Do people want to interact with your dog?

[Shai]

Kim is kind of hit or miss. She likes attention and LOVES kids but she's rather tall and while she tends to get lots of "pretty dog!" comments, most people are kind of take/leave it when it comes to actual interaction.

Webby gets attention from everyone, always. Partly because he's little and adorable with ridiculous ears, partly because he's unique, and partly because he shamelessly solicits attention from everyone haha.

Mira and MacNut are the last puppies I raised, both big, solid black dogs. They rarely got attention, even when I actively wanted them to be getting attention. It's hard to be a "plain" black puppy when you're out walking with Webster, haha. Mira gets attention from people who know her, now, but usually when we're just out walking people do not approach.

I have a feeling that raising Lodin will be a big change from the Flatcoats in this regard...cute little tricolor blazes melt hearts, haha.

I don't mind either way as long as people ask first (in case I'm working on something in particular, because it's a good habit to get people into, and because I like my dogs to know I'm not just going to let random people come up without warning and manhandle them) and aren't being obnoxious or intimidating about it.

 

[AmberD]

People need to pet Bogart. It's not like I blame them... I drove 250 miles to get him. People who know he's an Akita will ask first. Most people don't have a clue what he is, and a lot of people just pet him. Luckily, this is ok with Bogart as long as they're adults. He's not really into kids, and one of the most horrifying events in my life occurred at PetSmart when three young boys rushed him and hugged him. Mind you, I keep him close and am very diligent about watching for threats, but this was wholly unexpected and fast. Why are your three young children running loose and mauling unsuspecting Akitas?! Nothing happened, btw, but wow was that frightening.

When I have both, and kids ask to pet the dog, they usually mean Bogart, but I tell them to please pet the brown dog, because she gets ignored when her big brother is around lol

 

[Toller_08]

Thanks for sharing all of your experiences! It's interesting to read.

Now that I think about it some more, I'm pretty sure Journey's deranged look she gets when people come close enough is probably enough to make people think she's going to leap all over them. She won't, but with prolonged eye contact sometimes her eyes get big and her body convulses into extreme wiggles haha. People laugh as they walk by, but I can see why they might be a little cautious about actually approaching lol.

When she was a little younger I remember that people used to reach out and touch her without asking all the time, and it drove me crazy because I was working on her understanding that not everyone wants to meet her and she needed to calm down and focus some more. I forgot about that. I used to feel like I was walking a celebrity and people just wouldn't leave us alone.

I definitely do still get people who want to meet them all, but sometimes I just think it's odd that with the sheer amount of people we see, it isn't very many who actually stop to say hello. With past dogs I used to get overwhelmed with the amount of people who would interrupt out walks. Could also be that it's winter now too.

People pet without asking all the time which is really sucky. especially on the train where he sits BETWEEN MY LEGS and it's such an awkward situation like people reach and pet him without asking and it's like seriously, HE IS SEATED IN BETWEEN MY LEGS GO AWAY

Haha, isn't that the most awkward thing?! Whenever I'm on the train that's how I seat my dogs too and people always reach out to pet them without saying anything.

 

[Babyblue5290]

Most people don't really interact with Art on walks. We get the occasional people trying to greet him at the dog park or vet, but he just ignores them and walks away. I think no one wants to interact with him on walks because well, I give a "go away" vybe pretty well when I have him. lol

Talon on the other hand we get a few people, but not a ton. It might be his "I'm going to stare at you as hard as I can until you come over here" look he gives them. Though we definitely get more "he's gorgeous" and such comments for him.

 

[Fran101]

I also didn't know Merling was that uncommon in the general populus.
Why do people act like it's some aesthetic miracle?

 

[Oko]

/suddenly happy no one has ever tried to pet Feist while she's sitting between my legs on the T. :rofl1:

 

[Fran101]

/suddenly happy no one has ever tried to pet Feist while she's sitting between my legs on the T. :rofl1:

It's so weird!! GET YOUR HAND AWAY FROM MY CROTCH!!! LOL

 

[DJEtzel]

I also didn't know Merling was that uncommon in the general populus.
Why do people act like it's some aesthetic miracle?

It's funny because Merling is so common around here, but no one has seen a red dog. -_-

He's a shepherd mix, don'tcha know?

 

[Finkie_Mom]

I think they all get a decent amount of people asking to pet them while we're out (at parks, pet stores, trials/events). But the funny thing is that everyone ALWAYS gravitates to Kimma and she totally just doesn't care about anyone LOL. Unless they have food, then she will be their BFF until the food is gone and go back to ignoring them again.

 

[yv0nne]

Constantly. Most of the time she doesn't want to say hi, and most of the time I tell people no.

My friend has 2 Tervs& one day she ran into the store while her older dog was in the car. She is very guardy when it comes to the car& there was a guy trying squeeze his hand in the little space to pat the snarling, growling dog.

He said he wanted to pet a wolf?? So bizarre.

Penn gets A LOT of attention as there are only 4 Vizzies on the island and the others are all older& not in public ever. I don't mind as she is friendly but most people pat first before asking& I use it as a chance to remind them they got lucky as Penn is a really friendly dog but some won't tolerate being touched by strangers and to always make sure they ask if they don't know the dog !

 

[Dex]

This is super sad, but when someone stops us to say hi, it's only at Dex and rarely does anyone acknowledge Dodger.

"ooh can I pet your dog?"
"Sure, this is Dex, this is Dodger"
"He's so pretty (in reference to Dex), what kind of dog is he"
(Still only petting Dex as poor Dodger tries to weasel his way in)
"She's an Aussie mix, and this one is a Lab"
"I've never seen a dog that looks like this/colored like this/whatever/etc"
(at this point Dodger has be given at least a few pets because he's pretty persistent, and sometimes he even gets a "hello")

It's just heartbreaking. I know Dodger isn't flashy, and I expect to be stopped since Dex is.. but COME ON people.. share the love.

This mainly happens when I'm in Chicago (grew up there, family is there, etc). I don't know why it's specifically there and not as much here in the Twin Cities but apparently Linds you need to visit the city more so people get over the merle dog thing.

 

[Dex]

I should note, it's equal "hellos" from friends and at dog competitions, etc because they're awesome and share the love. My previous post was in reference to people we meet off the streets while walking.

 

[Whisper]

Aww, that makes me want to give some love to Dodger. I happen to be partial to black and mostly black dogs.

 

[Paige]

Not really because I have the two kids and a dog with me. Some times people ask how I have such a well behaved dog with kids and I just comment training and he's old.

When I am alone and have time lots of people love to say hi. I think more so to me than Bandit though. I get a lot of friendly behavior from strangers.

 

[DenoLo]

Lola gets an insane amount of attention. I don't think I've ever taken her anywhere without people stopping to talk to her. And pet her. and hold her. :rofl1: She's tiny, fluffy, and has big crazy ears.

I avoid between the leg pets on the T by putting her in a tote bag UNDER my legs and then she just gets pointed at.

 

[Southpaw]

I know Dodger isn't flashy, and I expect to be stopped since Dex is

This is why I'm so surprised that everyone wants to meet Juno. I love my dog and all but really, she's pretty plain :rofl1: She's not like this unique looking, adorable floofy dog. I would expect most people to ignore her, but they don't! I'm just not sure what it is that initially attracts people to her (because obviously once you meet her, then you realize how totally awesome she is).

 

[Red.Apricot]

My friend has 2 Tervs& one day she ran into the store while her older dog was in the car. She is very guardy when it comes to the car& there was a guy trying squeeze his hand in the little space to pat the snarling, growling dog.

He said he wanted to pet a wolf?? So bizarre.

Why do people do stuff like that?

My dad and I were eating on a patio this weekend, and a guy came up, asked to pet Zoey, my dad said, "No, she's not friendly," the guy reached down, she growled, and my dad said, "Stop! She's not friendly," and the guy said, "All dogs are friendly." I don't get it. He did leave though.

Zoey was under the table and my dad's seat, too, so the guy would have had to have his face in my dad's crotch to say hi to the dog anyway. It's the sister problem of the train issue!

 

[AmandaNola]

I had someone reach into my car and try to pet Nola yesterday. Needless to say, I flipped.

 

[Sparrow]

Most people don't really initiate interaction with Zoe, but we aren't out much because of her dog reactivity. I think being an 85lb brindle pit mix makes her less approachable than something like a Golden.

BUT - there is a man that works at Home Depot who, when I take her there for nosework class, absolutely MUST tell me how much he loves my dog. He melts for Zoe, and Zoe LOVES him. She hears his voice and they have a little love fest.

People do always want to know what Zoe is, but I don't get people throwing themselves on her at random, luckily.

 

[Sweet72947]

I think it's weird that you guys think putting your dog in a big black dog suit would make people not want to pet them. When Daisy (75lbs black lab who lives with my parents) was younger, people always wanted to pet her. I was also told quite a few times while out walking her that she was pretty or cute. Once I had her at Petsmart and I was buying a tag from their machine and suddenly a girl (about 8 and old enough to know better!) ran up and HUGGED MY FEARFUL DOG around the neck. Thankfully Daisy just turned and looked at me like "what is this weird person doing?". I think a lot of it was that Daisy is a lab, and labs are popular here and people think that, in general, "they are such GOOD dogs!" etc. even though Daisy was so well-behaved because I put a lot of time into training her. But no, I guess labs are supposed to just come like that.

Benji never got that much attention. People said he was cute, but didn't try to pet him really. Rocky (also parents' dog) is the same way. I think it's because they are/were both terriers, and terriers don't have a good reputation around here. People think they are snappy and barky and such. Benji kinda was snappy and barky though, lol. Rocky is pretty good.

My dog, Norris, does attract attention. I'm sure a lot of it is the colors, since he has flashy blue-tick coonhound type markings. People tell me he's pretty and/or handsome. They don't really stick their hands out to him much, I think because his face can be a little intimidating, the way he stares. Norris doesn't always want people to touch him, but he DOES always wonder if people have treats, since a lot of people at FOHA were walking treat dispensers.