How is your dog with strangers?

Question

Is your dog aloof with strangers or friendly?
Will s/he obey commands from strangers (basic ones, like sit or shake)?
What breed, age, and gender is your dog (dogs)?
Did you encourage or train this behavior?
Was this an important thing to consider when you looked into this particular breed or dog?

Answer 1

I don't own a dog, but when I did, our dogs were good with strangers as long as we were around. and they would almost always obey commands exceptions we were being attacked or there was a strange dog coming at us. ( Pit bull instincts) we have always trained our dogs to obey commands, even down to not eating until they were given the command to. That has helped prevent trouble over they years. All of our dogs were"freebies" we never "looked" for a particular breed of dog, well except my mom's rottie. She worked 3rd shift and we lived out in the country, my dad got her Mildew( long story) to protect her while she was asleep, all the other dogs were picked up along the path of life as give aways, or spur of the moment " cute puppy syndrome" but I feel obeying commands is a major issue with any dog I own. I have tried this with my cats, but they just politely look at me and basically give me the equivalent of a kitty middle finger 8-) but I do think obeying commands is important when getting a dog, no matter the breed

Answer 2

My dogs act like they will bite through our fence when they see a stranger.
On the other hand, if I am walking one of them, they are good with strangers. They like to be petted for the most part by strangers. One time I was walking one of my dogs and this stranger asked if he could pet her and she leaned on him like she was really comfortable with the guy - almost like an old friend.
I think that they probably would obey a command from a stranger.
I have 2 German Shepherds, a 5 year old male and an 8 year old female.
As far as encouraging or trianing for "this" behavior - I work with my dogs on a fairly regular basis and when I have a chance take them for walks and get them some more socialization. As far as being a watch dog - that is just natural.
All these things were characteristics that I looked for in the breed.
I like to have a dog that is fearless, yet gentle, kind, loving and trustworthy. I believe that my dogs have all of these traits.

Answer 3

Is your dog aloof with strangers or friendly?
Both are friendly...they will come up, wagging tails, but I have taught them not to go ahead and sniff until I give the "okay" because some people don't like that. Both are fine with being handled by other people but one of them doesn't really like strangers touching her paws for too long. She won't growl or snap, just move her paw away.

Will s/he obey commands from strangers (basic ones, like sit or shake)?
Both will not unless a food reward is imminent.

What breed, age, and gender is your dog (dogs)?
Both beagle b!tches, 7 and 9 years old.

Did you encourage or train this behavior?
I did not make a conscious effort to train them to be friendly towards strangers...they have always been this way, and I have always encouraged it. So I suppose, in a positive-reinforcement sort of way, yes.

Was this an important thing to consider when you looked into this particular breed or dog?
Yes, quite. Friendly dogs always appeal the most to me. I wouldn't necessarily mind a dog who was aloof towards strangers - aggression would not be tolerated - but I always prefer my dogs to have more friendly and forthcoming dispositions.

Answer 4

I have a cocker spaniel and a miniature dachshund. They are both girls and are 3 & 1 year of age. The cocker is very friendly and welcomes anyone who comes to our home and if we are out on a walk. I'm not sure she would obey a command from a stranger...but if they had some food, she probably would. (she'll do anything for a treat!). My mini dauchshund is a little stand offish at first. If a stranger comes to my home, she will bark at them at a close distance...sometimes running under the table or standing in the other room. She won't let that person come up to her. After a while, when she realizes this person is okay...she will warm up and then she'll litterally sit in their lap! She doesn't really know any tricks...I'm still teaching her how to sit! ;)
I have always loved friendly dogs....that's one thing I liked about the cocker spaniel. I knew dachshunds wern't like this, but the dogs owned by the breeder whom I bought her from were very friendly and that's one thing I liked about her dogs.

Answer 5

My female is a 3 year old powderpuff Crested. She barks and growls at strangers. I do not introduce her to strangers because Im not honestly sure if she will bite or not. I got her when she was 2 years old from a friend. She does make friends with friends and family that come around often.. treats are a good icebreaker. She really wasnt socialized as a puppy. I dont take her out much in public anyways because she gets carsick. I probably should have tried to socialize her more when I got her, but we've pretty much accepted her as she is. She's not comfortable meeting strangers and thats just as well for us too.

My male is a 3 year old hairless Chinese Crested. In General he is shy, but tolerant of strangers. Some people he really likes and will flirt and grin at them.. and some people he shys away from and obviously doesnt want petted by them. He will not obey commands from strangers. I did not encourage or train this behavoir. I took him out alot as a puppy, and had hopes he'd be friendlier. He is at least tolerant of being approched and touched.

no, it wasnt important. Some CC's are very friendly, and some do tend to be shy. They should not be aggressive with strangers tho.

Answer 6

1) My Shih Tzu gets antsy and skittish around strangers, and I don't know why because I take her for car rides a lot, and she's met a lot of people. But, after a few minutes, she is very friendly. She'd never bite or growl.

2) After a few minutes, yes, she will obey commands. (Shih Tzu's are so stubborn!)

3) I have a 9 month old Female Shih Tzu.

4) No, I would love for her to be comfortable around everyone.

5) I had no choice, I had to save this poor puppy from the pound. I was watching as the owner was admitting her. I immediately took her.

NOW, my female 4 year old Border Collie would be a terrible guard dog! She will just lick everyone to death! Lol.

Answer 7

The two of our dogs that interact most with other people are our 2 1/2 year old male Akita, and our 15 mo. old female Akita. When we're out in public, he will pretty much ignore people, unless we talk to them. Then he thinks he should greet them with a lot of tail wagging and trying to jump up on them, which we strongly discourage by making him sit, and keeping a short lead. Our female is much more wary, and will generally not approach strangers that we stop and talk to.
At home, the male will greet people that we invite in much like he would in public, so he frequently gets crated. After a little while, however, he will pretty much ignore them. The female will bark at anyone that comes in the house, and will not approach anyone, at least at first. After a while, she will be less likely to bark and more likely to approach.
So the two are about polar opposites when it comes to strangers, except that neither of them has ever shown the first bit of aggressive behavior toward a stranger. I don't know how they would behave if they sensed that the person was making us anxious or afraid, and I hope I never have to find out.

Neither dog was trained to behave in this way. Our training is centered around getting the male to be a little more reserved and not jump, and the female to be more outgoing and not so reluctant to approach people we talk to, or have in the house.

If there's a treat involved, the male will do sits and shakes for other people, the female will not, and mostly will not take treats from anyone other than us, or people she has gotten to know well.

If I could get them to meet in the middle - him to be a little more reserved, and her to not be so wary and more willing to approach, it would be just about ideal from my point of view.

Answer 8

My DDB puppy is very good with strangers so far, and this is what we want. Most of the mastiff breeds can be quite territorial, and are worse about that if not properly socialized- I count on my dogs for "protection"- but in our case, an 80+ pound weimeramer and a someday 120 lb+ mastiff with their faces in the window is more than enough to discourage unwelcome visitors....I take the new guy to puppy class every week, and part of his "homework" is to go to at least 3 new places every week, and meet at least 3 people...The people part is easy, but I am running out of new places to go!
He is a male Dogue de Bordeaux, now 4 months old, we are just getting basic commands down ourselves, don't know yet if he will listen to them from others....

Answer 9

Our dog is a mix of husky and timber wolf. He was trained for security. He knows our nuclear family and that is it. He was trained to obey first only my husband, then as he grew, we all began to give commands. Now he will obey all of us. He is two years old. We can lay on him like a pillow. He looks all husky with curled up tail and baby blue eyes. But when threatened, he drops his head and takes the unmistakable stance of a wolf. We had a stalker problem. He fixed it. Single mouthedly, you might say. Oddly, no one complained about being bitten either.

Anyway, my advice is when walking your dog, always use a leash and always tell other people not to touch your dog. Dog's are pack animals and they live in your pack - you don't know what they might do when a stranger approaches.

We always, always tell people - DO NOT approach this dog. He looks friendly and he might be. But we tell everyone, family included, he will bite. When people ask to pat him, we politely just say no.

Answer 10

1) Chuau is very friendly with everyone and everything. Chani is more timid and stays back, but still wags her tail and is interested.
2) Chuau will take commands from others but takes him longer to obey. Chani does not take commands from strangers.
3) Chuau is a 10 month old male aussie/newfoundland/lab mix. Chani is a 2 1/2 year old husky/yellow lab mix.
4) Chuau is very smart that took to training naturally. Chani is new to the family and was skittish and frightful when we gave her orders at first.
5)We got Chuau just he was so cute at a pet store. And we got Chani because she got along great with Chuau and has the same playful attitude as him.