How are your dogs with strangers?

Regan, the old Amstaff, loves EVERYONE.  She was a highly socialized city gir-ul growing up, though.

Mattie the alpha schnauzer wants to jump on everyone and then smell their eyeball , but is aloof around small kids.

Bernard the Rottie is O.K. with most adults and great with kids, but tends to still get "vibes" from people who are afraid of him, and will then proceed to stiffen a bit.  When he hit about 7 months of age, he started having some submissive peeing issues when people would greet him in an especially happy, high pitched voice.  We were told he would grow out of it.  Well he's 3 now and he'll still do it on occasion.  He also does not like to be hugged on by strangers and will grumble on occasion, which is akward because he sends you a mixed signal when he sits on you!  Bernie is just a wierd, neurotic, complicated dog.  He's had the most training classes, the most attention, the most everything regarding socializing and continues to give his Momma the "most" problems!

Cau the Berger Picard pup, we were told, as a breed in general, can tend to become "one person dogs" and to socialize early and often...and so we are.  He was signed up to start a puppy class on Saturday but the trainer got sick so we went to town and had "lunch with strangers" instead.  Literally, we just hung out at petsmart and everyone who came up to him to pet him was asked to feed him some of his kibble.  By the end of the day, everyone was his friend!  I plan on doing this often with him.

 Pocket loves people as long as they don't make a big deal over her- if people ignore her completely then she'll go up to THEM for cuddles. More than one person at the dog park has gotten a bit of a surprise to find a Pocket standing/sitting next to them or between their legs, LOL. Kids, she's generally not too fond of probably because they're a lot more excitable than adults. She loooooves elderly people, for some reason!

Basil really couldn't care less- he'd much rather be running around chasing birds. Unless they look like they might be doing something interesting.
 

Let's see.  Grady loves to meet new people.  He just loves people in an annoying way.

Aspen loves people & could care a less about dogs.  See, he's not a dog.  That's what he thinks.  He loveloveloves older people. 

Snickers is fearful of new people.  We're working on this.  Of course it didn't help much when my FIL comes to visit he just antagonized him something awful.  Snickers was barking & lunging @ him & FIL was laughing, waving his arms around & just being a fool.  I've never spoken harshly to him before but I did that night.  I love the man but he's such an idiot @ times.

Casey.... does not like people. He will generally aviod them, and takes a while to warm up to new people. Once he knows them, and is comfortable around them (usually after 2-4 visits) he does well, and wants to play and snuggle. Food is always a good idea to warm him up faster =]

Jaegar (foster pup) used to be very shy at first, now he seems to love... everyone, almost to the point of being obnoxious. He jumps, whines, screams, etc. until they pay attention to him... trying to end his naughty behavior, but he has other ideas...

Sunny (another adult foster) is very nervous around new people, but that could just be a result from adjusting to different places - first the shelter, now my house. She's a bully with other dogs....

 Misha's been being really, really shy and afraid of new people. If I sit down in a social situation, he is in my lap. But this is my fault for allowing him to get so overwhelmed. When people are really patient with him, he'll usually let them pet his back or his nose.

He usually loves little kids. But I have learned to pay attention when Misha tells me he doesn't want something to do with an individual. He nearly ripped my arm out of its socket when this redneck kid with a bat came up and wouldn't leave until my friend intervened. He also has never willingly been closer than two feet away from Randy (my friend's father), no matter what tasty treat he might be holding.

He's not aggressive, he runs in fear and hides. 

Lucky (terrier mix) loves most everyone except teenage guys. We've always had him, a teenage guy has never been mean to him... he just doesn't like them. Except my fiance, he never out-and-out hated Will (but if he grabs me and hugs me Lucky gets up and acts all worried... he's really protective of me).

Roto, our dashchund puppy, will stick his tongue down anyone's throat, should they get him at face level.

My grandparents' farm dogs bark at everyone and are hesitant with people they haven't met at first then if my grandfather or someone they know very well (like me or my Aunt) are friendly with them then they're okay in the dogs' books.

Harley is okay with strangers, but she'd rather approach them at her own pace. If someone comes at her too fast, she distances herself. If they let her approach them - then she is okay and sniffs away and all that.

Great topic, Max loves everyone, dogs or humans just the same. I belive he is a model pitbull and it helps that he seems to be inflappable even in some situations that I might get concern(like kids grabbing his neck, petting him too hard) . This all changes anytime people walk by our house or come up to the gate, he seems to have a guarding streak and I get very concerned when friends I have not seen in a bit come over because he growls,barks, and gets very "on edge". I try to have them give him treats but he wont eat them when someone thats not family tries feeding him. In time he mellows out and than just waits for them to give him some pets and play tug with him and its all good.

All of my dogs are trained to ignore people when on the leash.

When they are off leash, it’s a different story.

Chyna is very outgoing in public, but protective of my home. If I bring a stranger in, she stays very close to me & watches the new person. Once she has determined that they aren’t a threat, she will wag her way over to meet them.

Bevo is generally aloof in public, and very protective of me & my home. He typically ignores adults when he’s in public, but he adores kids. He wags his nub, & grovels at kids feet. If I bring a new person into my home, Bevo will stay between the person & myself. He will do this for hours or until I pass the stranger a treat to offer him. Once the treat has been shared, he is willing to allow petting.

Brinxx & Shooter both love people. I’m pretty sure that they have never met a stranger.

Schatzi is nervous & tends to avoid meeting people if she can help it. She will come out after a guest has been at the house for a while. But even then, she approaches them very tentatively.

When we're out in public, Gingerbread is friendly, but usually after a quick sniff he wants to go back to checking other stuff out. He also has a timid personality, so if someone reaches for him really fast or is really loud he'll shy away.

At home when we have people over he stands on his hind legs and holds his little arms straight up in the air asking for attention. lol He wants to sit in their lap and be snuggled and petted. The hardest part is when people visit and don't want him in their lap. He'll leave them alone when I ask him to, but he just doesn't understand it and almost seems to hurt his little feelings.

Charlie will bark like nuts if someone comes to the door, but the minute they come into the house he is loving them up they like are his best friend.  He's a good watch dog, but as a guard dog we would be dead...LOL  but that's not why we got a beagle to begin with, we were more interesting in the loving up than the guard dog stuff

Blaze loves all people, I don't think she's been shy a day in her life.  Kids can do whatever they want and she just sits there and drools on them. 

Mystic is super mellow.  If you come up to her that's fine you can pet her and she'll lick you, or if she comes up to someone and they don't want to pet her that's fine to.  She's pretty much just, "whatever, doesn't matter to me"

Dusty is fine w/ people and wants attention so long as she hasn't found something more interesting to smell.  If she's sniffing she usually doesn't notice that anyone is around.

Pooch....well she'll roll over for anyone that will rub her belly.  She loves being in your lap and will get an offended look if you stop petting her.

Co-Co has to be the odd duck.  When we first got her she was scared of everyone.  Now with people she knows well (ie. her trainer) she'll run straight for them and lay on her back for a belly rub.  She can still be stand-offish of new people, but she's also jealous, and jealousy wins over, so if a new person is petting one of the other dogs after a minute or 2 Co-Co will be there as well to get her lovins too.  She still doesn't like it if someone approaches her too fast, and she seems to be more worried about men.  She won't go near my FIL (good character assessment? ).  When we take her to his house he tries to when her over but it takes all evening and all he gets is that she basically crawl over grab whatever food he's offering then run away and the next time she comes to visit it starts back at the begining.  He's a very large, loud, outgoing person and I think that is her problem.

sigh...my dogs are embarrassingly friendly. I have a sign with a snarling german shepherd in my front window (i put it there after my car was broken into, i'm not that tacky!) so people will come into my house a bit nervous. It doesn't matter if it's a cable guy or what...here comes giant, imposing-looking Kaiser squeaking a toy. Wyatt just wants to be rubbed. There have been a few people (maybe 2 or 3) that Kaiser has not liked. He would put his head really low  and stare the whole time. Kaiser is also a little nervous around children...he tucks his tail and slicks his ears back. This reaction is only to kids who are running around and screaming. Older kids are fine.