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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Permalink Reply by Julia on January 12, 2010 at 1:38am

We have met a very pleasant man at the small dog park, almost every day, we call him "The Candy Man." He likes our hunting dogs, like his. He thinks Lilliput's adorable. He always gives them yummy treats. You can figure out what happened. EVERY time Lilli sees him, she takes off after him across the park, taking her buddy dog with her. She stays with him begging forever. I want to call her back, I'm embarrassed, I think she's showing bad manners. My partner says the Candy Man brought this on himself, he's an experienced (hunting) dog owner, he can deal with it. We just keep walking.

sofapup

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Permalink Reply by Beth on January 12, 2010 at 7:03am

Ah, yes, there are two people Jack does this to. What I noticed is that if someone will sometimes give him one treat, or sometimes two, or sometimes none, or sometimes act like there is none but then cave and give him one, he won't leave them alone and is very rude.

There are one or two people who sometimes tell him to "sit" and then give a treat, and he does not harass them the same way, since they have clear treat-giving signals which he understands.

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Permalink Reply by Julia on January 12, 2010 at 1:42am

I must add, though it's kind of coming from left field while we are talking in right field, I found a great book. It was at PetSmart of all places, and called "Can I Pet Your Dog?" In it a friendly dog explains to a small child why some dogs may not want to be petted, and some may. The only way to know is to ask. It's about kindergarten level, I think.

sofapup