No thanks!

A field trip to the busy shopping centre and hardware store - maneuvering around all the people, shopping carts, hardware items and general hustle and bustle. When a dog doesn’t enjoy attention from strangers and used to behave reactively towards them by barking and growling to keep them away, it is time to practice polite leash manners. So during a field trip I focus on correcting any naughty behaviour but mostly advocating for the dog at all times. Today, advocating meant sitting her between me and a shelf (so I essentially shield her using my body) and politely telling several adults and one child that they couldn’t touch her. When it comes to this stuff, always ask yourself if this interaction, this indulgence, this whatever... is this a fair situation to put my dog in? Is this situation going to help my dog do her best work? If the answer is no, it’s setting my dog up to fail, or to make life harder for my dog then just don’t do it.
If your dog doesn’t enjoy attention from strangers or if you don’t want your dog accepting attention from strangers (maybe it gets him overexcited), then you absolutely have every right to advocate for your dog and stop it. No person is entitled to impose themselves on your dog and it is always perfectly ok to say ‘No Thank You’ to unwanted attention.