Great video. I have a rescue dog. He seems to be a mix between a Mastiff and an Akita or Chow Chow. He is absolutely gorgeous and enormous. Unfortunately, he was beat up very badly before and doesn't like strangers. He looks like a giant bear and everybody wants to pet him without my permission. Last time, an entire family surrounded him and a man started to pet him vigorously and put his face on my dog's face. My poor doggo started to growl and tried to lunge. Everybody was offended. Another time, a dad wanted his 3 years old to play with the dog (!!!!) even though I said firmly not to. The dad was insisting and I started to get angry, so the dog got angry and the dad got angry... at me! I since bought a vest with "working dog, do not pet" and it changed my life. I know it's a bit of a lie, but with his size, I don't want people to be afraid by a tag like ''need space'' or ''nervous rescue''. I don't use the vest to go where dog are forbidden. I just want to protect my doggo from people with good intentions but limited knowledge of canine behavior.
I can see some comments have concerns regarding ethics of such a vest. So I will offer a solution in this case: it could be a vest that explicitly says "agressive will bite". In this case there is a powerful message to keep people away.
@@pintardogs Thank you for your insight. I will stick to my white lie tough! Frankie weights around 150 pounds and is a bit scary looking. I am pretty sure he was in dog fights as he has his ears cropped and is full of scars. He can sense fear and becomes more aggressive, especially with nervous men. I live in a busy neighborhood of Montreal, in the middle of the Hassidic Community, who have already a generational trauma of dogs -they jump and go walk in the street when they see him. I thought about more truthful patches, but it would just make people freak out. As for the disservice to service dogs (!), I would agree if I would use this to get to places or have advantages. I don't. Believe me I don't like doing this. Looking forward to move to the country side :-) BTW I love your channel
Red is for reactive in the US. I used to have a red Caution collar for my reactive Dobe. Also got both Dobes used to wearing a muzzle, which usually deters people from approaching. Good things happen when it's on, never make them feel bad about wearing one. Conditioning a muzzle first so your dog wags his tail when the muzzle comes out. Hope that helps.
I had a large white poodle that wore a red vest with sign DO NOT PET, very visible, and hand with x through it. and people would just reach out and do it! Unbelievable.
I think it’s sad. The dogs can’t be around other people or other dogs. I wish the breeders would start over and breed better healthier, more stable happy i secure, safe dogs that don’t need signs
Yes. I actually worked with a trainer who said my caution collar was setting the dog up for failure. Got really good at reading the dog's body language - Susan Garrett's TEMP video and Kikopup's calming signals video and I now ask people if it's ok for him to say hi to them. Quite a difference. Also did lots of Nose Work classes - helps build their confidence. Sara Ondrako has a video on how to make a snuffle mat with a pocket. I just do double knots so the strips don't come off when you wash them. Hound Hugger also has free DIY snuffle toys too. Hope that helps.
It's all about the owner. If the owner is calm and collected the dog will be calm and collected. If the owner is emotionally unstable, like women, the dog becomes emotionally unstable. There is a reason for why dogs and bitches mostly choose the male pack member as their leader rather than the female.
People need to stop thinking they're entitled to strangers' time and approaching people without explicit consent. Some dogs simply only desire to socialize with a handful individuals, not unlike people. You never know what their circumstances are.
If your dog/bitch is nervous it's because you, the owner, is nervous. If you are a calm and collected leader the dog/bitch will follow your lead. If you're a weak leader that let dogs/bitches pull you forward or let them control the pace of the walk or activity, you'll simply get a dog that doesn't respect you and therefore don't listen to you. Be a good leader and you will have a good dog/bitch. Also: it's really easy to just tell people "no, you can't pet my animal", it's not that difficult. I have two leonbergers and I've never had a problem with telling people no, heck, take away my dogs and I'll still have no problem telling people no.
About nervous handler = nervous pet, it is not always like that. Yes, dogs can feel our nervousness but it doesn't mean that will make them nervous too. I work with shelter dogs and I am the same random person for them, some are confident and some are fearful. Not because of me, but because of their social confidence around people in general. The same about the leash, if dog is young, excited, untrained they will pull the leash no matter how you feel ;-)
