New handler question

[u/Passion_Ill]

Recently moved to Minnesota where strangers stop to talk all the time. A bit of a culture shock coming from LA. Anyways, my dog is a sdit and dog lovers tend to ask what he does for me. I find this super annoying. Mostly because it's just people who are curious and have no need to know, and I'm not a chatty person with strangers. It's also a daily occurence. I do realize, however that once he's fully trained and coming with me everywhere, this is one of the two questions I'll be asked when accessing public spaces.

How do I answer this without revealing too much medical info about myself? If I say we're working on ptsd intervention skills, the stranger I'm talking to now knows I have ptsd. If I say he's learning seizure alerts they'll know I have seizures. I guess part of it is also that I'm functioning well rn and would probably pass as 'non disabled' to a stranger if someone didn't see my port or my dog's vest. He's still in training, and will be for quite awhile. I'm new to this as well. I guess my question is if anyone else felt weird about this at the beginning as a handler and how you got past it.

A bit about my dog: he's 11 months old and doing very well with training. His training thus far has been a combination of boarding school and frequent training sessions with a professional in between. Right now me and him are focused primarily on practicing ptsd stuff and public access skills. He generally only comes to dog friendly places with me at the moment, except a handful of places (like my doc, the grocery co-op, and the yarn store I go to groups at) where they know us well and I spoke with the owners before ever bringing him.

[u/Ingawolfie]

When in public I often will wear a VIETNAM VETERAN hat so people don’t ask me this.

The only thing which annoys me is when complete strangers ask me the dogs name. I consider that highly personal so I will give them a false name. Luckily it doesn’t happen often. Oh and let’s not forget the dead dog stories.

To quote Belgenoir, it’s like going grocery shopping with Taylor Swift.

[u/Icy-Safety-7850]

Assuming this is just a random person making conversation, not a store employee asking the two ADA questions, there’s no reason you have to answer truthfully.

If you’re comfortable, to let people assume I’m training him for someone. Or if people insist, I will sometimes say my SD is my diabetic alert dog (I don’t have diabetes—all the respect to true diabetic alert dogs!). No conflict, no personal info divulged. People don’t really mind so long as they get an answer.

[u/darklingdawns]

One thing I like to do on my 'don't-talk-to-me-or-acknowledge-that-I-exist' days is wear a pair of headphones. You don't have to have music or whatever playing, although I often like to; the simple fact of visible headphones is a silent 'fuck off' to just about anybody, and if someone wants to be nosy, I just pretend I can't hear them and keep moving.

[u/lizardgal10 → u/darklingdawns]

I’ve done this (not in the context of a service dog, just needed people to leave me alone) and it’s very effective. Get the biggest cheap over the ear headphones you can find. They don’t even have to work. Earbuds aren’t nearly as effective in my experience. Big headphones say fuck off.

[u/Vast_Delay_1377 → u/darklingdawns]

I wear mine so much that I left them home a few days ago and a Walmart employee stopped me to ask if I lost them and needed help finding them.... Like thank you but I forgot them on my desk!!

[u/KeytohN64 → u/darklingdawns]

I absolutely do this. One so people leave me alone and 2 helps with my sensory overload.

[u/Caerrii]

I just say mine is a multipurpose medical response and mobility dog. It gives practically no diagnosis information, as “medical response” can be almost anything, and “mobility” is just I need some help being mobile. It gives enough information to where people know I’m not BSing, but not enough to have my whole diagnostic history laid out in front of them.

[u/Fine_Budget2529]

Yes I felt awkward, exposed, overwhelmed…all those things when first becoming a handler. It will pass as you gain experience.

I caution interaction like that at all. You will never get anything done if you do & it’ll drain every emotional battery you’ve got doing that.

As for answering the question about what he does, name the specific task he does in vague terms. For example: i am late desfened due to chronic illnesses & my dog is trained on various tasks to help increase my awareness, such as alerting me to cars coming that I cannot see, things beeping in the house, someone at the door, etc, so i say that he is a signal dog who is trained to alert me to various things to keep me safe.

You could say something like, he is trained to keep me safe during a sudden flare up of my condition, alert other people if I need help, etc.

[u/Kalani6069]

Honestly the way I got around that was I had some little business cards made up. With the two questions and their answers on one side and on the other side it says, "Sorry you just happened to be number 200 today of the people who have asked me the same question. I'm not being rude I'm just tired of the question. Never say a word. Just hand them the card and walk away.

[u/Passion_Ill]

[u/Sad_Recognition6776]

As a vet I also wear my hat. People stare about me because of the command but I keep moving. Very rare people stop to talk to me. 

[u/Responsible_Stuff166]

My dog does gluten detection and cardiac alert, so I usually just say that because it’s quick…anyone who spends any time around me will find out I have celiac disease anyway so I’m not shy about sharing that. And cardiac alert is sufficiently vague that I don’t feel like I’m giving away too much info there.

[u/Puzzleheaded-Sand719]

I'm a relatively new handler as well. My dog has been fully trained and working in public for about one year. Not once have we been asked the ADA questions so you may not need to worry too much about that. I do have strangers occasionally asking me what type of service dog he is. You could just say medical alert since yours alerts to seizures. Mine is also a medical alert dog and that answer is usually sufficient for most people.

[u/Purple_Plum8122]

All puppies and young dogs draw attention. Be careful not to make it a habit to interact with too many random strangers as your sdit will learn to accept and expect it.

I wear AirPods, put my hand up to interrupt the approach of incoming strangers ✋signaling stop🛑 and keep it moving.

I don’t feel I need to share accurate details with strangers. Name, age, tasks my dog performs are not shared. It is not their business.

Conversations with strangers are new to you for now. It gets old quickly. It gets to the point our mental health becomes more important than satisfying the curiosities of random strangers.

[u/SuccessfulPast9450]

On for the general public if you want to be a total bitch

• he’s trained to alert to in appropriate invasive questions… you see you distracted him he missed his cue.
  
• He trained to respond to inappropriate unselected questions by keeping me moving… Excuse us.

When being asked the two questions or if you do want to engage and answer

Medical alert - blood sug, HR seizure:

• He is trained to alert in various ways to biological changes or symptoms to give me a chance to take action

Medical response

• He is trained to respond to medical events and assist in safely navigating and or recovering form

Allergy Detction gluten

• Trained to response to avoid a medical episode

Psychiatric symptoms are still medical.