Tonight, I saw a puppy in class at Petsmart in her service dog vest (not one of ours) sniffing and playing with other dogs. This may not bother anybody. But it bothers me. I mentioned it to the trainer.
“It hasn’t come up yet,” she said. Of course it had – the minute that puppy walked into her class.
If your service dog is in her vest, she is working.
I know that puppies need to socialize with other puppies to mature into healthy adults. I know that service dogs are puppies. Socialize the heck out of them – let them be puppies. But don’t throw on the vest before it’s time, or claim your puppy is anything other than what he is – a puppy, that may or may not work out as a service dog, who is in training. I don’t care what your doctor says.
For many of us, that vest means something. It means: my dog is helping me; my dog is not here to cavort with other canines because he has to help me instead; I did not buy this vest over the Internet so I could take my dog on a plane, but because I need him and he needs me. (What a thrill for the dog by the way, to ride on a plane.) Think about it. Another example of our innate selfishness, and the great difference between dogs and people.
If your puppy is wearing his vest, his job is to be obedient – to sit, lie down, and stand when you want him to. To resist the urge to sniff other dogs because you might need him at precisely that moment. To lie by your side because that’s where he is supposed to be. To pick up your cane. To touch your hand on command. To help you stand. To ease your post-traumatic stress when you ask him to. To help you forget the war, if that’s where you need to be.
If you think we’re not heading towards legislation — precisely because you slapped an Internet-supplied vest on a puppy that can’t even sit yet — you’re part of the problem. And if you’re a puppy raiser, and allowing that puppy to play in his equipment, you need to speak to your sponsor. Right away.
