How do I get my kid to stop hugging random people?

My kid loves people. He’s a golden retriever of a child. At the age of 3 he’s still happily sitting on anyone’s lap he’s familiar with and he’s always giving out hugs. People like him because he’s a sweet kid and he makes friends easily. <br><br>The problem is that he also likes giving out hugs to random people. If he’s with me and we’re out in a store, at the park, walking down the street etc, he will occasionally run up to random people that we don’t know and wrap his arms around their legs. This is getting embarrassing. I don’t want people to think that I’m encouraging him. I tell him not to do it. How can I stop this behavior from happening in the first place?<br><br>EDIT: So it seems like I just wrote a post for parents instead of a prompt for writers. I apologize for this. I thought that this was an interesting prompt for a story. I guess it wasn’t. Thanks for the parenting advice, everyone.