You can’t imagine how many people would just come up out of nowhere and pet her while she was sleeping on her chair. Almost nobody would ask me permission or ask me if she was friendly.

My personal favorite was the guy who was watching his toddler slowly make it’s way to Jersey while she was playing with her toy. I dressed that guy up and down so badly that he got red in his face with embarrassment.

I would have to say that 99.9% of the general public do not know how to approach a dog properly. When I was a kid, my mom drilled it into me that you have to ASK permission from the owner before you pet a strange dog! Is it really that hard? I guess so!

The younger the kid, the less sense they have of what’s reasonable and safe behavior with a dog, and this can be dangerous for both dog and child. It’s the responsibility of those in the household who ARE old enough to understand, to ensure that neither dog nor child has a chance to make a tragic mistake.

Liz, I am surprised at that rule. I wonder how realistic it is. If my family has a dog and I have kids age 5-10, am I supposed to keep the dog locked up in a room most of the time?

I can count on ONE FINGER the number of parents who know how to approach strange dogs. ONE mother, ONE, out of all that I have encountered, told her kids “No, you have to ask first, and listen to what the owner says”.

One.

Thankfully, my dog is great with kids, but I am tired of the ones that think running up and grabbing at him is great fun. I’m also tired of parents who take exception when I don’t let their little darling maul my dog.

It was common knowledge when I was young (“why, when I was your age…”) that you NEVER approach strange dogs. What the hell changed??

The child’s parent came around the corner too and said, “Miss, my son wants to pet your dog.” I explained that my dog does not really like strange people, especially children, but if that her son could pet my other dog if they were willing a to wait a minute for him and my husband to catch up. The woman then proceeded to tell me all the reasons that I must be a terrible owner for having a dog who does like people, why I needed watch the Dog Whisper, buy a muzzle, or never let her leave my yard.

I just smiled and when my husband caught up I showed her son how to approach and where our male dog liked to be petted and reminded him to not run up on strange dogs because not all of them like it. I let him feed both dogs a treat (the female is fine with people once she gets a few minutes to make they are not a dog eating monster).

Not sure if the Mom got anything out of the encounter, but whenever I see the son in the neighborhood he now approaches quietly and asks to pet the dogs and does so nicely, so at least the message got across somewhere!

Susan: sigh…You’re right. I guess that just keeps us going - trying to teach even one more person.