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Service Dog Etiquette
1. Please speak only to the person of a Service Dog team.
It is bad manners to talk to the Service Dog. Do not ask personal questions regarding the person’s disabilities. Don’t
feel offended if the person doesn’t want to talk about their Service Dog or themselves…they are not a “show
and tell” walking exhibit, they have a life with things to get done just as you do.
2. Please do not distract, pet or make noises at the Service Dog
A Service Dog is medical equipment trained to help its disabled handler. Such distractions may not only jeopardize the safety
of the handler but it may also be against the law. Don’t worry, Service Dogs get lots of love, hugs and kisses, treats
and attention by the handler, out of the public eye, and therefore does not need nor welcome your ministrations.
There are both civil codes written in to the Idaho State Constitution as well as criminal charges for intentionally interfering
with an assistance dog team. There are several statements made in the Idaho code including 56-706, Title 18 Crimes and Punishments
18-5812, 18-5812A among others provide for either civil, criminal actions or both against the part of the person who is interfering
with the team’s progress. Most of us just ask the offender to please not talk to, pet, whistle or whatever to our working
dog. But many is the time when a polite "excuse me please do not touch or talk to my dog as you are distracting him", has
failed to produce a reduction in the level of a person's penchant for being an annoyance. The penalty may include incarceration
and up to a $500 fine.
3. Do Not Try To Lure the Service Dog over in your direction.
Do not attempt to feed or coax the Service Dog towards you by offering food, or any thing else that you think might be a good
distraction device. A fully mature, well trained, working Service Dog should ignore your overtures. A Service Dog in Training,
or a Service Dog just out of training, may not. Your one instance of offering food in a store or restaurant may set off a
chain reaction of events that will take weeks sometimes even months to undo the damage you have unwittingly or intentionally
caused. No one wants to walk next to a dog dripping saliva from its mouth especially in a place that sells or vends food products.
That one little time of your sneaking the young dog a piece of food, has now started an association where such sites and sounds
and smells, lead the Service Dog to think that such a place means food for him.
Please when you see us out there talk directly to us, the disabled person. Do not talk to the Service Dog as they are working
medical equipment. It is hoped that you were actually not expecting the dog to answer your questions, anyway.
Some of the Service Dog teams carry cards or literature and if they have a few moments would be pleased to hand out information.
But keep in mind that they also have a life with health issues, and please do not think them rude if you are politely told
“I am sorry I can’t let you pet the dog” or “I don’t have time (or the energy) to talk right
now. ”
High Plains Service Dogs does not intend to offer offense to persons who are dog lovers. However, those of us at High Plains
Service Dogs will do our best to help the public at large to understand that these are working dogs. Please use some common
courtesy when encountering a working team. The uniforms worn by a High Plains Service Dog are visually appealing and designed
to be taken notice of. The Federal Government does not require any uniform or identification of an assistance animal. High
Plains Service Dogs chose to make our dog's functional harnesses, capes or training vests, both visually appealing and eye
catching equipment. When you come across a High Plains Service Dog Team, you cannot miss noting that a Service Dog is with
the person adjacent to you. Please treat them with respect and remind yourself that what you see is a working dog, not a pet
waiting to be mugged with affection.
Commentary on this subject from a professional journal
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