It’s amazing how a carefully worded OP can make al the difference.
This time, I knew that a “Oh, man, this blind dude sat beside me at lunch, and his dog was like, totally grossing me out” style rant would put me firmly on the asshole express. I agree, this thread hardly seems like a pit thread at all; as I said from the start, I’m not even angry about the situation, I was just a little taken aback by the whole thing. Now that I know i can rant as long as I word it diplomatically enough, I might post that thread I’ve been meaning to get to, about disabled parking… fuckin’ lazy bastards…
Yup. Service animals are able to provide an amazing range of assistance. From the linked government FAQ:
And for what it’s worth, I can see a blind person going to a movie – it’s not like they’re all silent subtitled films. Of course, they’d probably be better suited to something like My Dinner With Andre than Memento…
Heh. As someone with an immune system that can be compromised, I’ve been repeatedly told by my rheumatologist that my service dog is safer to be around than the young children I teach, hygene-wise.
Regarding restaurants - no service or guide dog is allowed in food preparation areas. That’s just common sense. If you have allergy concerns, are afraid of dogs, or have issues with a working dog being on the job, you can always ask to be moved. Also, you’re more likely to catch some bug from your fellow restaurant dwellers and waitstaff, and they’re also more likely to breathe on your food than the dog ever will.
Most of the time, when I’m out in a restaurant with my service dog, I give him an “under” command, and he retreats under the table. More often than not, waitstaff and fellow patrons never even know he’s there until we get up to leave.
As for tying the dog outside and having a waiter guide a blind person (or any other disabled person) around… um… no. Try to see it like this: a service or guide dog is a piece of medical equipment. It is trained to perform specific tasks, and is trained to mitigate its handler/partner’s disability. Just as a waiter wouldn’t make someone park their wheelchair outside and then carry them to their seat, you can’t do that with a service dog either.
Hiya Yep, the range of things dogs can be trained to do is amazing. We have trained dogs to help with:
assisting wheelchair users (pulling chairs, opening doors, retrieving objects, picking up dropped objects, retrieving objects from the fridge, doing the laundry - no, I’m not kidding!)
assisting people with mobility and balance problems (provinding bracing, preventing falls, breaking falls, helping up and down stairs, helping in/out of a seated position, etc.)
assisting the deaf by practically acting as their hearing partner (they are trained to respond to things like fire alarms, the handler’s name, the phone, the doorbell, traffic, etc.)
assisting the blind (well, we’re all familiar with that one)
assisting those with psychiatric problems (we are specifically working on training dogs for autistic children - these dogs are trained to do both “therapy” work, medical response work, and are being trained in urban search and rescue in case their child gets lost or runs off. Also in that list - people with severe anxiety disorders, PTSD, and so on, as long as it qualifies as a disability)
assisting people with epilepsy - either as alert dogs (dogs who alert BEFORE a seizure happens) or response dogs (who respond to a seizure - stand guard, fetch help, retrieve medication)
There’s not much a dog could be carrying that could get you sick, even with your immunity problem.
It seems to me that eating in a restaurant would be highly dangerous if your immune system is that bad. Even just going out in public.
Don’t take that the wrong way, but my Mother is going through her second bout with cancer. The first time, she managed to get sick over and over again after her chemotherapy and ended up in bed for 6 months with pnumonia she couldn’t shake. This time, she’s being careful, staying out of restaurants and grocery stores and places where a lot of people are breathing their germs all over the place. And she’s doing fine.
bubastis: You are absolutely correct, you are an asshole.
It was a seeing eye dog, as **Maureen ** said, politely ask the man to move the dog or move to another spot at the table.
One of my favorite real life stories was when I was still in San Diego. Myself and some friends where eating at Hollywood Pizza and a Couple and the man’s seeing eye dog was seated nearby.
A “lady” also sitting nearby started complaining to the waitress about having a dog in the restaurant and was definitely disturbing us. I have never been one to hold my tongue and especially when I was 21. I told the “lady” the dog is a seeing eye dog and she was being rude. She then wanted her 50 year old husband to fight 6 young Navy guys. By this time the manager arrived and ask the “lady” what the problem was. She explained that the dog had to leave, it was unsanitary and that those hoodlums were being rude.
His reply: “Ma’am please leave the restaurant, we don’t like to serve your kind here. Our policy is to allow seeing eye dogs and these hoodlums are 6 clean cut young men serving our country and regulars.”
There was a small round of applause for the manger as she got up and left. Hubby apologized and headed out offering to pay the bill anyway.
Bwa ha. In demos in schools, when I tell kids that service dogs can be trained to do the laundry, I always point out that they don’t sort and that the washer/dryer have to be front load.
I had a Service Dog in training once who got SO EXCITED when he’d hear the washer spin down he’d RUN to it, skid to a stop right in front… wail while he waited… and then unloaded the washer and loaded the wet laundry into the dryer… funny dog.
In order to add to the discussion, I have a friend in a wheelchair who has a service dog. She loves him and he loves her; they get along famously, and play fetch and so on.
I’m curious, though, as to how a dog unloads a dryer full of clothing without slobbering all over them.
At the risk of prying, by any chance do you have lupus? My cousin is a lupus sufferer, and pays regular visits to a rheumatologist, and has the chance of becoming immuno-compromised.
Regarding the OP, however, I used to work in retail (Wal-Mart). The employees were told that only service animals were allowed in the store. If someone didn’t appear to physically NEED a service animal (say, a seizure dog as opposed to seeing-eye), we were NOT allowed to ask what the nature of the animal’s service was.
I’ve had several encounters with service animals, and I’ve never seen any be disruptive an ANY way, shape, or form. However, I have had conflicting reports from the owner as to whether it’s okay to pet a service animal, despite asking in each instance.
I suppose some people are a little skittish about it, and understandably so.
Strangely, they don’t drool on the clothes all THAT much. Some dogs also think it’s so much fun that they work extremely quickly. If you make it a game, the speed at which they unload a dryer can make it such that they barely touch the clothes other than to quickly grab and toss.
I had a friend who worked as a movie usher who said there was a blind guy who went to the movies every week. He didn’t have a dog though, one of the ushers had to escort him to a seat. But I think that a blind person could enjoy the movies, especially a talky movie that would be easy to visualize.
I recall reading an article a year or two ago (it was in the Philadelphia Inquirer, FWIW) about a potential use for service dogs - they think that some breeds may be able to detect dangerously low or high blood-sugar levels in diabetics.
Can I get an amen? Howzabout we apply whatever training techniques are used for service animals - who are universally well-behaved, in my expenience - to children? Imagine a restaurant with a child simply sitting at the table and eating like a civilized human being . . .
As long as I’m wishing, I want a pony too.
Anyway, if the dog’s breathing on your food, I say the answer is lying. Specifically, tell the owner that you’re uncomfortable around dogs, and you hate to be a bother, but you’d really appreciate it if she shifted the dog to her other side. Problem solved.
How about a guide pony? Ok well they’re actually miniature horses and not ponies, but they’re pretty snazzy at being helper animals.
I like this idea that you and AFG have about having helper animal trainers train munchkins. :: sigh :: If only most of the kiddos I knew were as well behaved as my dog and ponies.
Thanks for the sound medical of advice from It Seems To Me University, undoubtedly related to the school of It Stands To Reason and the find old storied facility of Some Guy In A Pub Said. My transplant doctors did not warn me about going out in public.
They did warn me to wash my hands after dealing with pets, children, and after doing gardening.
Things can continue to seem to you whatever you like but I’ll listen to my transplant docs, thanks.
I was good friends for a number of years with two women who use guide dogs. Their dogs could go anywhere and be welcome because not only were they well-behaved, they were also always kept scrupulously clean. One friend took her dog in the shower with her every 3-4 days and gave the dog a shower as well as herself. I’m always shocked to see guide dogs that aren’t as well-bathed now because of my friends’ care of their animals.
My one friend’s second dog, Wayne, was the smartest dog I’ve ever known in my life. He could add up 2+2 and come up with 4, it seemed like. He had learned to watch out not only for hazards on the ground, but overhead – enlarging his spacial sense that far was a very obvious process when one day he walked my friend into the underside of an open staircase, and was far more upset about it than she was. After that, he knew to look up as well as down and around. When he was at home and his harness was off, he was a giant playful puppy and you could treat him like any other pet dog as far as playing with him (although food rules are very, very strict); but put his harness on, and he turned into Mr. Serious instantly.
I second the vote to next time speak up if the dog is breathing on you. My blind friends always hated to be treated as if they were deaf as well as blind. I can’t imagine the guy wouldn’t have found a way to either move his dog, or the restaurant wouldn’t have moved you without any problem. But sitting there silently doesn’t help you or him. He probably didn’t realize the tables were quite that close together, or that he had his dog placed wrong. If he eats at that restaurant regularly, he probably would have appreciated the input so he could avoid the problem in the future.
Of course, they’d probably be better suited to something like My Dinner With Andre than Memento…
and that the washer/dryer have to be front load.