

People coming over to pet your dog, no, but YABU to be irritated by people who touch your dog when it is jumping at them!

Equally annoying when people think their dog is the most delightful thing to grace the planet so practically force you to give attention to said dog or it jumps up you I received many a dirty looks when not engaging correctly.
Haven't always reacted that way to dogs but the more people treat them like babies/humans the more it turns my stomach.

If a dog jumps up at me I say hi without asking whether I can. If it's close enough to jump up at me (and is showing happy, friendly body language), I am going to assume it's friendly. I would never make a beeline for a dog though, so would not have interrupted your training.

As for my puppy (who I have on a lead and lies down when she sees people but wags her tail and begs them for attention with her eyes 😅), most people just smile at her. Some ignore. Some stroke her (which makes her jump up, I always warn them that she will). I feel happy with the mix, she sees that not everyone is interested, but gets some socialisation. She's very good at 'sit' normally (which we use instead of 'down') but the lure of new people is just too exciting—I'm assuming it'll get easier as she gets older.

We had the same issue - I do lots of garden centre/pet friendly shop training to teach him to ignore people but will often get people trying to stroke him as we walk past. I bought a training bandana which helped a little but some people missed - I've now got a harness that says 'In training - do not pet' really clearly and it has really helped. I've had people come up and ask about it but noone ignore it and pet him anyway so far!

Tell me about it. I have guide dog puppies and spend all my time saying "please ignore, she's in training!" I even get people saying " I know I'm not meant to distract them" then do exactly that 🤦‍♀️

I am equally annoyed by dogs that jump up at me and owners who can't control their dogs. Or dog owners that walk into my shop (which clearly displays a 'no dogs' sign ... obviously does not apply to assistance dogs) and then have a smug expression on their face as if I am meant to coo all over their dog. One woman actually told me off last week for being the only shop that didn't allow dogs ... good, that gives you plenty of other places to shop. .

I wish owners would keep their dogs away from people! I have an adult son with LD and he is very frightened of dogs and does not want them running up to him. Unfortunately even on footpaths, many people leave their dog off lead and allow them to run up to him even when I ask them politely to keep their dogs with them. I am told: 'Oh he shouldn't be frightened', 'He is just friendly or wants to say hello'. All this while my non verbal son is clearly terrified and is surrounded by carers trying to reassure him.