i think it is just common curtesy to respect other peoples pets, and especially listen to there owners..... i just got my new puppy and a friend of mine put him down with her dog
and her dog is quite a bit bigger, used to be abused (so may be agressive?), and i asked nervously if she has been around any other small dogs or puppies...... she said no!
well needless to say i snapped my toby right up off teh ground and held him in my lap for the rest of teh visit! I think people just dont REALIZE how much a yorkies personality and temperment are DIFFERENT from any other breed.... I actually went down to mexico a long time ago and i had a cairn terrier, we had a sign too (in english and spanish) and some federales just walked up to our camp!!! ToTo ( that was his name) went nuts and tried to attack them!!!, they were shoving my dog away with the points of their GUNS!!!
......... what can i say though, some people jsut dont get the pet courtesy thing.....