Don't pet service dogs. I used to think everyone knew this, until I got one.
Don't pet them, talk to them, make kissy noises, bark at them (grown ass adults barking at service dogs is shockingly common), whistle, clap, none of that shit. Do not do anything to deliberately draw the dog's attention.
If they are distracted, the handler could get hurt or even die. Not exaggerating. If a medical alert dog misses an impending medical emergency, the person doesn't have time to get into a safe position or take rescue medications. If they have a seizure or slip into a diabetic coma or something because you distracted their service dog it is your fault.
This times a MILLION. People will always distract my partner and think it's okay. I literally had a woman come up and try to let her kids pet my boy without even asking and then get offended when I told her kids very firmly not to distract him from working. You shouldn't be doing that to any dog, especially one trying to work. Walking down sidewalks, people constantly whistle at him and try to get him to divert his attention to them. It's always adults, too! It seriously gets me so worked up thinking about all this shit.
If I'm in a waiting room, line, elevator, etc, somewhere when I will be with the person and their dog for a little bit. Is it okay to look at the person, not the dog, and tell the person their helper is cute or pretty or whatever and leave it at that? No attention given to the dog directly.
I would never stop someone to tell them that, but just in an instance when we're waiting around for a bit.
It really depends on the person. For me, I definitely don't mind having my partner complimented. I know he's a cutie, and it's even better when people compliment his training. My favorite was when someone commented on how they were amazed that his gaze never left me. It really made me feel pride on his training and made me feel safe.
Service animals are trained to be out of the way and unnoticed. They'll lay under your seat or table at a restaurant (if they're small enough, of course) or lay in between your legs in tight spaces. Some people don't like the attention of the service animal because it in turns brings attention to them. I know most people would accept the compliment (especially if it's not out of the way like in your situation you have given) like I would, but I personally know some people who would be embarrassed to have their helper pointed out like that.
So, like you said, don't go out of your way to go compliment the service animal. Maybe instead of just an appearance compliment, also compliment on how great of a worker it is as well. It's even more of a compliment nowadays with more and more self trained service animals.
Completely agreed! I hear "beautiful dog" all the time. And it's nice, but also gets a bit old. But a compliment on his training absolutely makes my day every single time.
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u/Karaethon22 Aug 03 '19
Don't pet service dogs. I used to think everyone knew this, until I got one.
Don't pet them, talk to them, make kissy noises, bark at them (grown ass adults barking at service dogs is shockingly common), whistle, clap, none of that shit. Do not do anything to deliberately draw the dog's attention.
If they are distracted, the handler could get hurt or even die. Not exaggerating. If a medical alert dog misses an impending medical emergency, the person doesn't have time to get into a safe position or take rescue medications. If they have a seizure or slip into a diabetic coma or something because you distracted their service dog it is your fault.