Service Dog Etiquette

No, I’m not talking about the dog’s manners.  Although service dogs are supposed to have very good manners.

I’m talking about your manners, when you encounter a service dog.

Let’s start with not petting a service dog unless you first get permission from its owner.  For that matter, don’t pet any dog you don’t know without asking first.  You don’t know if a strange dog is friendly or if it’s likely to bite your hand off.  Don’t run up to a strange dog and pet it.  And parents, please, don’t let your kids run up to a strange dog and pet it or pull its tail.  I don’t know why so many parents seem to think it’s OK to let their kids do that, but it’s not OK.  So don’t.

Now, a service dog is not likely to bite you, even if you surprise it, because service dogs are trained not to startle easily and not to bite.  But you’re still not supposed to pet one without asking first.  Petting a service dog distracts it from its work.  If you distract a service dog, you could be endangering its handler.  Besides that, it’s just rude.  A service dog is something a person with a significant disability relies on to function.  Petting their dog without asking would be like taking a seat in someone’s wheelchair without asking.

Don’t try to distract a service dog in other ways, either.  That means don’t bark at it, don’t meow at it, don’t call it, don’t wave food in front of its face, etc.  And yeah, people really do all these things.

If you meet someone with a service dog, don’t ask them about their disability.  I hope you would not ask a person using a wheelchair what was wrong with them (I think some people do, though), and you shouldn’t ask a person with a service dog what’s wrong with them.  There is no need to make comments like, “You aren’t blind.”  I’m pretty sure they will already know if they can see or not.

Don’t tell them how lucky they are that they get to take their dog everywhere with them or that you wish you could take your dog everywhere with you.  That’s sort of like telling a person that uses a wheelchair how lucky they are that they get to sit down all the time and that you wish that you could sit down all the time, too.  Someone with a service dog is lucky in the sense that they have their service dog and it allows them to be more independent, but they pay a high price for it.  They have a significant disability.  Most people don’t consider themselves lucky to be visually impaired, hearing impaired, unable to walk or use their arms the way people typically do, or to have depression so severe they think about suicide.

 
All you really need to do is treat them the way you would treat anyone else.  Since you would not walk up to most strangers and ask them if they have any serious medical problems, don’t do that when you see someone with a service dog, either.