Responsible owners + socializing the dog = good dog.
<groan, I can't believe I'm typing this> It takes a village...
A few nights ago, I was delivering a load in a small industrial complex. I approached a worker in a neighboring business for information only to find myself challenged by a two year old Dobie. Calmness on both my part and the dog's owner's allowed me to make a new friend (the dog spent a lot of time sniffing the important parts and may well recognize me next time we meet, the owner didn't, probably won't.
) (When I was about eight, a local woman who exercised two leashed Dobies by sitting on the tailgate of a station wagon driven by her husband was killed when the dogs jumped into the back of the car and savaged her. I knew and liked the people and the dogs and had a hard time with Dobies for some years afterward.) Socializing a pooch cannot be done by the owner alone, strangers must participate.
