Patrick Murray

Hey all. I'm almost positive we've discussed this regarding adult dogs but I'm not sure it's been discussed regarding puppies. I looked and didn't see any previous discussion of this topic. So please excuse me if I missed it.

First of all, I do believe that the answer to this question could be different for different pups depending upon the pup's makeup and the owner's situation.

For me I think it's best that the only adults who pet my puppy are friends and family that frequently visit our home. In fact I encourage it, to a point. The vet should also pet the pup. I took the pup to my 4 year-old son's pre-school and many children came to pet her and, yes, so did the teacher. Yes, there will be some infrequent exceptions like the time a man in the vet's office came up to my wife and pup and began petting the pup. Children are encouraged to pet her as long as they're behaving themselves otherwise the experience could actually be counterproductive. But I don't want adults, aside from the people mentioned above, to pet my pup.

I feel this way because I don't want my pup to grow up and to look to strangers to pet her or show affection or so forth. I want the pup to be neutral around strange people whether they be in our home (the cable guy) or walking down the street.

From what I can see in my pup she appears to be very confident and with good nerves. I've taken a big metal spoon and smashed it into the bottom of a metal pan and it made such a loud banging/clanging sound that just about blew out MY freaking eardrum! I kept doing it and she came running in to invesigate and then looked at me inquisitively and tilted her head each time I banged it. I then set it down and she ran over to sniff it.

In everything I've seen with this pup she appears to be confident and stable. I don't foresee her having nerve issues that would induce me to have everybody and their brother to pet her. If I thought she had a nerve issue (I'd send her back to the breeder!) and wanted to keep her then I might change my strategy and have everybody pet and treat her and so forth.

Why must strangers be permitted to pet one's working dog prospect in order for that dog to be deemend stable? My strategy is to continue to take her places where there are people, dogs, animals, etc. and just get her accustomed to being around them. I don't let her near another dog as most of them are out of control nor do I let adults pet her. I'll let little kids pet her but that's it. She's great with the little kids. Aside from them she's learning to be neutral when she's in the vicinity of an adult. Basically I want her to be able to go out with me in public and be neutral to everything and everyone.

To use an analogy, if I wanted my dog to be stable around horses I suppose I'd take my dog around horses. Actually I'm going to do that. But I doubt it's necessary or even practical to get the dog to interact (play, whatever) with the horse. Right? You just get the dog used to being around the horse (and vice-versa) and after umpteen times for the dog and horse it's like another day at the plant for them. Right?

So why do some people insist that you need to let everybody and their brother pet one's ppd/psd pup in order to keep it from becoming a fear biter, etc.? I think a genetically sound pup that is exposed to lots of people and becomes accustomed to seeing them is going to accept their presence just like they accept the presence of the streetlight that we walk by every night. It's not teaching the dog to be anti-social; it's teaching the dog to be neutral. Again, I'd rethink this if my pup began exhibiting signs of aggression to someone minding their own business on the other side of the street.

I was talking to a trainer who told me I was dead-wrong to not permit strangers to pet my pup. He said my dog would grow up to be a fear-biter and would be anti-social, etc. I told him I'll come by and see him in two years to show him he was wrong.

Do you think this is a sound philosophy or should I be doing it differently? Thanks in advance for your input.

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Patrick Murray
Amateur Working Dog Enthusiast