My dog loves to meet new people. He wants to come up to them and sniff them.
Once, when I was a new dog owner, we were on a sidewalk, and a woman was coming towards us from the other direction; not much room to give space to each other when passing. She moved onto the grass with fearful body language, and my dog, true to himself, stepped over and got right up in her face (figuratively speaking. He wasn't tall enough to reach her face), sniffing her out.
She started yelling at me. I realized then, some people are afraid of dogs, and I should respect that.
Here is a video by an experienced dog owner, who also knows that even though his dog is well behaved, he should respect other people's fears.
I would like to point out another thing. Some dog owners are experienced; some are not. It takes time to get to know one's own dog, and to get to know how he is likely to respond in different situations. Someone who has not had their dog for very long, will not know their dog very well. And when you meet some random dog owner, they probably won't tell you how well they know or don't know their dog. They'll just say "He's friendly." The owner who has been with his dog for years in every situation will say that. The brand new owner, who has only seen his dog in some situations will also say that.
When I first got my dog, I assumed he was friendly to other dogs...A few dog-non-biting-conflicts and one actual dog fight later...turned out he liked some dogs better than others. So I took him to a good behaviorist to get that sorted out. Now he is more socialized, but it is still up to me to be responsible when around dogs he doesn't know, or when in unfamiliar situations. (But I was correct all along about him liking human beings. That's never been an issue.)
Once, when I was a new dog owner, we were on a sidewalk, and a woman was coming towards us from the other direction; not much room to give space to each other when passing. She moved onto the grass with fearful body language, and my dog, true to himself, stepped over and got right up in her face (figuratively speaking. He wasn't tall enough to reach her face), sniffing her out.
She started yelling at me. I realized then, some people are afraid of dogs, and I should respect that.
Here is a video by an experienced dog owner, who also knows that even though his dog is well behaved, he should respect other people's fears.
I would like to point out another thing. Some dog owners are experienced; some are not. It takes time to get to know one's own dog, and to get to know how he is likely to respond in different situations. Someone who has not had their dog for very long, will not know their dog very well. And when you meet some random dog owner, they probably won't tell you how well they know or don't know their dog. They'll just say "He's friendly." The owner who has been with his dog for years in every situation will say that. The brand new owner, who has only seen his dog in some situations will also say that.
When I first got my dog, I assumed he was friendly to other dogs...A few dog-non-biting-conflicts and one actual dog fight later...turned out he liked some dogs better than others. So I took him to a good behaviorist to get that sorted out. Now he is more socialized, but it is still up to me to be responsible when around dogs he doesn't know, or when in unfamiliar situations. (But I was correct all along about him liking human beings. That's never been an issue.)
