I think its downright ignorant, to do such a thing, I was outside work one day with our Aspen, she was only young at the time, this fella came over talking to me trying to impress me with his knowledge of siberians(my dogs are malamutes and dont look at all like sibes lol) anyway all of a sudden he leaned down put his hands underneaith each side of my girls chest and tried to life her front end, I lost the plot with him, saying how dare he take it on himself to do such a thing, why he did it I havent a clue, I then went on to inform him that if he is such an expert then he would have known she was a mal and that in future he should learn manners when touching someone elses dog, and ask the owners if they mind. I was ranting lol.

Mo

I don't let people pick up Boomer, in fact i don't let them pet him at all if possible because he gets too excited and nips faces and hands. His nips soon turn into snaps if you touch him near his hips or sides so its really not worth the risk. Boomers not 100% reliable so I think putting down some very firm boundries minimises any risks.

After saying all that, if a calm person asks if they can pet him or touch him i can command him to sit or lie down then he's much calmer and can be touched gently but a hand flying out towards him without warning is just a red rag to a bull for Boomer!

No-one has picked Dusty up without asking first that I can think of, if they did she probably wouldn't mind either way if she let them, she'd leg it if she didn't want them to as she can get a wee fright if she doesn't like someone for some reason but on the whole she is relitively easy going and likes a wee cuddle but i'd certainly give them an earful if they tried it! How rude! I cannot imagine picking up anyones dog like that, even wee chi's I bend down to pet I wouldn't dream of it unless they said so. Even other people's cats I wouldn't pick up and I always stop to pet cats.

I don't think it's right that anyone should pick up, or in fact stroke a dog they don't know without the owners permission.

However, I am sure Kammi would be delighted to be picked up by anyone and everyone, however, i am sure that given the fact she can only manage about a minute into the park before she's covered in mud that there is very little chance of anyone doing it - despite the fact she has no manners and goes and throws herself at everyone she sees.

The kids in our street know that if they want to fuss the dogs it is done when the dogs are on leads and when they are down at the dogs level

Gozo's fine with people in the family pick him up, also we always say 'pick' when we do it so he knows what's coming.

The more I think about it the more I realise how threatened and vulnerable he must have felt.

J.