When Nisha was little (8 weeks) people would say "OMG, what a cute puppy!! What kind is it??". When I answered they said "oh" and quickly walked away. She was just a pile of fluff then
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Now, we get mixed results; a lot of people love her. She isn't too big so she is not so intimidating as a male might be. But we do get our share of scared people. Our trainer told us to always be positive about it. Dogs can sense the energy others put off; tell your dog "those silly people are scared of you"...in a happy upbeat voice. This helps deflect the negative energy they receive from the "racist" people.