"Don't touch my dog!" (biting, training, kids, puppies)

[JrzDefector]

So there's this lady at the dog park who has a young dog who is always telling people not to touch her dog. Apparently, she wants the dog to interact only with other dogs while there. None of us touch her dog as a result, but my feeling (and the feeling of my fellow parkgoers) is that this is kind of crazy.

The dog park regulars are pretty social, and the owners are all very "dog smart." We all play with each other's dogs and toss the balls for them and incite them to play with each other. It just seems bizarre to me for someone to bring a perfectly friendly dog to the dog park and then tell the other people there to ignore the dog. But that is perhaps my own biases, as when I was growing up, my father was obsessed with having friendly hunting dogs, so he socialized the bejesus out of them. As long as the dog wasn't fighting with other dogs or scared of them, we really didn't care. But as a result, I bring my dog to the dog park under the assumption that he will be socializing with humans and other dogs (when he's not obsessively chasing the ball).

I'm curious about what the other folks on the board think.

[stormynh]

I always let other people touch my dogs. I find that strange and well stupid.

[foxywench]

heres my take on it...if she doesn't want people petting her dog that's her deal...
you take your dog to the dog park to play and socialize with other dogs right? not to be able to go and pet other peoples dogs...

so if you have a super people orientated dog whos more interested in people than other dogs, and people are constantly lavishing attentnion on that dog the dog is less likely to go play and interact with other dogs and more likely to hang out with the humans thus kinda defeating the purpose....

or mabe the dog is tempermental with people but loves other dogs and the dog park is the perfect place for the dog to play nd interact while surrounded by dog savy people who CAN keep their hands to themselves if asked?

or mabe shes just odd and doesn't want people petting her dog? if so...it doesn't effect you any so as long as the dog is otherwise not a problem (bad behavior ect) then let it be...
I also frequently don't let people pet my dog, shes a service dog in training and i need her to learn to ignore the distractions of well meaning people reaching out to love on her...
she may not always be o duty...but when we are out and about EVERYHING is a learning opportunity...dog park, petstore or sat on a bench, doesn't matter, if i don't want someone to pet my dog that should be all i need to say souldnt need questioning, or being called weird...
thers many reasons they could be avoiding contact.

I mean personally if I took my og to a dog park it would be to play with other dogs...
My dobe loves people and if thres a bunch of random strangers lavishing attention she WOULDN go play and would kinda defeat the purpose.
nice that people want to pet the dog...but not nesicary for the dogs life lol

[blingding]

a friend of mine has a Service dog (she's a Veteran) and even though her dog wears a service vest and a sign that says "Don't touch, Service Dog", people ignore it (and her) and try to socialize with the dog. This makes it difficult for the dog to remember he is Working, and should only pay attention to Her. I mention this because there may be a very good reason she doesn't want other humans to interact with her dog. Perhaps she is preparing him for a specific type of training or needs him to be attentive only to her and the commands she gives him.

Personally, I wouldn't want my dog to run up to and socialize with other people. Not all people are nice or have the best of intentions.

[fluffythewondercat]

We were at one of those giant pet warehouse stores a few years back, walking down the aisle to the registers. A man had a dog with him, leashed. The dog brightened when he saw us and started to come toward us. We paused. The man turned around and snarled, "Don't touch my dog!"

I pointed out that I didn't touch his dog and that his dog approached us. He yanked the poor dog closer to him defiantly and we walked on.

Even anger-driven emotionally-stunted people are allowed to have dogs.

[texdav]

She needs to get her dog a companion dog and not come to pubic dog park then; or perhaps its just her personality. Service dogs shouldn't even be at dog parks as other dog take their attention of work if that is what taken there for. Its important in training for service dogs to interact with other humans and not see danger even in their training. You do not take service dogs to dog parks to work but to socialize with other dogs and other humans because of the situations they face in their work.

[SXMGirl]

It could very well be that this dog or another one of her dogs was falsely accused of biting someone. If her dog plays well with other dogs, that is the purpose of the dog park. I would respect her wishes.

[Katie1]

Service Dog! Or I should say one in Training! Katie is Major People friendly. I Tried when she was a pup to be around people & other dogs BUT Told people to Ignore her! It worked for the most part. She got ALL her people attention from me & my son & Rarely any from others. So Leave the pup alone..... Sure she has her reasons.

[Dashdog]

When I take my dogs to the dog park I do not mind if they socialize with people or with other dogs. There is a great mix of people so they get to interact with people they might not just walking on a walk. Because they do they are comfortable with all types of people and I like that.

Phoenix was painfully shy and really did not trust kids or want to be around them but when she started going to the dog park she would say hello to the other dogs but really did not want to play so she started visiting other people and it did not take her long to become much more social with people and yes even letting kids pet her. She became the one that would get super excited in the car when she knew we were going to the dog park as yes that human interaction became that important to her.

I hear some people at the dog park get upset because their dog wanders around visiting people not playing with dogs and I think they do not understand the fact that their dog enjoys doing this just as much as another dog enjoys playing with dogs. Usually the ones running and playing are the puppies and young adults as often around 2 or 3 they are not quite as into playing with every dog. They may play with a few dog friends but more of their time is spent watching the others and hanging out with the people and I myself am fine with that so if you want to pet Dazzle or Chaos or toss a ball for Chaos that is fine with me..just be warned once you show Chaos some loving she may not leave you alone as she is an attention *****!

[ColoGuy]

She may have security issues due to rape or robbery. She may have got the dog for security reasons. I hated it when my neighbor gave a steak to my watch dogs when I was away. Most robberies are caused by people that know you. A guard dog is useless it if trusts the intruder.