Why on earth do people pet dogs without asking? And I am talking about any dog, not just service dogs. In one week I had two people come up to my vested dog and just start petting (one person even had to reach around me to touch my dog in an elevator). I tell the dog to leave it (which they did beautifully) and the person goes "oh am I not supposed to pet them?" And I nicely explain "no, they are a service dog and they are working but it is good training for them to ignore people who just start petting them." One of the people said "oh I didn't know I couldn't pet them" and another said "well if I had known they were in TRAINING I would have ignored them but their vest does not say in training." Well people you should not go up to ANY dog, vested or not, and start petting them. I don't care what breed they are or how cute and friendly they look. The dog might not like to be petted, might have an ear infection and if you touch their ears might get unhappy, might not like women, men, people with hats etc, the list goes on. Please just ask. It is like me seeing your cute kid, whom I don't know, and running up and giving them a hug. That would result in all sorts of drama (and probably a freaked out kid). So do everyone a courtesy and just ask to pet before assuming your hand is allowed on my dog.
Thank you. Stepping off of my soap box now.
I would like to say there are some super awesome people out there too. We went to dinner last night in a crowded restaurant. As we walked in there were a couple kids with their parents in a small waiting area. The kids get all excited about the dogs and the mom instantly goes "do not distract or pet that dog. They are service dogs." Then explained to her kids what service dogs were and why you do not pet them. We had no issues, no kid tried to run over and the dogs didn't loose focus. It was great!
And to end the post with probably one of my most favorite funny photos of Serena taken a couple days ago:
Some of our neighbors and friends have voiced their opinion that they think it is sad that I won't let Gia "make friends" with most people that we encounter. You know, I think it is pretty darn sad that my husband has Parkinsons Disease and needs a service dog. I sure do not want her to be distracted to make friends with someone. One wrong move that she made towards someone else could put him on the ground.
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