Thread: To Pet or Not To Pet

When I meet someone on a cruise with Service Dog, it's so hard for me not to reach down to pet it. While I don't, I'd really like to ....

What's the etiquette for passenger behavior with Service Dogs?

I don,t know but i bet the dog would love it

When a service animal is "working" you should not pet it. Always ask the owner if it is permissible to touch or talk to the animal.

We were on a cruise with a blind lady and when she was in Michael's Club for the evening drinks she would let her dog "socialize" but as soon as she stood up he was "working" again and she explained to the folks there that if he is not giving his undivided attention to her, there might be an accident therefore don't interact while he is in the working mode.

I've always heard, too, that you must ask the person because if the dog is "on duty," you should never, ever interfere!

I admire folks who are not hindered in their pursuit of fun just because they are in some way "handicapped," and use a service animal!

SWR

I don't know a lot but I would imagine the best thing is to leave it. I will ask.

Guess my momma was right again! When I was a little girl, she always told me not to bother "See Eye Dogs" (what we called them then) in any way because they had important duties and responsibilities.

Never really have know for sure and have appreciated the comments.

So ... from what I've learned .... Never speak to a Service Dog or pet it when the person is standing. If the person is seated, it's all right to ask permission to pet it. Am I understanding correctly?

I guess if the person is vision-impaired, you can speak to that person and compliment them on their service dog. That may prompt the person to thank you and perhaps even say you can pet the dog if you wish.

When my daughter was little, if we ran into a service dog (and owner), we would remind her that it's a working dog so she needs to leave it alone. And sometimes the owner will assure us that she can pet the dog if it was okay with us.

I was always tols that if the service harness is ON, the dog knows he's working, not socializing.
That's the hard part for us sighted people. It's our natural instinct to want to pet this type of dog due to it's excellent behavior.

My momb told me not to pet a service dog after I did that once and the owner's husband got mad at me. I cried. After that incident, I always asked people if I could pet the dog and they always said yes.

Just one problem with doing that: What if it is a hearing ear dog?

Originally Posted by Smart Traveler

My momb told me not to pet a service dog after I did that once and the owner's husband got mad at me. I cried. After that incident, I always asked people if I could pet the dog and they always said yes.

Just one problem with doing that: What if it is a hearing ear dog?

Good Question!