Service dog at work

Any type of dog can be a service dog.

Service dogs of all kinds perform important jobs. When you meet or see a person with a service dog, the best way to act is politely ignore the dog. It is hard to suppress the instinct to run up to a dog's owner and ask if it's okay to say hi, but when it comes to service dogs, they should be left alone to do their job.

Why is that?

When a service dog works, he or she needs to stay focused on the job. Depending on the handler's disability, the dog's focus can be the difference between life and death.

Some service dog handlers love to talk about their dogs, but many just want to go about their day.

Service dogs come in all breeds, sizes, colors, and specialities. They do not need to wear a special vest, and they are allowed anywhere open to the public. Documentation is not necessary, and while business owners are allowed to ask if a dog is a service dog, they're not allowed to ask about medical information, request paperwork, or anything of the kind.

This is a Norwegian video, but it is subtitled in English, and it illustrates the problem in a pretty funny way.


~ Maria Sadowski ~