Interesting Observations of Doodle meeting People

[Carol and Banjo]

We enjoy taking Banjo with us wherever we go.  People love coming up to him to say hello and are always full of questions about what kind of dog he is, etc.   We live in an area full of summer tourists and enjoy going down to the town docks to watch the people and boats.  Last night we spent a couple of hours just sitting on a bench enjoying talking to the many people who came to "see" Banjo.
We both remarked later about Banjo's various reactions to different people.   He's always "polite" and will allow anyone to pat him.  But we noticed that although everyone who approached us seemed genuinely interested in him, he was at times not interested at all in some folks.  Certain people evoked lots of kisses and wagging tail and friendly eye to eye contact.  Yet, there were others who Banjo simply sat and "tolerated" their attention (petting, etc) but he was clearly dis-interested, making to eye contact and just sitting there looking beyond them.    There was one woman, who actually got off her boat and walked down the long dock just to come up and ask about what kind of dog, etc. - it was clear she was very interested and wanted to be "friends" - she was not too "gushy" the way some people can be - she was very pleasant and was happy to pat him and asked lots of questions.  I almost felt the need to apologize for Banjo's blatant indifference!  He was just not interested in her attentions.     All of this got me to wondering......what goes on in his head???     Why so friendly with some and so aloof with others?    Anyone have any insight into this?
On a funny note.    One young family...Mom, Dad and 3 adorable little girls came up to us...eyes all lit up .....asking "may we pet your dog"....is this a Goldendoodle???????   Yes, I replied.....the Mom looking at her hubby said "THIS IS THE DOG !!!!   This is the one I've been looking at online!!!!   This is the kind we want!!!! "  She was so cute and funny....she went on to say she's spent sooooooo much time looking at goldendoodles online that when hubby asks what she'd doing she tells him she's looking at her "puppy porn".    Too funny!   But I knew exactly what she meant....as I'd spent so much time online doing the same thing that my DH was beginning to get jealous of my time there!   Now he chides me for the time I spend here on DK!  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jack reacts differently to different people, too, and I have yet to figure out what it is about certain people that appeals to him or turns him off. With him, it's more about being afraid or reactive than disinterested, and he is never tail-wagging & kiss-giving thrilled to meet any stranger, but there is clearly a difference in the way he feels about one strange adult versus another. (He loves all kids.)
I've gotten to where I can tell ahead of time when he is definitely not going to like someone (sunglasses and hats can be a problem, a person who even looks scary to me is usually not going to win him over, etc.) But most of the time, he surprises me with who he seems to like and who he backs away from. I do know body language and tone of voice have a lot to do with it. I'll be interested to hear what others have to say.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Darwin does kind of the same thing. He will wag his tail and lick everyone, but with some people, he loses interest pretty easily and starts sniffing around or looking at something else instead. I don't know if it's specific people, or just certain things around him that happen to be distracting him.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I have always said Luca would cheerfully greet Jack the Ripper and invite him in for a cold drink. Recently, for the first time, he started to the door to greet my son and his father, who Luca had never met. Luca backed up and barked for quite a while at this adult man, something he never does. And he adores my son who had come in with him. I found this very strange. After a while he settled down but that was quite weird. Also, if Luca hears one of my neighbors outside, who he can't really see through the shrubbery, he'll give a hello bark until she comes to greet him. He knows exactly where the noises likely to be her, and not someone else, come from. I cannot tell him when we are about to pick up either of my sons from the bus from NYC, or he'll cry from the time we leave until he sees them. Then he gets beyond excited. Calla used to be skittish around most strangers but she has become much less so.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Both Guinness and Murphy LOVE women, especially the cute, young, bubbly ones. How's that for stereotypical....but I'm totally serious. Men...they could care less or even bark. And they're BOTH like this. I think they've gotten to know that it's usually women who will "gush" over them, and boy do they love that. They love being told how cute they are in that "high, singsong" tone, and it's only women who will do that. Younger girls do that especially well - they have a certain "energy and excitement" that my boys love. They go absolutely crazy over the young ladies at Petco and also the Vet Techs. There's one young man Tech (very nice, but never gushes) who they totally ignore. What can I say, they're "guys".

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

ha! Peri likes men....isn't that weird! She goes crazy for them, but will ignore a woman (strangers only - she goes gaga for my mother).

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Isn't it funny, the girl dogs like men and the boy dogs like women. My females both liked men, too, whereas a starnge man is JD's least favorite person.

[Melissa, Samson & Shelby]

I have had the same experiences. Both my doodles love everybody and are always on the look out for a pet, 9 times out of 10 if someone is willing to pet them, they will greet with wagging tails and different levels of exuberance. I often attribute their reactions to people to what's going on around them to distract them and if my doodles are tired, hungry, etc. I agree that large hats can be intimidating. My male barked at a man in a wheelchair approaching who wanted to greet them. I was mortified for a moment until I thought to ask his wife to have him remove his hat. That worked like a charm! The hat came off and Samson approached, tail wagging for pets. Their was a day recently, when a man (not scary looking, but he did have a cane resting on the bench) got nothing but barks from Samson. Even when the man moved and we saw him in a different location, Samson still barked at him. He also barked at another man a few minutes later who came by. I never could figure out what that was about. I can count on two hands the number of times Samson will bark at someone who he sees when he's out. Shelby is more laid back about people. She's the #2 dog and will greet any human and never barks. Pretty much anyone who will pet her is a friend for life.

[Ellen]

Riley is pretty friendly with everybody but esp. with women who gush over him. I have to agree with what Jane says about bubbly voices -- Riley really reacts when women talk to him in the cutesy high pitched voices (ohhh, how adorableeeeeeee!). His wagging butt goes into overdrive, he does his spin jump in the air, and he tries to jump up and lick them despite my efforts to restrain him. I think that's why he likes little kids too because they squeal a lot in high pitched voices.

Don't get me wrong, Riley likes men too, but since he doesn't get the same type of gushing attention or the same voice intonation, he doesn't provide the same reaction -- his tail wags but his reaction is more muted. The only exception is when Riley sees the guys from doggie daycare, and then he goes ballistic.

Usually, once somebody starts smiling at him, then he's hooked. Sometimes when we walk past a person or group of people, and they've made eye contact with him, he will keep turning to look back at them as we walk forward to the point that he's bumped into me, trees, or other things. It's quite funny.

[Carol and Banjo]

oooo...that's so cute....TREES HURT!!! I do love to watch Banjo watching approaching strangers ... his little tail wagging in anticipation that they will stop and pat him. He's always so hopeful for another scratch behind the ear!
Now that we've noticed his different reactions with people we'll have to become more aware of who and what he seems to react to and in which way. I can't say he seems to prefer women over men....as there were a few men that he really went crazy for. I almost felt like he would have happily gone along with them if he could have!
I remember thinking to myself that they seemed to be genuine dog lovers and Banjo tuned into that.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

That really is funny....I can just picture it!

[Frannie & Callie]

Callie generally loves everyone, but she definitely has times where she's more aloof (it's usually at the dog park...she's just more interested in the dogs than the people).

I would LOVE to know what goes on inside her head!!

[Pat & "Tucker"]

Tucker loves anyone who pays him attention. He really loves kids. It's almost as if he know they are more playful than adults. He never barked at anyone or acted afraid. He would greet a burglar with wagging tail. That's not so good!