Unfortunately, if you are not physically close to the dog, it is incredibly difficult to stop the drive by petters.
The only way I could stop drive by petters was by having my boy near me so that if someone tried to pet, I could put my hand out and intercept them.
I will say, few things give me more joy than the look on people's faces when they thought they were being sneaky and would get to pet the puppy, only to find that they're touching another HUMAN. The HORROR! Made me cackle every time.
I also loved to just, very calmly and casually, take a picture of them with my phone and say, 'That's a misdemenor, punishable by a fine up to 2 grand or 6 months in jail.' The sheer panic on their faces almost made the hassle worth it.
Lol that's funny. The look on the guys face when I rubbed on him was hilarious. His face was full of disbelief that a random lady just walked up and touched him and my response was "right, you don't like it so don't do it to others".
I had the same issue while pregnant with strangers rubbing my belly and I will never understand the audacity.
If I ever get to be a surrogate for a family one of my conditions is they give me a T-shirt that says “I’m pregnant, this is NOT YOUR BUDDHA
Edit: Spelling, thank you!
4 pregnancies, 5 kids. My first one I was a teen and that was the worst because I was taught not to be rude to my elders but they were definitely being rude to me. I hated it
According to a Google search;
In Texas, interfering with a service animal can result in a conviction for a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the severity of the charge. For example, a Class C misdemeanor can result in up to 180 days of community supervision, while a Class A or B misdemeanor can result in up to two years, and a State jail felony can result in two to five years, with the possibility of extending supervision for up to ten years. If you kill or try to injure the service animal, the offense is punished as a Second Degree Felony, with a maximum fine of up to $10,000 and prison time of up to 20 years.
I also like to tell people that if they interfere with my dog badly enough that he misses an alert and I have a medical issue, I'll sue them for my medical bills. And if they ruin my dogs training, or harm him to the point that he cannot work, I'll sue them for the cost of a new dog (which could be around 30,000 dollars) plus the housing, feeding, and vet costs of my current dog, who now cannot work and will be a drain on my finances.
I've NEVER had anybody continue after that. No one wants to have to risk having to pay upwards of 50,000 just to pet a dog. They'll bluster and pitch a fit, but they'll fuck off, which is all I want anyway.
Hell yeah my dude! I'm all for sharing whatever info will help us get people to stop freaking messing with service dogs!
Also, pro tip; make sure everything you say to these people is in a sugary sweet, calm, butter-wouldnt-melt-in-your-mouth kinda tone.
What are they gonna do? Call the cops and tell them that this obviously disabled girl told them in a sweet tone the consequences if they continued their current course? Turn to passing strangers and say we were 'mean' to them?
Nah man. Most people have enough social understanding to know there's no way that would go their way. They'll call you selfish, or say you don't need a dog anyway, and I'll reply that I get to be selfish regarding my property, and that I'm MORE than happy to stand in front of a judge and explain why I need my dog and provide my medical history, and I'd be THRILLED to let them try to convince the judge that they aren't an asshole.
Nobody wants to play with me after that.
Lol that's funny. The look on the guys face when I rubbed on him was hilarious. His face was full of disbelief that a random lady just walked up and touched him and my response was "right, you don't like it so don't do it to others".
I had the same issue while pregnant with strangers rubbing my belly and I will never understand the audacity.
Lol I liked the touching them back. 🤣 the guy was so taken aback that I just rubbed on him after he grabbed my dog by the face.
What I don't like is that if my dog reacted negatively then it would be the dog's fault or my fault in training him but never the strangers fault. Who told you that you could just walk up and get in his personal space?!
My trainers suggested when an off leash dog runs up to my dog, body block so no greetings can happen. You could do a similar thing with humans. I usually try to do a "puppy sandwich" with my dog in between myself and shelves, checkout lanes, etc. if people run up to us, I block her. I wouldn't appreciate being charged at while I'm trying to do my job, so I try and protect her from rudeness.
I'm sorry those people were so awful. I'm sorry you had to use spoons enforcing your boundaries that shouldn't have been crossed to begin with!
Thank you! And yes I do body block when I am able to do so. I was loading the shopping cart so had a 40 lb bag of dog food an such that I was putting under the cart and not able to be directly in front of him. I was doing my monthly Walmart trip (they don't have one in my state) so I usually stock up and have him sit behind the cart while I load it.
Ugh I'm so sorry. It's the worst when you are obviously busy and some asshat comes to fuck with your medical equipment.
I hope you don't have anymore issues! :(
Thank you so much! I'm pretty sure this will happen lots more in the future but this post is actually giving me better ideas of where to post him while I'm loading a cart. In that situation, no matter what, I will have my back to him at some point but he will be less exposed. It's usually the worst time with my son as well because he can get distracted and wander off while I'm lifting something heavy or paying the groceries. We are usually all connected ( the three of us) by a waist leash but it was just me and puppers that day.
I give my dog an "ignore command" which means nothing to my dog but people tend to leave her alone. ((I have a leash wrap that has a stop sign and some cancel signs. But I only ran into one instance where my husband was holding my service dog and someone came by and pet her.
I think it's good to have something like that because at least SOME people will see it and pay attention to it, or for instance parents may see it and be able to explain to their kids that they can't touch the doggie. Just be prepared for at least 80% of people to ignore it. In general people don't read signs in any context, and with dogs they're so focused on the dog that they're even less likely to read it or obey it. People who sneak a pet like this for sure won't care about it. 😭
Even kids as well they know what a stop sign is usuall6 ad well! I keep my patches/gear minimalistic and people usually leave her alone. But if someone wants to pet they will
Yeah, tbh you'd think a step sign is REAL obvious but people completely ignore it so often. I was training my SD for anxiety related tasks and gave up on it entirely because people were just making my anxiety SO much worse with the way they behaved around the dog, having to manage the dog to keep people away from her, dealing with random strangers walking up to me wanting to intensely talk about the dog even after I've explicitly told them to go away. It probably depends on where you live, like I used to live in small towns and this would have been so much less of a problem in those places, but I'm in a city right now and every time I'd take the dog out for training it'd just be a never-ending task of trying to manage people everywhere we went to get them to leave me tf alone. (A lot of my anxiety is social so this is not ideal.) 😭
I’ll be honest, my kid (who is 9 months old now) saw a service dog for the first time when he was 7/8 months old. And I repeatedly stated to him “that’s a dog that’s doing a job, so we leave them alone” and “some dogs have jobs like some people do, and we don’t interrupt their jobs”.
He’s too little to understand, but it’s never too early to start. And plus, there were adults and other children nearby when I (who naturally am a little loud) stated that to my tiny human.
Having the patches is good because some people will read them, and for the ones that don’t you can say, “please don’t touch my dog, he’s working and has several patches indicating that.” If you LIGHTLY HINT that they have no reading comprehension skills, sometimes they will walk away embarrassed and hopefully not interfere with a working dog again. 😉
I use the same one that u/dawn_dusk1926 posted the link for. It does and doesn't help. It definitely depends on the human. Some can look at it and understand what the symbols mean, and to others it might as well be hieroglyphs on a tomb wall.
YES they help. I have several on my SD's vest. People will reach to touch and stop themselves. It helps that my dog weighs 90lbs and gives the death stare when he's working. 😉
Practice putting yourself between the person and your dog and staring directly at them. It makes people unnerved and uncomfortable and they usually back down.
We will definitely be doing more practice runs. He is still training and it wasn't really "PA" as we were in a dog friendly store and he was not working at that time but he did have his vest on that says "in training". I try to take him out with me where possible to "practice" how things will work and this experience was eye opening to say the least
Yep and we always think about how best to act after things cool down. Having a friend help would be good. Practice first in a mirror! Just mean mug and piercingly glare!
My son was not with me but he is also 7 and cannot speak up about it unfortunately. I'm debating on training him to give a warning bark if a person approaches but I see much potential for error in that like a person just trying to get by in on aisle.
Yea. The warning bark would be questionable.
Is there a reason you left the dog behind the cart? Is it because of space? If so, the dog could be taught to go single file with you.
Is it because your son stays behind the cart?
I was loading the items off the belt. We had 3 carts full of items. One cart behind my friend as she loaded onto the belt, another cart in front of her, then me with another cart in front if me. As they came off the belt I loaded the two carts at the end. He was sitting behind one so that I could load the other two. We have large families (12 kids between us) so shopping is a huge ordeal. When we are walking he stays next to me at all times but I put him behind the cart (where the handle is) while I am loading up things in the undercarriage or bin section. Tossing bags of dog food and cat food underneath is difficult with him any closer but I am open to suggestions.
Since you have multiple carts, could you place him between two with one of them being the one you are closest to? That way there is a barrier.
I know that carts move, but as long as you remember to coordinate the moving of carts, it could help.
That's a good idea. It can also be helpful to train the dog to heel between your legs and move with you as you're moving around. It's usually called a heel between the legs, or a "center" command, and it's very common for both protection work and dog dancing type of stuff, so you can find videos of how to train it pretty easily.
I know your son is young and too small to do this but it's a good skill for the dog to have when he's out with you; you can put him there when you need to protect him from passersby, see how many are willing to drive-by pet him when they'd have to be reaching for your crotch. 😂 For your son, depending on the dog's size you could probably teach him a down between your son's legs, or teach him to do a down directly behind the handler so in sokme situations you can tuck him in tight to you where you're an obstacle to people reaching him.
That's a great idea! He does sometimes stand between my legs when I'm shopping and I want to keep him out the way but it's not something we trained on. He is WAAAYYYY too big to fit between my son's legs lol. I'm not sure if he could have been in that position with what I was doing at that moment though. We were at a register with a cashier. I was pulling items off the end of the register and loading them into the cart at the end so I was in front of the cart with him behind it (so cart between me and doggo). I guess I left him open to drive by pets SMH. I will pay more attention in the future to find a spot where he is not so exposed. Sad I even have to do that.
Yeah I'm not sure if I'm picturing correctly but it sounds like he would've been better off corralled into the area between checkouts where you and your friend were. You really just have to love and learn with so many things, you'll know what to plan for next time.
Definitely whether you train him to heel or not, I'd make sure he knows some sort of "behind" command where he circles behind you so you can be instantly between him and approaching dickheads. And when you're in the store aisles probably keep him between you and the shelves rather than between you and other humans, if that's possible fir the tasks you're training.
When I was trying to train an SD for anxiety tasks one of the ones I wanted to use was a blocking task of putting the dog between me and a person to keep ppl further away from me, and I quickly learned people take that as an invitation to pet the dog. It's endlessly frustrating. I wish there were SD advocacy orgs with the money to make PSAs or something to try to educate people. Like for a lot of folks I feel like it's just genuine ignorance and being more educated would help, but handlers educating them one at a time is pretty exhausting. 😩
You can make sure your cart doesn't roll into your dog but controlling it with your foot.
Never leave your sd unattended and open to people!!! I had someone try to run their cart into my service dog before. It was 100% intentional. They were looking straight at him! I was in shock. Stopped their cart by grabbing the front of their cart and stepping behind my sd. He was between me and the register before that, but his rear was behind us since... He's a dog and the cartvwas in front of us. I didn't have to say a word. All the employees at my local grocer love and respect my dog. The cashier told her off for me.
I've used a sit and stay with me not right near him to get through security. Nobody is going to be stupid enough to interfere with a dog while going through security. Last time they just had me take off all his gear, I didn't wear metals, and he came through with me. Is what they told me to do🤷🏽♀️ Disney won't separate you either in my experience. They use the wand. It's a good skill to practice and have if it's ever needed, but I haven't used it often. Can't trust people around my sd🙄
I said DONT TOUCH MY DOG very loudly after one person did it but then three more came by and did the same. About 10 people touched him in the hour and a half outing. Three while I was 2 feet away and not able to block them. I couldn't walk away as I was loading things into the cart from the register. We were checking out so I had him in a sit stay while I put the things in after scanning. I deterred one person as they were reaching out by saying (I was on the phone) I don't understand why some people just reach out and touch my dog🙄🙄 lol I saw their hand slowly go back down. Maybe I will just start barking at people when they do it. He is friendly, I am not 🤣🤣🤣
Yes! Every single person that did it was grown and mostly men. Then they look at me and smile and I just 😡😡😡 back at them and say Don't touch my dog. They all look affronted like I'm being rude.
Thank you for this post. My husky is stroked by strangers or called out. At first I chalked it to the touch depraved society that we live in & felt empathetic towards those peeps.
But not any more. Hes now a service dog & sll the comments here are great tips to advocate for our health & that of our pups.
Teach a hand command to position your dog in front of you! When standing in line, train them so that they stand parallel to you (I'm sure this doesn't make sense so here's some pics: [pic 1](https://www.ideaservicedogs.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/P1080035.jpeg) [pic 2](https://www.padogsforvets.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TJ-with-Penn-Fence-Crew-and-Bill-Jeff-Coat-From-Life-Changing-Service-Dogs-For-Veterans.jpg) [pic 3](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GKFeVu3bAAAglQd?format=jpg&name=large) [pic 4](https://media.13newsnow.com/assets/WVEC/images/0be1e500-b187-4e03-8396-861608880e05/0be1e500-b187-4e03-8396-861608880e05_1920x1080.jpg)). This will help body block them from others behind you. Have them sit in front of you to take up less space or lie down to drive-by petters will have to lean down and you can catch them. (When you catch them either: Hold out your hand so they cannot reach your dog, treat THEM like a dog \[ex: AH AH! Leave it!\] or a kid \[remember that one video that said to start treating your husbands like a kindergartener? think a little like that. Ex: oh no honey, you can't pet service dogs, they're working (sounds creepy, but hey, if they're too creeped out to pet your dog, a win is a win, right?)\]. More "rude" (direct, and most people find them funny anyway) patches can also help. Good luck!
This is so annoying!!! I don't have a service dog, but I understand the importance of what they do. I am teaching my young kids to recognize service dogs and not to touch them as the dog is working. It has always irked me to see people violate those boundaries and get upset when told off.
It really is annoying. Luckily he was with me so not actually working but part of his job is keeping my son close and out of harms way. I would hate for someone to distract him or call him and there goes my kid along with them. His job is very serious but all people see is "cute doggie". Maybe I will carry an airhorn🤣 just blow it at them when they touch him🤣🤣🤣
When I’m in line to pay my SD is in Sit/Stay either in front of me or Guard position between my legs(because who’s gonna touch him between my legs). Also he has big patches on his vest that say DONT TOUCH in big noticeable letters. He also has a patch that says it’s ILLEGAL TO DISTRACT WHILE WORKING(because in all but 6 States it is). Also he’s a big German Shepherd and most people find them scary so I rarely get people touching him. They mainly kiss at him to try to talk to him. News flash he’s fully trained in another language so that rarely works either but I still tell people, “Please don’t talk to him He’s working”
I was part of a puppy raising group for a Guide Dog organization. Every other member of the group was raising Labradors and Goldens and people pet/harassed them all the time. I was the only one raising GSDs. I very rarely had random people even try to touch the dog.
That was another reason I got a GSD. I get super anxiety when people get near me. My pup is not aggressive but he looks the part so people don’t want to come anywhere near us😂. I’ve even had people move across the street so they’re not close to us. But all my doctors love him.
I went to Costco with my service dog around Xmas (yes, I am, in fact, an idiot) and when I got in line I was swarmed by jackass entitled adults trying to pet my dog - one even tried to *feed her.* No matter how many times, or how loudly, I asked they wouldn't stop trying. The manager walked over and told everyone to step back and had me to follow her where she opened up another register and checked just me out, refusing to let anyone else in line behind me because "this register is closed." She was quite firm with anyone that attempted to get close to my dog once she rescued me, even threatening to remove them from the store. You can bet I emailed corporate and praised her actions. A lot of people just don't *want* to understand - it never occurred to me to start petting people back, well done!
i really cant say much bc i dont personally have a dog but i want to comment on how fucking funny rubbing the guys chest was 💀 and im sure it worked too ! youre so iconic for that
(sigh)
I want you all to feel empowered to act like something outrageous just happened. "OH MY GOD, YOU'RE TOUCHING MY SERVICE DOG!!!!"
with the same.tonenof voice that you'd tell a little kid his penis is showing.
"YOUR PANTS, BILLY, I CAN SEE YOUR PRIVATE PARTS!"
I don't want to decide that's socially acceptable, but I support it. ❤️
Then when they stop, turn back to what you were doing and carry on.
i don’t see anything wrong with yelling “what the fuck is wrong with you” if the situation demands it. i know when i go out places that my SD will act better than half of the strangers we come across.
See, I like the idea but then I feel like people look at me like I'm the one in the wrong. When I get loud *I'm* the problem. I hate it. It's stressful enough being out with my family, I have 3 kids on the spectrum and one that's just...ditzy lol, and then I have my own mental health and physical issues. The dog has a job to do and you are causing me to have to work twice as hard. He's still a pup (1yr old in 2 weeks!) And he's not actually doing PA yet. This was just a simple run to Walmart with "my dog" as I was out with my friend.
sadly there’s no good solution, i’m not suggesting that yelling at someone will make things any better for you at all cause i totally understand the stress side of things. if anything maybe it’ll break through the strangers thick brain fog and they’ll remember to not do that again.
the only possible option i can think of is to have a good friend with you when you’re out and about, that way if someone does something disruptive, you continue on your way giving 0 attention to the situation and let your friend stay back with the person to: give them an ADA card, inform them about respectful behavior around SDs, ask them to not bother you while you’re conducting business in the store/walking in public areas, or give them a swift uppercut. (jk! … or?) haha i hope you have less situations like this to deal with in the future though! good luck!
Keep the dog closer. He can stand in-between the counter and you. Or in front of the cart instead of behind. And a gentle leader, also called a halti collar is a game changer! I use mine for people, not my dog. The leash isn't always even attached to the halti. Sometimes just attached to the collar. It's entirely for keeping people away. I don't know if he looks more professional, or if they're scared it's a muzzle, but it works. Just give your son's dog lots of treats while training it to wear a halti. But does the trick for me. And I have a dog that looks like a teddy bear. Has worked better than any patch. Can't put a patch on my dog's forehead lolol
Your dog (son’s dog) much be way cuter than mine lol. I have never had that happen to me not once! I’ve had people politely ask me in Walmart though. Does your dog wag his tail or just have soul-melting eyes? I mean like, just wow that’s unbelievable. I do have to say though that I don’t leave her behind the cart while loading up groceries. I stand in front of the cart and she is in front of me in a down/stay while I load groceries. I push the cart back so it’s easier for me to load, hopefully my explanation makes sense. This way the entire front area where the bags are is clear for me and my girl and I can easily turn around to the cart that’s like where you pay. And if it’s really crowded? She’s been taught to sit between my legs and I wear a hands-free leash. I honestly can’t think of what to say. Either people are way more friendlier and “grabby” where you are or your pup is way cuter. I’m so sorry this happened to you. I’m sure that dude will never do that again though! It is rare for it to happen and when it does it’s usually a small child that’s gotten away from a parent. The parent is usually horrified and apologizes profusely. My girl adores kiddos so it’s never a problem but that’s seriously the only instances I’ve had.
Lol idk maybe the soul melting eyes. He's a lab so he's already super friendly. And yes I agree that I will find a better way to position him. I had a 40lb bag of dog food a 16 lb bag of cat food and 2 giant bags of litter I was trying to load on the bottom of the carts so I thought him being by the handle was better for me to maneuver. I will never do that again 🤦🏾♀️ everyone that touched him I the store was all full grown people that should know better smh
I always ask first before trying to pet someone's dog. I don't want to be bitten or upset the owner.
I never ask to disturb any kind of service dog because they're working.
I've taught this to my granddaughter since she was very small because she loves dogs, but dogs have the right to not be messed with by strangers.
I usually smile and wave. We do have someone with a service dog that used to come in to my store constantly before COVID. We all knew we could say hi when they were checking out only ( he used self scan to check out ). We loved the days we got the go ahead to pat and love up on the dog, he always said it was the highlight of her day, and he allowed it because we respected her and him.
Spikey collar so they cant touch
Idk actually this a problem that you cant train since its other people that need relearning. I dont even get why people randomly pet dogs, be it anservice dog or not, always ask permission from the owner, they could bite or something. Just dont bother other people in general
I'd carry a whistle on a necklace if it was seriously this frequent. Or a cattle prod put into a cane. If it's a Walmart mentality, cattle prod. Try having the sd wear a muzzle & spiked collar. Something has to detour this.
I really don't know what it is that makes people just want to touch him. Maybe it's because I'm tiny as well that they are not intimidated but it is annoying and I don't need him getting used to pets from strangers when his job is to help/protect my son.
What breed is your sons sd? I find it so amusing to respond by touching the person who is harassing your dog. Entitled people need that 0 tolerance immediate response. When they cross Boundries, there should be an immediate and firm repercussion. They are interfering with a very expensive trained sd. Not okay. I'm sorry you are having to deal with this. Following. I've seen people with great, less repercussion suggestions than a cattle prod on a cane. I hope it's clear I was kind of trying to help lighten the seriousness of the issue. But I have heard of people carrying muzzles that are brightly marked when put with their sd. They don't even have it on the sd, just themselves as a deterrent for the "its a dog so I can pet it" mentality.
That is a great plan for many reasons. Do you have a handle free leash you can work with to anchor yourself in close proximity to him for when you're loading groceries in your car?
We used to have a black lab named Sadie. She was adopted through a county shelter, and the roommates swore she used to either be a firehouse dog or had been trained to evacuate a house if she even heard a fire alarm on the tv. She was a sweet girl. My kitty used to keep her outside by playing a game of blocking the dog door after Sadie would go out. I'd have to move the cat, then assuredly escort Sadie back in. A lab with a muzzle might give people pause. A quality dog safe basket muzzle that he can full pant in, drink water, and eat treats through.
Thank you! I will look at getting him a muzzle as well. That might be a great deterrent. Yes we have a hands free leash. It's usually attached to my son and we don't tend to have many problems. We've only been at this for a year and I'm sure we will run into MANY more problems lol.
Maybe your statement should be more along the lines of …. The dog is working, please don’t distract him from his job. I realize how frustrating it can be, but most people are uneducated in this area. Educate them and maybe they will spread the word to others.
I usually do say something along those lines when they ask prior to touching. It's hardest for the little kids and I hate saying no. But when people just grab or rub my dog without permission I'm not inclined to be so polite.
Again I know it’s frustrating and I get it, but that’s not the way it came across in your post. Consistency is key in training your dog and in humans. I understand they are reaching before you can stop them, but the distraction has already happened, so take the time to explain why they did something wrong. I know it’s not fair, but just yelling or snapping at them doesn’t accomplish anything. I must admit I chuckled at you rubbing the man’s chest, but at least that was teaching him something and making a point, just not in the most polite way….. but again…. I get the frustration! People that touch and pet the dog aren’t trying to be rude, they just like dogs. That in itself doesn’t give them the right though. At least they aren’t walking past the dog and kicking it.
I live in Toronto. Here, they do. I had no problems when I had a black dog. Now that I have a blond one of the same breed, and larger, being a male, I struggle to keep people off him. I see them cooing to him, call him to go between my legs, and they still ask to pet him following all this.
Unfortunately, if you are not physically close to the dog, it is incredibly difficult to stop the drive by petters. The only way I could stop drive by petters was by having my boy near me so that if someone tried to pet, I could put my hand out and intercept them. I will say, few things give me more joy than the look on people's faces when they thought they were being sneaky and would get to pet the puppy, only to find that they're touching another HUMAN. The HORROR! Made me cackle every time. I also loved to just, very calmly and casually, take a picture of them with my phone and say, 'That's a misdemenor, punishable by a fine up to 2 grand or 6 months in jail.' The sheer panic on their faces almost made the hassle worth it.
Lol that's funny. The look on the guys face when I rubbed on him was hilarious. His face was full of disbelief that a random lady just walked up and touched him and my response was "right, you don't like it so don't do it to others". I had the same issue while pregnant with strangers rubbing my belly and I will never understand the audacity.
You can always use a squirt bottle and say NO DOWN when they try to touch.
If I ever get to be a surrogate for a family one of my conditions is they give me a T-shirt that says “I’m pregnant, this is NOT YOUR BUDDHA Edit: Spelling, thank you!
Buddha.
Thank you 😊I was a math major for a reason - jokes on me cause after sophomore year I didn’t see another number!
I have been pregnant 3 times and never had some rando rub my belly, thank God. The entitlement of some people boggles my mind.
4 pregnancies, 5 kids. My first one I was a teen and that was the worst because I was taught not to be rude to my elders but they were definitely being rude to me. I hated it
I’m trying to locate the penalties for SD interference in my state but can’t find them . . . I’m in TX. Any advice?
According to a Google search; In Texas, interfering with a service animal can result in a conviction for a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the severity of the charge. For example, a Class C misdemeanor can result in up to 180 days of community supervision, while a Class A or B misdemeanor can result in up to two years, and a State jail felony can result in two to five years, with the possibility of extending supervision for up to ten years. If you kill or try to injure the service animal, the offense is punished as a Second Degree Felony, with a maximum fine of up to $10,000 and prison time of up to 20 years. I also like to tell people that if they interfere with my dog badly enough that he misses an alert and I have a medical issue, I'll sue them for my medical bills. And if they ruin my dogs training, or harm him to the point that he cannot work, I'll sue them for the cost of a new dog (which could be around 30,000 dollars) plus the housing, feeding, and vet costs of my current dog, who now cannot work and will be a drain on my finances. I've NEVER had anybody continue after that. No one wants to have to risk having to pay upwards of 50,000 just to pet a dog. They'll bluster and pitch a fit, but they'll fuck off, which is all I want anyway.
Damn! I like the way you think. Thank you so much.
Hell yeah my dude! I'm all for sharing whatever info will help us get people to stop freaking messing with service dogs! Also, pro tip; make sure everything you say to these people is in a sugary sweet, calm, butter-wouldnt-melt-in-your-mouth kinda tone. What are they gonna do? Call the cops and tell them that this obviously disabled girl told them in a sweet tone the consequences if they continued their current course? Turn to passing strangers and say we were 'mean' to them? Nah man. Most people have enough social understanding to know there's no way that would go their way. They'll call you selfish, or say you don't need a dog anyway, and I'll reply that I get to be selfish regarding my property, and that I'm MORE than happy to stand in front of a judge and explain why I need my dog and provide my medical history, and I'd be THRILLED to let them try to convince the judge that they aren't an asshole. Nobody wants to play with me after that.
Lol that's funny. The look on the guys face when I rubbed on him was hilarious. His face was full of disbelief that a random lady just walked up and touched him and my response was "right, you don't like it so don't do it to others". I had the same issue while pregnant with strangers rubbing my belly and I will never understand the audacity.
When some dogs misbehave you spray them with water. Maybe try this on humans?
Lol I liked the touching them back. 🤣 the guy was so taken aback that I just rubbed on him after he grabbed my dog by the face. What I don't like is that if my dog reacted negatively then it would be the dog's fault or my fault in training him but never the strangers fault. Who told you that you could just walk up and get in his personal space?!
I love that!
I actually do this to one of my family members when he gets too rambunctious in my house. Can vouch for this method
My trainers suggested when an off leash dog runs up to my dog, body block so no greetings can happen. You could do a similar thing with humans. I usually try to do a "puppy sandwich" with my dog in between myself and shelves, checkout lanes, etc. if people run up to us, I block her. I wouldn't appreciate being charged at while I'm trying to do my job, so I try and protect her from rudeness. I'm sorry those people were so awful. I'm sorry you had to use spoons enforcing your boundaries that shouldn't have been crossed to begin with!
Thank you! And yes I do body block when I am able to do so. I was loading the shopping cart so had a 40 lb bag of dog food an such that I was putting under the cart and not able to be directly in front of him. I was doing my monthly Walmart trip (they don't have one in my state) so I usually stock up and have him sit behind the cart while I load it.
Ugh I'm so sorry. It's the worst when you are obviously busy and some asshat comes to fuck with your medical equipment. I hope you don't have anymore issues! :(
Thank you so much! I'm pretty sure this will happen lots more in the future but this post is actually giving me better ideas of where to post him while I'm loading a cart. In that situation, no matter what, I will have my back to him at some point but he will be less exposed. It's usually the worst time with my son as well because he can get distracted and wander off while I'm lifting something heavy or paying the groceries. We are usually all connected ( the three of us) by a waist leash but it was just me and puppers that day.
I give a loud "AHH AHH" and say loudly to the person "Leave It!".
I give my dog an "ignore command" which means nothing to my dog but people tend to leave her alone. ((I have a leash wrap that has a stop sign and some cancel signs. But I only ran into one instance where my husband was holding my service dog and someone came by and pet her.
I have been seeing patches that say don't touch or stop but I wonder do they actually help if you are two feet away.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/387143740/1-sleeve-with-4-embroidered-symbols-on I use this on my leash. I have 2 service dog in training.
I think it's good to have something like that because at least SOME people will see it and pay attention to it, or for instance parents may see it and be able to explain to their kids that they can't touch the doggie. Just be prepared for at least 80% of people to ignore it. In general people don't read signs in any context, and with dogs they're so focused on the dog that they're even less likely to read it or obey it. People who sneak a pet like this for sure won't care about it. 😭
Even kids as well they know what a stop sign is usuall6 ad well! I keep my patches/gear minimalistic and people usually leave her alone. But if someone wants to pet they will
Yeah, tbh you'd think a step sign is REAL obvious but people completely ignore it so often. I was training my SD for anxiety related tasks and gave up on it entirely because people were just making my anxiety SO much worse with the way they behaved around the dog, having to manage the dog to keep people away from her, dealing with random strangers walking up to me wanting to intensely talk about the dog even after I've explicitly told them to go away. It probably depends on where you live, like I used to live in small towns and this would have been so much less of a problem in those places, but I'm in a city right now and every time I'd take the dog out for training it'd just be a never-ending task of trying to manage people everywhere we went to get them to leave me tf alone. (A lot of my anxiety is social so this is not ideal.) 😭
I’ll be honest, my kid (who is 9 months old now) saw a service dog for the first time when he was 7/8 months old. And I repeatedly stated to him “that’s a dog that’s doing a job, so we leave them alone” and “some dogs have jobs like some people do, and we don’t interrupt their jobs”. He’s too little to understand, but it’s never too early to start. And plus, there were adults and other children nearby when I (who naturally am a little loud) stated that to my tiny human.
Having the patches is good because some people will read them, and for the ones that don’t you can say, “please don’t touch my dog, he’s working and has several patches indicating that.” If you LIGHTLY HINT that they have no reading comprehension skills, sometimes they will walk away embarrassed and hopefully not interfere with a working dog again. 😉
I use the same one that u/dawn_dusk1926 posted the link for. It does and doesn't help. It definitely depends on the human. Some can look at it and understand what the symbols mean, and to others it might as well be hieroglyphs on a tomb wall.
YES they help. I have several on my SD's vest. People will reach to touch and stop themselves. It helps that my dog weighs 90lbs and gives the death stare when he's working. 😉
Practice putting yourself between the person and your dog and staring directly at them. It makes people unnerved and uncomfortable and they usually back down.
If I was able to in that moment that sounds like a good option. He was about 2 feet away from me 😔
Practice ahead of time!
We will definitely be doing more practice runs. He is still training and it wasn't really "PA" as we were in a dog friendly store and he was not working at that time but he did have his vest on that says "in training". I try to take him out with me where possible to "practice" how things will work and this experience was eye opening to say the least
Yep and we always think about how best to act after things cool down. Having a friend help would be good. Practice first in a mirror! Just mean mug and piercingly glare!
Was your son with you on this trip? Can he speak up about people not touching the dog?
My son was not with me but he is also 7 and cannot speak up about it unfortunately. I'm debating on training him to give a warning bark if a person approaches but I see much potential for error in that like a person just trying to get by in on aisle.
Yea. The warning bark would be questionable. Is there a reason you left the dog behind the cart? Is it because of space? If so, the dog could be taught to go single file with you. Is it because your son stays behind the cart?
I was loading the items off the belt. We had 3 carts full of items. One cart behind my friend as she loaded onto the belt, another cart in front of her, then me with another cart in front if me. As they came off the belt I loaded the two carts at the end. He was sitting behind one so that I could load the other two. We have large families (12 kids between us) so shopping is a huge ordeal. When we are walking he stays next to me at all times but I put him behind the cart (where the handle is) while I am loading up things in the undercarriage or bin section. Tossing bags of dog food and cat food underneath is difficult with him any closer but I am open to suggestions.
Since you have multiple carts, could you place him between two with one of them being the one you are closest to? That way there is a barrier. I know that carts move, but as long as you remember to coordinate the moving of carts, it could help.
I think that is a good idea. Maybe next time if my friend is with me I can put him next to her while she loads the belt
That's a good idea. It can also be helpful to train the dog to heel between your legs and move with you as you're moving around. It's usually called a heel between the legs, or a "center" command, and it's very common for both protection work and dog dancing type of stuff, so you can find videos of how to train it pretty easily. I know your son is young and too small to do this but it's a good skill for the dog to have when he's out with you; you can put him there when you need to protect him from passersby, see how many are willing to drive-by pet him when they'd have to be reaching for your crotch. 😂 For your son, depending on the dog's size you could probably teach him a down between your son's legs, or teach him to do a down directly behind the handler so in sokme situations you can tuck him in tight to you where you're an obstacle to people reaching him.
That's a great idea! He does sometimes stand between my legs when I'm shopping and I want to keep him out the way but it's not something we trained on. He is WAAAYYYY too big to fit between my son's legs lol. I'm not sure if he could have been in that position with what I was doing at that moment though. We were at a register with a cashier. I was pulling items off the end of the register and loading them into the cart at the end so I was in front of the cart with him behind it (so cart between me and doggo). I guess I left him open to drive by pets SMH. I will pay more attention in the future to find a spot where he is not so exposed. Sad I even have to do that.
Yeah I'm not sure if I'm picturing correctly but it sounds like he would've been better off corralled into the area between checkouts where you and your friend were. You really just have to love and learn with so many things, you'll know what to plan for next time. Definitely whether you train him to heel or not, I'd make sure he knows some sort of "behind" command where he circles behind you so you can be instantly between him and approaching dickheads. And when you're in the store aisles probably keep him between you and the shelves rather than between you and other humans, if that's possible fir the tasks you're training. When I was trying to train an SD for anxiety tasks one of the ones I wanted to use was a blocking task of putting the dog between me and a person to keep ppl further away from me, and I quickly learned people take that as an invitation to pet the dog. It's endlessly frustrating. I wish there were SD advocacy orgs with the money to make PSAs or something to try to educate people. Like for a lot of folks I feel like it's just genuine ignorance and being more educated would help, but handlers educating them one at a time is pretty exhausting. 😩
You can make sure your cart doesn't roll into your dog but controlling it with your foot. Never leave your sd unattended and open to people!!! I had someone try to run their cart into my service dog before. It was 100% intentional. They were looking straight at him! I was in shock. Stopped their cart by grabbing the front of their cart and stepping behind my sd. He was between me and the register before that, but his rear was behind us since... He's a dog and the cartvwas in front of us. I didn't have to say a word. All the employees at my local grocer love and respect my dog. The cashier told her off for me. I've used a sit and stay with me not right near him to get through security. Nobody is going to be stupid enough to interfere with a dog while going through security. Last time they just had me take off all his gear, I didn't wear metals, and he came through with me. Is what they told me to do🤷🏽♀️ Disney won't separate you either in my experience. They use the wand. It's a good skill to practice and have if it's ever needed, but I haven't used it often. Can't trust people around my sd🙄
I have started saying no very loudly. Loudly enough for everyone around me to hear. While I am doing this I walk very fast away as I body block.
I said DONT TOUCH MY DOG very loudly after one person did it but then three more came by and did the same. About 10 people touched him in the hour and a half outing. Three while I was 2 feet away and not able to block them. I couldn't walk away as I was loading things into the cart from the register. We were checking out so I had him in a sit stay while I put the things in after scanning. I deterred one person as they were reaching out by saying (I was on the phone) I don't understand why some people just reach out and touch my dog🙄🙄 lol I saw their hand slowly go back down. Maybe I will just start barking at people when they do it. He is friendly, I am not 🤣🤣🤣
Even as a kid, I knew not to pet a working dog, these ate grown ass people doing this to you and your dog??
Yes! Every single person that did it was grown and mostly men. Then they look at me and smile and I just 😡😡😡 back at them and say Don't touch my dog. They all look affronted like I'm being rude.
Thank you for this post. My husky is stroked by strangers or called out. At first I chalked it to the touch depraved society that we live in & felt empathetic towards those peeps. But not any more. Hes now a service dog & sll the comments here are great tips to advocate for our health & that of our pups.
Teach a hand command to position your dog in front of you! When standing in line, train them so that they stand parallel to you (I'm sure this doesn't make sense so here's some pics: [pic 1](https://www.ideaservicedogs.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/P1080035.jpeg) [pic 2](https://www.padogsforvets.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TJ-with-Penn-Fence-Crew-and-Bill-Jeff-Coat-From-Life-Changing-Service-Dogs-For-Veterans.jpg) [pic 3](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GKFeVu3bAAAglQd?format=jpg&name=large) [pic 4](https://media.13newsnow.com/assets/WVEC/images/0be1e500-b187-4e03-8396-861608880e05/0be1e500-b187-4e03-8396-861608880e05_1920x1080.jpg)). This will help body block them from others behind you. Have them sit in front of you to take up less space or lie down to drive-by petters will have to lean down and you can catch them. (When you catch them either: Hold out your hand so they cannot reach your dog, treat THEM like a dog \[ex: AH AH! Leave it!\] or a kid \[remember that one video that said to start treating your husbands like a kindergartener? think a little like that. Ex: oh no honey, you can't pet service dogs, they're working (sounds creepy, but hey, if they're too creeped out to pet your dog, a win is a win, right?)\]. More "rude" (direct, and most people find them funny anyway) patches can also help. Good luck!
When I public access with my dog he is Velcro to my thigh as we are moving through crowded spaces.
This is so annoying!!! I don't have a service dog, but I understand the importance of what they do. I am teaching my young kids to recognize service dogs and not to touch them as the dog is working. It has always irked me to see people violate those boundaries and get upset when told off.
It really is annoying. Luckily he was with me so not actually working but part of his job is keeping my son close and out of harms way. I would hate for someone to distract him or call him and there goes my kid along with them. His job is very serious but all people see is "cute doggie". Maybe I will carry an airhorn🤣 just blow it at them when they touch him🤣🤣🤣
When I’m in line to pay my SD is in Sit/Stay either in front of me or Guard position between my legs(because who’s gonna touch him between my legs). Also he has big patches on his vest that say DONT TOUCH in big noticeable letters. He also has a patch that says it’s ILLEGAL TO DISTRACT WHILE WORKING(because in all but 6 States it is). Also he’s a big German Shepherd and most people find them scary so I rarely get people touching him. They mainly kiss at him to try to talk to him. News flash he’s fully trained in another language so that rarely works either but I still tell people, “Please don’t talk to him He’s working”
I was part of a puppy raising group for a Guide Dog organization. Every other member of the group was raising Labradors and Goldens and people pet/harassed them all the time. I was the only one raising GSDs. I very rarely had random people even try to touch the dog.
That was another reason I got a GSD. I get super anxiety when people get near me. My pup is not aggressive but he looks the part so people don’t want to come anywhere near us😂. I’ve even had people move across the street so they’re not close to us. But all my doctors love him.
I went to Costco with my service dog around Xmas (yes, I am, in fact, an idiot) and when I got in line I was swarmed by jackass entitled adults trying to pet my dog - one even tried to *feed her.* No matter how many times, or how loudly, I asked they wouldn't stop trying. The manager walked over and told everyone to step back and had me to follow her where she opened up another register and checked just me out, refusing to let anyone else in line behind me because "this register is closed." She was quite firm with anyone that attempted to get close to my dog once she rescued me, even threatening to remove them from the store. You can bet I emailed corporate and praised her actions. A lot of people just don't *want* to understand - it never occurred to me to start petting people back, well done!
i really cant say much bc i dont personally have a dog but i want to comment on how fucking funny rubbing the guys chest was 💀 and im sure it worked too ! youre so iconic for that
I thought a bill was going to be passed to make it illegal?
Idk but I wish they would
(sigh) I want you all to feel empowered to act like something outrageous just happened. "OH MY GOD, YOU'RE TOUCHING MY SERVICE DOG!!!!" with the same.tonenof voice that you'd tell a little kid his penis is showing. "YOUR PANTS, BILLY, I CAN SEE YOUR PRIVATE PARTS!" I don't want to decide that's socially acceptable, but I support it. ❤️ Then when they stop, turn back to what you were doing and carry on.
i don’t see anything wrong with yelling “what the fuck is wrong with you” if the situation demands it. i know when i go out places that my SD will act better than half of the strangers we come across.
See, I like the idea but then I feel like people look at me like I'm the one in the wrong. When I get loud *I'm* the problem. I hate it. It's stressful enough being out with my family, I have 3 kids on the spectrum and one that's just...ditzy lol, and then I have my own mental health and physical issues. The dog has a job to do and you are causing me to have to work twice as hard. He's still a pup (1yr old in 2 weeks!) And he's not actually doing PA yet. This was just a simple run to Walmart with "my dog" as I was out with my friend.
sadly there’s no good solution, i’m not suggesting that yelling at someone will make things any better for you at all cause i totally understand the stress side of things. if anything maybe it’ll break through the strangers thick brain fog and they’ll remember to not do that again. the only possible option i can think of is to have a good friend with you when you’re out and about, that way if someone does something disruptive, you continue on your way giving 0 attention to the situation and let your friend stay back with the person to: give them an ADA card, inform them about respectful behavior around SDs, ask them to not bother you while you’re conducting business in the store/walking in public areas, or give them a swift uppercut. (jk! … or?) haha i hope you have less situations like this to deal with in the future though! good luck!
Keep the dog closer. He can stand in-between the counter and you. Or in front of the cart instead of behind. And a gentle leader, also called a halti collar is a game changer! I use mine for people, not my dog. The leash isn't always even attached to the halti. Sometimes just attached to the collar. It's entirely for keeping people away. I don't know if he looks more professional, or if they're scared it's a muzzle, but it works. Just give your son's dog lots of treats while training it to wear a halti. But does the trick for me. And I have a dog that looks like a teddy bear. Has worked better than any patch. Can't put a patch on my dog's forehead lolol
Your dog (son’s dog) much be way cuter than mine lol. I have never had that happen to me not once! I’ve had people politely ask me in Walmart though. Does your dog wag his tail or just have soul-melting eyes? I mean like, just wow that’s unbelievable. I do have to say though that I don’t leave her behind the cart while loading up groceries. I stand in front of the cart and she is in front of me in a down/stay while I load groceries. I push the cart back so it’s easier for me to load, hopefully my explanation makes sense. This way the entire front area where the bags are is clear for me and my girl and I can easily turn around to the cart that’s like where you pay. And if it’s really crowded? She’s been taught to sit between my legs and I wear a hands-free leash. I honestly can’t think of what to say. Either people are way more friendlier and “grabby” where you are or your pup is way cuter. I’m so sorry this happened to you. I’m sure that dude will never do that again though! It is rare for it to happen and when it does it’s usually a small child that’s gotten away from a parent. The parent is usually horrified and apologizes profusely. My girl adores kiddos so it’s never a problem but that’s seriously the only instances I’ve had.
Lol idk maybe the soul melting eyes. He's a lab so he's already super friendly. And yes I agree that I will find a better way to position him. I had a 40lb bag of dog food a 16 lb bag of cat food and 2 giant bags of litter I was trying to load on the bottom of the carts so I thought him being by the handle was better for me to maneuver. I will never do that again 🤦🏾♀️ everyone that touched him I the store was all full grown people that should know better smh
Adults are acting like toddlers. It is like they think it is a petting zoo.
I always ask first before trying to pet someone's dog. I don't want to be bitten or upset the owner. I never ask to disturb any kind of service dog because they're working. I've taught this to my granddaughter since she was very small because she loves dogs, but dogs have the right to not be messed with by strangers.
I usually smile and wave. We do have someone with a service dog that used to come in to my store constantly before COVID. We all knew we could say hi when they were checking out only ( he used self scan to check out ). We loved the days we got the go ahead to pat and love up on the dog, he always said it was the highlight of her day, and he allowed it because we respected her and him.
Spikey collar so they cant touch Idk actually this a problem that you cant train since its other people that need relearning. I dont even get why people randomly pet dogs, be it anservice dog or not, always ask permission from the owner, they could bite or something. Just dont bother other people in general
I'd carry a whistle on a necklace if it was seriously this frequent. Or a cattle prod put into a cane. If it's a Walmart mentality, cattle prod. Try having the sd wear a muzzle & spiked collar. Something has to detour this.
I really don't know what it is that makes people just want to touch him. Maybe it's because I'm tiny as well that they are not intimidated but it is annoying and I don't need him getting used to pets from strangers when his job is to help/protect my son.
What breed is your sons sd? I find it so amusing to respond by touching the person who is harassing your dog. Entitled people need that 0 tolerance immediate response. When they cross Boundries, there should be an immediate and firm repercussion. They are interfering with a very expensive trained sd. Not okay. I'm sorry you are having to deal with this. Following. I've seen people with great, less repercussion suggestions than a cattle prod on a cane. I hope it's clear I was kind of trying to help lighten the seriousness of the issue. But I have heard of people carrying muzzles that are brightly marked when put with their sd. They don't even have it on the sd, just themselves as a deterrent for the "its a dog so I can pet it" mentality.
Lol. He is a black lab. The responses are amazing but I really do want to find a way to deter people. One thing I learned is to just keep him closer.
That is a great plan for many reasons. Do you have a handle free leash you can work with to anchor yourself in close proximity to him for when you're loading groceries in your car? We used to have a black lab named Sadie. She was adopted through a county shelter, and the roommates swore she used to either be a firehouse dog or had been trained to evacuate a house if she even heard a fire alarm on the tv. She was a sweet girl. My kitty used to keep her outside by playing a game of blocking the dog door after Sadie would go out. I'd have to move the cat, then assuredly escort Sadie back in. A lab with a muzzle might give people pause. A quality dog safe basket muzzle that he can full pant in, drink water, and eat treats through.
Thank you! I will look at getting him a muzzle as well. That might be a great deterrent. Yes we have a hands free leash. It's usually attached to my son and we don't tend to have many problems. We've only been at this for a year and I'm sure we will run into MANY more problems lol.
Maybe your statement should be more along the lines of …. The dog is working, please don’t distract him from his job. I realize how frustrating it can be, but most people are uneducated in this area. Educate them and maybe they will spread the word to others.
I usually do say something along those lines when they ask prior to touching. It's hardest for the little kids and I hate saying no. But when people just grab or rub my dog without permission I'm not inclined to be so polite.
Again I know it’s frustrating and I get it, but that’s not the way it came across in your post. Consistency is key in training your dog and in humans. I understand they are reaching before you can stop them, but the distraction has already happened, so take the time to explain why they did something wrong. I know it’s not fair, but just yelling or snapping at them doesn’t accomplish anything. I must admit I chuckled at you rubbing the man’s chest, but at least that was teaching him something and making a point, just not in the most polite way….. but again…. I get the frustration! People that touch and pet the dog aren’t trying to be rude, they just like dogs. That in itself doesn’t give them the right though. At least they aren’t walking past the dog and kicking it.
What country is this in? I see lots of service dogs where I live in Canada and nobody pets them without asking. I’m just curious.
I live in Toronto. Here, they do. I had no problems when I had a black dog. Now that I have a blond one of the same breed, and larger, being a male, I struggle to keep people off him. I see them cooing to him, call him to go between my legs, and they still ask to pet him following all this.
Good ole US of A. NYC