What in the words, "Don't pet my dog" is so hard to understand?

I've hit a roadblock with the new puppy. I can't teach him to wait patiently before he can get pets from new people. The dog is not the problem.
It's people.
No matter where I go, if he lunged at somebody for pettings, people will immediately reward him for this behavior. If I correct him with the leash, or with words, I get looked at like I'm the jerk. If I ask them not to pet my dog, they tell me "It's ok". But it's NOT ok.
Does anyone else have this problem? How do you deal with it?
I'm THIS close to getting a dog shirt and writing DON'T PET! DOG HAS CONTAGIOUS MANGE on it and making him wear it every time he's out of the house.
This was put in Corgi Behavior because there's no People Behavior category. >(

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I have the same problem! I've even watched our Agility trainer do it. When people say, "It's okay," I've just started saying, "No, it's not. He has to sit or he doesn't get pet." Now if they still choose to ignore me, I normally don't say anything, lol. Wearing the gentle leader harness when we're out has really helped with the jumping also.
Maybe I'll put a muzzle on him and people will think he's a demon dog. Har Har
Welcome to the World of Corgis are so irresistible people can't hear a thing you say!!! I run into the same problem and if they don't listen I get more persistent with it and when I see I get a moment of pause or hesitation from them I explain why. That will usually hold them off. Don't be afraid to stand your ground...your dog is your space and responsibility. Even if they continue to ignore you can only correct them for so long since you have to work with your dog so continue controlling your dog no matter what. Many will see you working with him and will tend to back off and then just politely say thank you and explain. Just think...your educating another to be responsible and I'm sure others around will hear this as well and will learn.
This might be a good idea.
I'll have to get used to the dirty looks. :p
While this happens a lot, I must admit one of the most heart warming things I ever saw was this guy with his son who ran to pet my older dog Didi and his dad caught him by the arm and told him very calmly how to introduce himself to a dog. A few minutes later the little kid came over and asked very politely if he could pet Didi, and when I said it was ok he held out his hand first and the whole shebang before patting her VERY gently. It was mucho adorable.
Heh - we have this problem with Killian too and we call it the "Vortex of Cute".. People get sucked in so quickly that you could tell them he's the most horrible attack dog and they'd run to him with open arms, giggling while he licks them to death. :-/
My male pulls this "I don't jump on them....I just sit pretty (ie sitting on rump with front paws in the air)" He pretty well has them at that. Since he is not jumping I just allow the petting. If you can't beat em join em. ^-^
Sitstay has vests for working dogs - if you get one of the colors that doesn't mean "service dog" (get a green one or something) you can put the big patches for "IN TRAINING" and "DO NOT PET" on it. People tend to understand and obey the vests when nothing else works.
Take heart, you're not alone. Sigh.
People, like dogs, respond much better to positive instruction (Please do this...) than negative instruction (Please don't do....).

Instead of saying "Don't pet my dog until he sits" try saying "Please ask my dog to sit before you pet him." If the first word out of your mouth is "don't" you've lost your audience. :-) By asking them to do something proactive, you are inviting them into your circle and involving them.

With little kids who are too young to resist the cuteness, I always crouched next to Jack and held his collar and scratched his chest and said "Gooood boy" very quietly the entire time the kid was bopping him in the head or whatnot. As a result, Jack is better even with kids than he is with adults.

Good luck! We've all been there.
I am experiencing something similiar. My parents do realize how corgis are, and when Wynstan pooped on the floor, because my parents hadn't let him out for awhile, and they spanked him, when I got home from work, he was under a chair waiting for me. If they would take him out after he ate, it wouldn't have happened. UGH...
I have had the same issue, so when people start walking up I immediately say "if you'd like to pet her, just let me have her sit first, she is in training". This has worked fairly well, I take a knee and stay at Nibbler's level while the people are petting her though, so I can keep her in place.

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