[nagdu] people petting our dogs without permission

[Stepper]

Hi to all.
I haven't had a dog for some time now. However I did have two guide dogs for 17 years.
I tried the humor bit; I tried letting the public pet my dog; I tried explaining why not; I even tried telling my life story sorta.
I gave up.
This is what I did.
When the  person I discover is either speaking or trying to pet my dog or almost petting my dog then I do and say the following.
1. First I heal my dog, then I stand up straight, facing the direction that person is standing from me. 
2. I then hold my hand up and outward palm out with my elbow just a couple of inches from my body, , in the world wide gesture for stop! At the same time I say the following not harshly, but firmly. 
3. Please "Stop distracting my dog Now!so we can refocus on our work. thank you.
It worked very well for me. No big deal explanation, no story, just the facts as it were.
I found that I was very tired of explaining things and wanted a way to get my point across, without taking a lot of time and energy, and having to give information that the offender wouldn't remember five minutes from the time they tried to pet my dog.

The body language of the well known signal for stop triggers something in all of us when we hear someone that says firmly "Stop!" We do just that.
will Note, I took charge of the situation, instead of allowing them to control the event, I took control, without being nasty, or defensive, and so on.
I tell them as little as possible. 
When I have time and if I feel like I want to talk then I will spend the time and effort getting in to the details. But most of the time, this worked very well.
Most people will respond if they don't feel there not being harshly spoken to, but they do respond pretty well if you take charge of the person trying or petting your dog.

Thanks,
stepper