Frustrating people on my dog walks or maybe it's just me??

[Missy]

I am in the process of training Molly on walks by having her sit calmly every time someone walks by and then giving her a treat. But people seem to make this difficult so please excuse my need to vent!!

Like the other day, before Molly had even noticed anyone was even in front of us, this woman makes a big point of jumping away and crying out loudly. Well, it scared Molly who then proceeded to bark at her. Of course, this caused the woman to get upset with me and for Molly to get really tense and snarl at every passing person.

Then there was the guy with his dog who actually made a point of crossing the street to come closer, stopping and then standing ten feet away from us watching her go nuts. I couldn't believe a dog owner would do that - it was so obvious that I was trying to train her and that the presence of him and his dog was taunting her.

These are just some small examples of what happens on an everyday basis. I am sure it doesn't sound all that bad really but when you are trying so hard to train a puppy on a leash it can be so hard to handle. Why do people do this - or am I the only one who has this problem? I just don't see that I am making that much progress on the whole fear of strangers thing with her.

[glasslass]

I have a poodle that I take with me into stores that allow him. I carry him in my arms. Little kids want to pet him because he looks so fluffy and soft, like a toy. I'm always amazed at the parents who allow them to just come right up tp reach for him. I have to tell them to let him sniff their hands first, etc. etc. I'm proud of him and he likes to be admired, but any dog could bite if startled. If he did, he would be the one at fault!

[cutelittlemako]

People can be so rude sometimes. I take puppy training classes as Petsmart and every class we have to go out of the fenced in area in the store and walk around to pratice the "walk on loose leash". Well of course, when people see we are taking a class they stand around our little gate and when we come out to walk, they just hover over our puppies and we can't go walking around nicely. Also when we're walking in the store, some people come up to me and ask to pet Mako - well I don't know what they think we're doing walking around the store with a foam cup of water in our hands that we're not supposed to spill. Last Monday, a lady asked me to pet Mako - and I was able to tell he no because we were practicing out walking. I was proud of myself!

And another petsmart story - there was a photograph there the other day and I went with Mako and my neighbour who has a lab. Well Mako had his pictures done and I was waiting for my neighbour to have her dog photographed, I was talking to another puppy owner and our dogs were playing together - this little girl (about 5 years old) comes up to us and asked to pet our dogs (no parents around) so we let her, then I was walking around the store and I saw her asking other dog owners if she could hug their dogs... Where were her parents. Petsmart is not a place to let a young child run loose. And this is not the first time this has happened to me - we went when I just got Mako and this little girl kept picking him up, but she wasn't much taller than Mako, her mother wasn't saying anything, so I had to. And they had to Whipets with them - imagine those poor dogs. I don't want Mako to be afraid of kids - so I had to say something, but I really think that's the parents job!.

O.K. done with the venting!

[melanie]

if people deliberatly approach you with a dog, i would call out and tell them you are trying to train and to please not approach. as for the screaming woman, i would have laughed at her and told her to bugger off, and made it clear she was being a freak. dont let anyone make you feel bad, they are the freaks and you are trying to help molly. dont ever feel bad when you are within your rights, oh you poor buggers, gosh i cant stand some stupid humans sometimes (i now stand and do some fancy kicking and punching moves in the air, stupid humans)

[heidiho]

Iknow,same here in px,i will be telling my dog to stay and these idiots will whistle and crap next time i am just gonna let my dog scare the sh%t out of them

[Kona Dawg]

when they crap, are you sure its a whistle your hearing?

[Lucky Rescue]

If I remember correctly, Molly has a fear problem, right? If you're taking her to busy places with lots of people around, I dont' think she's ready for that yet. You need to take her someplace where the people are not so close, and she won't be so overwhelmed.

As soon as you see Molly begin to get alarmed,distract her BEFORE she starts reacting by barking, etc. Does she know the "watch me" command? If not you can teach her that, and as soon as she looks at you, treat and walk briskly away from the people, using a happy voice - "Molly, let's go! Good girl!!"

Do NOT stand there and let her get hysterical. If she likes squeaky toys, bring one and squeak it to redirect her, if she loves treats, use that, and then leave.

If you stay and Molly gets overly fearful, her fear is being reinforced as she will think she cannot trust you to keep her safe.

This is a long process - but it can be done with persistance, training and socializing.