Harmless Unless Provoked - Bad Behavior Can Start Here

If we are the leader (and we should be) in our relationship with our dog - we must learn how to properly advocate for their rights. And our rights as a dog owner. Your dog is not public property and having them in public does not give people the right to accost them.

Dogs have individual personalities, likes and dislikes, genetics and preferences for behavior just like we do. There are definitely some dogs that are the life of the party, good-time, say hello to everyone, never met a stranger type dogs. But that is only a small handful of the dog population. There are many dogs that tolerate (I didn't say enjoy) strangers petting them or getting in their bubble and then there are dogs that hate it and the more it happens they begin to develop their own, unacceptable, coping mechanisms. Why? Because we are their leader and we aren't advocating for our rights as pet owners.

This is going back a couple years, but I had the most unbelievable experience while at Lowe's with Waylon when he was about 6 months old. Waylon is a Great Pyrenees and it's pretty common in these large, livestock guardian breeds for them to be uninterested in the attention of strangers. I had popped in after work to get some lumber for a project at the house and as I am walking through the parking lot, Waylon is on a cross-body style leash, attached to me and walking on heel, while I push this cart loaded down with lumber toward the truck. As we both mind our own business, this woman begins walking toward us and I can already tell she is going to try and pet Waylon. I did a little side step and told her he doesn't like pets from strangers. She literally ignores me and reaches to pet him anyway. As I stepped forward and shifted the leash, Waylon moved behind me to create more distance from her. The woman then became increasingly heated, telling me that something is wrong with my dog and clearly I'm abusing him if he won't let her pet him. I was appalled! By the end of her rant she is quite literally yelling in the parking lot that I am a dog abuser. Staying calm I pointed out to her that if I was abusing my dog, he clearly wouldn't be hiding behind me to get away from her. She then tells me that I shouldn't have him in public if people can't pet him. I explained to her that he was there to be with me and that she didn't have anymore right to pet him than she would to touch my kid, if they were with me, and that she needed to learn some manners because you should never pet someone's dog without speaking with them first and receiving permission from the owner.

She continued to rant about me abusing him and at that point I decided that her irrational behavior made it an unproductive conversation so I walked away with Waylon (who she tried to pet again from behind me). While I was loading the lumber into my truck she yelled across the parking lot that I needed to stop starving my dog and actually feed him. Although I continued to ignore her, inside I was seething. Most of us loving dog owners, that would do just about anything for our fur-kids, would be outraged.

I called Mike and told him about it as soon as I got in the car and started home. He told me I did everything right and said you can't argue with crazy. So true! But that encounter and others (without the crazy) where people have zero acceptance when you tell them they can't pet your dog absolutely floor me. I have a dog that doesn't like pets from people he doesn't know. End of story. It's probably a personality trait he has emulated from his owner. I don't like pets from strangers either.

The unfortunate thing is if I hadn't had a modicum of control over this situation and my dog bit this lady, he and I would have been the bad guys in the situation.

Pay attention to your dog's behavior; it will clearly show how they feel about others approaching them. Be respectful of their feelings because that is what good leaders do. If you are mindful of this from the beginning you will save yourself a whole host of problems later. If you don't advocate for your dog, you are diminishing your role as their leader in their eyes. Once your dog feels you are not up to the task of leading them; they will begin trying to control situations and "bad", socially unacceptable behavior is inevitable.

When someone wants to pet our three dogs, we give them their release command and tell them it's okay to say hi. If they want to they can say hello and if they don't then they don't. It's as easy as that. (**Note** That works for our particular dogs because they have all been well socialized and know how to behave with manners in a meet and greet.)

Ultimately freedom and structure are up to us as the dog owner, but meetings shouldn't be forced. Otherwise your perfectly well-behaved dog that was seemingly harmless may be provoked to behavior that is completely unacceptable. To have and to hold your dog's trust, you need to continually advocate for your rights as a pet owner and remind people that just because your dog is in public; they are not public property.

- Good vibes everyone