Here’s What You Should Do If A Service Dog Approaches You Without Its Owner
Rugile BoredPanda staff
When it comes to service dogs, many of us lack knowledge about how to properly act near them. So one Tumblr user decided to share her story and educate people on what you’re supposed to do if a service dog approaches you.
Tessa C. took to social media to share a story about how her dog Raider was seeking a stranger’s attention after his owner fell, yet the stranger told Raider to go away. Dog mistook Tessa’s fall for a seizure, but luckily she only accidentally tripped. Nevertheless, her message shows how important it is to know how to act near a service dog.
“I’ve had Raider for 2 ½ years, and originally he was supposed to be for my autism. About 4-5 months ago, however, I was diagnosed with epilepsy. Never had a seizure before, and suddenly I had 3 in as many months. Training for epilepsy is… Trickier. He’s learning though, and it should only be a couple of months until he’s fully ready to assist me.” Tessa told Bored Panda.
In her PSA she told people how important it is to follow the service dog if he approaches you since it means that the dog’s owner is in danger. “For now, I’ve decided to purchase a patch saying “If I am alone, follow me!”, and hope that spurs a better reaction”, Tessa said. “I do most of the training on my own, with a local trainer that comes in every week or two to give me directions on how to proceed.”
Scroll down to read Tessa’s story yourself, and don’t forget to tell us what you think in the comments!
More info: lumpatronics
Recently, one woman shared an important message about her service dog, and it quickly went viral
Her post was liked and retweeted more than 375,000 times on Twitter
Not along ago Tessa was diagnosed with epilepsy, “Never had a seizure before, and suddenly I had 3 in as many months”
Image credits: Tessa C.
So she started training her dog to help her in case of an emergency
Image credits: Tessa C.
“I do most of the training on my own, with a local trainer that comes in every week or two to give me directions on how to proceed”
Image credits: Tessa C.
Tessa is planning to purchase a patch for Raider that says “If I am alone, follow me!”, so this story wouldn’t repeat itself
Image credits: Tessa C.
Many people reacted to Tessa’s story
https://twitter.com/vavroom/status/1009067707503923200 "The girl who originally wrote that was posting on her Tumblr. It transpires that she was training her own dog, a family pet dog Mastiff. Who has since been deemed not appropriate for that kind of work (doh!). She does/did not know about proper service dog behaviour. A service dog "fetching" help for their human would STAY with the human and bark until help arrives. Someone I know even trained her dog to speed dial 911 on the home phone for situations like that. Not go and get someone."
That makes a lot more sense. Most service dogs are professionally trained.
They are sweet dogs, but most people who aren't 'dog people' are easily frightened by them. It would make a lot more sense for the dog to remain with its human to avoid any situations that put the dog in harm's way.
I don't know much about this topic but as you say, his tweet seems to make sense. I would also be terrified if a mastiff ran up to me on the street.
No, most service dogs in the US are not professionally trained. Guide dogs for the blind are predominantly professionally trained. But all other service dogs are more owner/handler trained due to the lack of organizations that do train, the limited number of dogs each of those organizations can train and the amount of time, which can be anywhere from a year to 3 years to train a dog. And all of those organizations have waiting lists. The American Disabilities Act allows people with disabilities who need a service dog to train their own dog, which allows them to get a dog quicker and many times without as much expense. The ADA is a Federal law under the Department of Justice, you can read all about it at ADA.gov
Like What is said, this makes sense. I did find it strange she was/is training her dog all alone, only with someone who helps every other week or so. These dogs need to be trained properly!! I already knew you need to ignore a service dog. But after reading the article and if a service dog came up to me without it's owner, from now on I would definitely follow the dog, of course without touching him etc. But I guess this won't happen (often) though. I hope all service dogs are trained better than this one. And I hope she will let her dog get proper training! That would be far more safe than what happened in this article on BP. (Haven't read the article of the comment yet). Like was said, she could have vomited and choked or other things could have happened. So I hope the dog learns to never let her alone. And learn other better(!) solutions when something like this happens. But I will take this information with me anyway!
Read everything now and will take all information with me. I did not know much about service dogs, most importantly you are not allowed to pet them. But now I know more and again, will take all this information with me. Thanks for educating people like me.
stop the world. You mean a dog can be trained to speed dial 911?? amazing
THAT SEEMS LIKE IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
As someone who has trained service dogs, not every dog's responsibilities are the same as not ever person who needs a service dog has the same affliction. This is not a one-size-fits-all-cookie-cutter scenario. There are circumstances where a service animal will go to fetch assistance so please don't dismiss the value of this post due to limited information on service animal training.
Staying with it's human and barking may only work to a degree - most people would ignore the sound of a dog barking out of sight. The dog absolutely should go and alert someone where possible if help does not arrive quickly.
I think it's a matter of training. Even hyperactive dogs can be and have been trained for service. They all don't have to be solid and patient like seeing eye dogs. It sounds like gaps in the training.
"If a service dog without a person approaches you, it means the person is down and in need of help", I thought this was common sense...?
I didn't know this specifically, but I still would have been concerned about a service dog without a person and probably would have tried to find his person.
Apparently some people need it on neon lights. Or just don't care. Either way, they should!
My fam wouldn't know, it's not something they grew up with and I'm assuming many other people in third world countries who came here.
There are real service dogs and then there are bullshit service dogs that neurotics rig up with fake shirts so they can take their dogs where they wish. It's important to call out the bullshit dogs so that real service dogs are taken seriously, but do most people do that? Noooooooo.
Don't blame the dogs!
Call the human bullshit not the dogs!
I think legit 'service dogs' have to perform some sort of task for a human. But ESAs, emotional support animals, are the ones that get abused. You can just pay a fee, get a vest, and register most any animal for that. A lot of people abuse that service to get their animals to fly for free.
yup, I see this all the time. and it needs to be stopped.
This dog is being trained to react to seizures. As a person who has seizures, you don't get a warning. You don't feel faint. You're lights out in a millisecond. Just fall over like a tree. This could occur while crossing a road in the middle of traffic. A seizure dog is a real service dog.
https://twitter.com/vavroom/status/1009067707503923200 "The girl who originally wrote that was posting on her Tumblr. It transpires that she was training her own dog, a family pet dog Mastiff. Who has since been deemed not appropriate for that kind of work (doh!). She does/did not know about proper service dog behaviour. A service dog "fetching" help for their human would STAY with the human and bark until help arrives. Someone I know even trained her dog to speed dial 911 on the home phone for situations like that. Not go and get someone."
That makes a lot more sense. Most service dogs are professionally trained.
They are sweet dogs, but most people who aren't 'dog people' are easily frightened by them. It would make a lot more sense for the dog to remain with its human to avoid any situations that put the dog in harm's way.
I don't know much about this topic but as you say, his tweet seems to make sense. I would also be terrified if a mastiff ran up to me on the street.
No, most service dogs in the US are not professionally trained. Guide dogs for the blind are predominantly professionally trained. But all other service dogs are more owner/handler trained due to the lack of organizations that do train, the limited number of dogs each of those organizations can train and the amount of time, which can be anywhere from a year to 3 years to train a dog. And all of those organizations have waiting lists. The American Disabilities Act allows people with disabilities who need a service dog to train their own dog, which allows them to get a dog quicker and many times without as much expense. The ADA is a Federal law under the Department of Justice, you can read all about it at ADA.gov
Like What is said, this makes sense. I did find it strange she was/is training her dog all alone, only with someone who helps every other week or so. These dogs need to be trained properly!! I already knew you need to ignore a service dog. But after reading the article and if a service dog came up to me without it's owner, from now on I would definitely follow the dog, of course without touching him etc. But I guess this won't happen (often) though. I hope all service dogs are trained better than this one. And I hope she will let her dog get proper training! That would be far more safe than what happened in this article on BP. (Haven't read the article of the comment yet). Like was said, she could have vomited and choked or other things could have happened. So I hope the dog learns to never let her alone. And learn other better(!) solutions when something like this happens. But I will take this information with me anyway!
Read everything now and will take all information with me. I did not know much about service dogs, most importantly you are not allowed to pet them. But now I know more and again, will take all this information with me. Thanks for educating people like me.
stop the world. You mean a dog can be trained to speed dial 911?? amazing
THAT SEEMS LIKE IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
As someone who has trained service dogs, not every dog's responsibilities are the same as not ever person who needs a service dog has the same affliction. This is not a one-size-fits-all-cookie-cutter scenario. There are circumstances where a service animal will go to fetch assistance so please don't dismiss the value of this post due to limited information on service animal training.
Staying with it's human and barking may only work to a degree - most people would ignore the sound of a dog barking out of sight. The dog absolutely should go and alert someone where possible if help does not arrive quickly.
I think it's a matter of training. Even hyperactive dogs can be and have been trained for service. They all don't have to be solid and patient like seeing eye dogs. It sounds like gaps in the training.
"If a service dog without a person approaches you, it means the person is down and in need of help", I thought this was common sense...?
I didn't know this specifically, but I still would have been concerned about a service dog without a person and probably would have tried to find his person.
Apparently some people need it on neon lights. Or just don't care. Either way, they should!
My fam wouldn't know, it's not something they grew up with and I'm assuming many other people in third world countries who came here.
There are real service dogs and then there are bullshit service dogs that neurotics rig up with fake shirts so they can take their dogs where they wish. It's important to call out the bullshit dogs so that real service dogs are taken seriously, but do most people do that? Noooooooo.
Don't blame the dogs!
Call the human bullshit not the dogs!
I think legit 'service dogs' have to perform some sort of task for a human. But ESAs, emotional support animals, are the ones that get abused. You can just pay a fee, get a vest, and register most any animal for that. A lot of people abuse that service to get their animals to fly for free.
yup, I see this all the time. and it needs to be stopped.
This dog is being trained to react to seizures. As a person who has seizures, you don't get a warning. You don't feel faint. You're lights out in a millisecond. Just fall over like a tree. This could occur while crossing a road in the middle of traffic. A seizure dog is a real service dog.