"Don't Pet Me"/"I'm Working" Vests?

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#41
I've seen Megan work with her dog, she is very capable of fending off strangers. However, having a reactive dog myself I can vouch for her that it gets very overwhelming and stressful constantly doing that. As sucky as it is, there is no other way to help our dogs get past their issues other than bringing them in public and anything that helps make that easier is worth a shot.
Exactly. And when I take him somewhere (to the park, to the store, on a walk, whatever), I have to be 100% focused on him and what's going on around us - and that's not always easy. I am constantly putting myself in between and telling people that "No, you can't pet him." and "No, don't touch my dog." And it gets exhausting, and it gets stressful. And if something that says "Don't pet me." stops one person from approaching him and trying to pet him, well, that's one less person that I have to deal with.

A vest/patch/whatever is not a magic fix-all, it's just an aid.
 

Doberluv

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#42
Your dog is reactive I still personally do not think putting a sign on your reactive dog is a good idea muzzle or not.

That invites people to touch your dog. You should be in control of the situation at all times and if random people think your dog is safe to pet you have no excuse if someone scares her enough to get a reaction before you can speak up.
I agree with this. If your dog has any shyness or reactivity toward people, petting at all isn't the best way to begin a process of desensitization and conditioning. There are some steps to do first which lead up to that. Those steps, which incorporate distance and making the trigger milder, should be gone through systematically and carefully first before people reach out and put their hands on the dog. That the dog has a muzzle on is not a help. The muzzle already can make the dog feel vulnerable as it is because he knows he can't "defend" himself. Now imagine a person coming up close and then reaching toward him. Too much too soon. Yeah, the dog can't bite but this won't help the dog overcome the issues. It can cause a degree of shut-down because it's flooding the dog with the object of his reactivity. It can actually cause the problem to escalate later on.
 

yoko

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#43
First, I have other ways to get people to pet her so no, I'm not getting the vest. It's a thought if I ever decide I'd like to possibly get more human interaction for her but I don't plan on doing it anytime soon.

-Yes, I sometimes do take her to places where I know she'll get a pet because that's helping her issues. I'm sure she doesn't love it but it's working, she's becoming more accepting of strangers and actually seeked attention a few weeks back from some one. I reward her as well.

-I am trying to help her, to see getting a pet isn't a bad thing, that being near a person isn't a bad thing and if allowing people to pet her/reward her will do that, I'll do it. It's been working. We still have a long way to go but I've seen positive progress.
I'm not against working with your dog.

But I think that using the uniformed public is a bad idea.

Yes your dog has a muzzle but if a kid runs over to pet the dog with the big pet me sign on it and spooks your fearful reactive dog a muzzle punch could be pretty bad too.

But pretending like the dog doesn't have issues and inviting anyone and everyone to pet and interact with the dog doesn't do anyone any favors.

I live in an insanely dog unfriendly place and most incidents that caused it to be like this were by people who couldn't admit they were putting their dogs in situations they should not have been in.
 

TahlzK

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#44
I'm not against working with your dog.

But I think that using the uniformed public is a bad idea.

Yes your dog has a muzzle but if a kid runs over to pet the dog with the big pet me sign on it and spooks your fearful reactive dog a muzzle punch could be pretty bad too.

But pretending like the dog doesn't have issues and inviting anyone and everyone to pet and interact with the dog doesn't do anyone any favors.

I live in an insanely dog unfriendly place and most incidents that caused it to be like this were by people who couldn't admit they were putting their dogs in situations they should not have been in.
I'm not pretending she has issues, I know she has issues. I don't understand where that part is coming from?

My country is very different from yours. I believe I could have a vest on her and not have to worry as much as you'd think. Most people don't come up to pet your dogs, it's rare to have a child run up to you though I can understand that may happen with a vest on, I'll take that in to consideration. As I said though, I'm not going out and buying a vest, at the moment it's something I might consider in the future, I may not do it.

Dob; What steps would you take? When would you know your dog is ready? Serenity doesn't react to people when we walk, she can walk past them just fine, she doesn't try to get away and she doesn't try to react.
 

Southpaw

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#47
I think I might just get this and attach it to her Thundershirt:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/83891680/do-not-pet-service-dog-patch-2x4?ref=pr_shop

That should be a pretty clear message. Universal line-through-hand should be easy to understand lol.

Then we're dual purpose - Thundershirt reduces the anxiety, people hopefully heed the message on the patch and don't bug us. Cheaper than a vest too.
I'm looking to train her out of the fear or at least make it not so..... sad. So maybe someday we could upgrade to a "please pet!" patch lol.
 

Red Chrome

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#48
My dog has a "Working Dog, Do Not Pet" vest. Its not my problem if people assume he is a service dog or not. He is a very stable.friendly dog but sometimes I just don't want people bothering him or me. They seem to respond better to that patch than the In Training ones. SDs definitely don't have the market on vests.
 

Doberluv

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#49
I'm not pretending she has issues, I know she has issues. I don't understand where that part is coming from?

My country is very different from yours. I believe I could have a vest on her and not have to worry as much as you'd think. Most people don't come up to pet your dogs, it's rare to have a child run up to you though I can understand that may happen with a vest on, I'll take that in to consideration. As I said though, I'm not going out and buying a vest, at the moment it's something I might consider in the future, I may not do it.

Dob; What steps would you take? When would you know your dog is ready? Serenity doesn't react to people when we walk, she can walk past them just fine, she doesn't try to get away and she doesn't try to react.
What does she do if she's fine with people walking close? Is it the patting or reaching out that bothers her?

For the most success, I would recommend that you get a trainer who understands positive reinforcement where it applies to learning behavior. That trainer can evaluate your dog and give you a plan...a protocal. Generally, you take whatever triggers your dog...what makes her react and you make it into a milder form of the stimuli. You use distance to help reduce the intensity of her reactions. So, you work at a distance at first and gradually work closer as she learns how to focus on you or something else, also making positive associations with the stimuli by pairing a tasty treat or whatever she loves in the presence of the object of her anxiety. She learns that those things (people or dogs, whatever is getting her all worked up) predict good things. (not bad things) Clicker training is very useful here. There are also some good books; Click to Calm, Control Unleashed are a couple of them. It's important not to go too fast. And no punishment or getting up tight of any kind in the presence of what triggers her reactivity. That's in a nut shell. Details depend on your individual situation.
 

SizzleDog

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#52
I must be either:

1. in the minority, or
2. really unfriendly-looking

... because Revy has a vest (Julius K9) that says DO NOT FEED that she wears in public and people practically trip over themselves to ignore us/get out of our way.

o_O
 

JessLough

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#53
I must be either:

1. in the minority, or
2. really unfriendly-looking

... because Revy has a vest (Julius K9) that says DO NOT FEED that she wears in public and people practically trip over themselves to ignore us/get out of our way.

o_O
Exactly! Here, I never see anybody going up to a vested dog and petting it, they always give it room. From those I have talked to, it's never really a problem for them. *shrugs* I don't know, it's pretty well drilled into us really young at school that you just leave them alone, so even when I was younger, it never crossed my mind to go up and pet one with a vest (and I've been known to walk up to dogs without asking :p )

Though in your case, if you have a dobe with you, that may be why ;)
 

SizzleDog

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#54
Exactly! Here, I never see anybody going up to a vested dog and petting it, they always give it room. From those I have talked to, it's never really a problem for them. *shrugs* I don't know, it's pretty well drilled into us really young at school that you just leave them alone, so even when I was younger, it never crossed my mind to go up and pet one with a vest (and I've been known to walk up to dogs without asking :p )

Though in your case, if you have a dobe with you, that may be why ;)
LOL nope, just an adorable little corgi! I mean COME ON:



Obviously, you need to give her a wide berth. :rofl1:
 

rubygirl

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#56
I would like to get a vest for my girl too. One with a patch that says "ask to pet" or something along those lines.
 
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