Most of the time, I work from home. I work as a freelance writer, but I also do tutoring occasionally and sometimes other small jobs that require working somewhere besides my home. With my last tutoring job, I was tutoring in the student's home and she would have been very distracted by my dog. When the weather was nice enough, I took him with me but he stayed in the car. With my current tutoring job, though, I am tutoring at a public library and I have been taking Isaac with me.
I wrote about it a few days ago and posted a picture of Isaac doing a lovely down stay while I worked.
The student I am currently tutoring is 13 years old. Kids that age often feel pretty self-conscious and I wondered if he would be uncomfortable with my service dog there. I wondered if people noticing Isaac and sometimes staring or approaching me to say something to me about Isaac or to talk to Isaac would make him uncomfortable or if he might feel embarrassed or something. He doesn't seem to, though. If it was making him really uncomfortable, I would leave Isaac at home.
Once Isaac is doing a down stay under the table where we are working, I guess he doesn't really attract much attention. Often people don't even notice him under there. It's more when I am arriving at the library or when I am on my way out, that's when people notice him and there is staring or pointing or comments. And I think once I've been tutoring there a while, people will get used to seeing us and pay less attention.
And it's not like Isaac is attracting more attention there than he does anywhere else. It's that I am used to it and it (mostly) doesn't bother me, but the kid I am tutoring isn't used to it and I thought it might bother him. Although people aren't looking at him. They are mostly looking at Isaac, and maybe at me, but mostly just at Isaac.
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