Quote:
Originally Posted by Nancy1999  Joey's good around the house, I've used pennies in a can to train him, but when I take him out, he's horrible. If people would leave him alone he'd be fine, but they insist on coming up to him and placing their hand on the top of his head, and he barks madly at them. In a way, I don't blame him. We've been taking him to stores since he was a puppy, and he's still pretty good when we go to Petsmart, the people there seem to know how to approach him, they offer their hand first, instead of just reaching out and touching him. I wish I had some suggestions, I don't know how to handle this. I try redirection, you know getting him interested in something else and walking him fast, but I don't think I'll ever turn him into a "therapy" dog. People tell me that he's just trying to protect me, so maybe I'm not as alpha as I think I am. By the way, I don't think this has anything with neutering either, he's been neutered, and we've tried our best to socialize him. This is my only problem with him. |
So many people we meet always bonk Maximo on the head, rub in circles, or do some sort of Three Stooges routine, nearly sticking fingers in his eyes.
Like you, I can't decide if my guy thinks he is protecting me.