I almost went off on a carnie today. (service dog related)

[draggar]

We went to the south Florida fair today (yes, again) and we were working Luna and Pollux plus my wife's friend was there with her service dog.

As we were walking past one of the games (one of the race games where the person running it is talking though a microphone) and he started to shout "Hey doggies! Come here doggies! (whistles, kisses) DOGGIES!"

I yelled at him (it was loud) not to distract them since they are working. He looked at me and continued to call them.

I walked to his game and asked what his problem was.

All I got was a HUH?

I asked him "If you saw someone in an electric wheelchair would you just start to push the buttons on it?"

Uh, no?

If you saw someone walking with a cane would you pull it out from under them to look at it ?

Uh, no?

THEN WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO DISTRACT WORKING SERVICE DOGS?

Uh, I didn't know they were service dogs!

The capes didn't give it away (mind you, the capes are BRIGHT RED or ORANGE on the vlcaks, and blue on my wife's friend's lab).

I thought they were pets!

They don't allow pets here. Be glad you don't need one and pray if a day comes you do need one others don't do to you what you just did to us.

Wit that I just walked off. Seriously, even though I mainly do basic obedience and socialization training with them even I'm getting sick of this.

We were later in one of the large shopping tents and a lady (and I use the term loosely) with a service dog lab noticed us walking by and told her dog to go say hi to us and she let is come running up to us. Um, do you have any sense of service dog etiquette???

They also had a robot at the fair (controlled by someone remotely, they can see & her what is going on). He noted them (we were walking them near it for exposure) and he said that he wanted to say hi to the doggies. He told the kids around him "Now, these are service dogs, you never want to go up to a service dog and if you want to pet it you always need to ask".

We thanked him for that - it's rare people do but to see someone who is doing something influential like that acting properly it's a nice chance.

[Sandman]

"Now, these are service dogs, you never want to go up to a service dog and if you want to pet it you always need to ask".

I knew that, so when I was working at the bent paperclip I had a customer with a service dog come in. When I was done serving them I complemented them on how well behaved their service dog was and when they got home to give him a hug for me.

It made the owner extremely happy that I treated her just like a normal customer.

[BookstoreEscapee]

There was a blind woman who came into Store2 sometimes with her dog (beautiful black lab). The dog was always perfectly behaved (sat or laid at her feet if she was standing still and laid under her chair if they were sitting in the cafe). The only incident I ever saw with the dog was a little girl who freaked out because she was afraid of it.

[draggar]

My recent posts might have worried some people - but it seems that 90% of the people out there either are indifferent or just notice the dog and don't do anything.

Maybe 5-7% notice and compliment (pretty dog etc..)

It's that least small percentage that is a pain and I'm willing to bet most of it is because of lack of education.

[Frantic Freddie]

Mrs Frantic & I recognize service dogs,we never interfere with them.

[Mishi]

Definitely a lack of education, even our kids (4 & 2) know to leave them alone when they're working. Jazzy told off a group of kids for trying to distract some pups that were in training. She got huge smiles from the trainers and confused looks from the kids parents.

[Pony_Boy]

I'm curious: Do you find that since many people like to "dress up" their dogs in various articles of clothing ( little jackets, t-shirts etc) that some of the general public don't clue in on the capes your dogs wear since they re so used to seeing dogs dressed up?

[Amina516]

Ive always taught my children about Service dogs, b/c my daughter wants to hug every puppy shee sees. I think Ive gotten the point across. Usually the ones Ive seen have harness' with titles or something. Ive never seen dogs in capes. You must snap a pic.

That first carnie was way outta line. And I bet after you left, he still didnt get it.

[Indigo]

I recognize service dogs and admire from afar. There is one guy with a service dog on campus who lets me pet his puppy as long as I ask first each time (he saw me admiring her once and tole me I could). I'm not sure what kind of service dog she is, never thought it was any of my business. But she's so adorable and loves ear scritches.

The only time I've gotten in trouble over a working dog was when it came to the drug dogs they took through my HS - but that's another story.

[Squeaksmyalias]

I've been able to pet a few, Mostly K9s and search and rescue doggies. I usually strike up a conversation with the handler and they ask me if I want to pet the dog.

I don't think it's really the fact that people are used to seeing dogs in clothes. It's more that oh it's a dog I will pet it. I've had plenty of people run up and pet a dog that I was handling, people just don't understand there are dogs you shouldn't run up to pet, either due to being easily excited, not liking strangers, training or the fact they have a job.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I'm curious: Do you find that since many people like to "dress up" their dogs in various articles of clothing ( little jackets, t-shirts etc) that some of the general public don't clue in on the capes your dogs wear since they re so used to seeing dogs dressed up?

That's a good point. Some people probably do think they're just wearing a cute outfit. The one I saw in the bookstore didn't wear any kind of vest but she did have the harness with the handle which made it pretty obvious.

my daughter wants to hug every puppy shee sees.

Hehe, so do I. The seeing eye dog I mentioned above is the only dog I ever saw in the store that I didn't ask if I could pet (assuming the owner looked friendly, which most people with little dogs in stores did). Any other dogs had to be small enough to carry, so they were mostly little pocket dogs. One woman had a Chihuahua, and the first time I saw her I was talking to her and told her about Pablo. After that she always let me hold her dog when she came in (sometimes while she went to get coffee, since we did not allow dogs in the cafe).

I once stopped in right before some minor holiday and they had a Greyhound rescue group doing gift wrapping, and they had 3 dogs with them. They were all soooo sweet. I learned that retired racing dogs generally won't sit (they get a shock if they sit in the gates before a race) so they would lean into your legs to get pets instead.

[draggar]

I'm curious: Do you find that since many people like to "dress up" their dogs in various articles of clothing ( little jackets, t-shirts etc) that some of the general public don't clue in on the capes your dogs wear since they re so used to seeing dogs dressed up?

While not too visible from afar, the capes do have "Don't pet me, I'm working" and "service dog" patches on them.

That first carnie was way outta line. And I bet after you left, he still didnt get it.

Or didn't care. Some states actually have serious fines (I think Maine is $500) for deliberately trying to distract a service dog. I think I'm going to research this for FL - while I'm not looking to enforce it or threaten to sue people, maybe being educated on that little tidbit will make them think twice about trying to distract a service dog?

[Greenday]

There was one blind girl who had an absolutely gorgeous black lab for a service dog. I've seen here throughout the entire campus. Woman was very friendly and the dog was very well behaved. I saw her at one of the grease trucks a lot and would chat with her while we waited for food. It's ridiculous how many people would just walk up and try to pet the dog. It's like the bright, shiny orange and red wasn't a warning enough. Neither was the "SERVICE DOG". And oddly enough, it was never the little kids who were at our school for something or another. They always were well behaved and never rushed the dog or anything.

One of my best friends has a failure of a service dog. He failed school. Probably because he's usually gets extremely excited when new people are around. But he's pretty well trained otherwise. He follows most commands very well. He'll be following you and you'll walk into the kitchen, he immediately stops at the doorway. He doesn't beg at all during dinner (which is a nice change from my beagles).

[Barefootgirl]

Maybe its partly because people aren't necessarily used to the idea of a service dog for anyone other than blind people. If you're not obviously blind, then the dog with you has to be a pet, right?

Do service dogs have to wear some form of identification as such while they are working?

[LillFilly]

I love seeing those dogs at work, they're so dedicated and well behaved. I'd rather have a mall full of dogs than kids. We have a couple who bring their service dogs in training in a lot; never had problems with anyone harassing them though. Some people just...think they're special don't they?

Reminds me of when I was walking my mom's grouchy ol' dog and some lady asked if her kid could pet him. I told her no, he was old and timid and doesn't like strange people. As soon as my back was turned she swooped her kid down on poor Max and got her kid nipped in the finger. Then she started screaming about rabies. I pointed out the half-dozen rabies vacination tags on his collar