Service dogs

[Anonymous 2]

No. A service dog is medical equipment. My sister had a service dog and did not need anyone coming up to her demanding that she prove her disability when it’s not of their business. It would not be socially acceptable to make someone prove that they need their wheelchair, which can also be used to inconvenience and harm others if not used properly, same with a service dog.

There are already laws in place to prevent situations like this, people just need to be better educated on them. A person using a service dog must legally remain in control of their dog. There is a list of behaviors a service dog must be presenting in order to remain in the store. A service dog is not permitted to bark at others, snap at others, or show any other aggressive behavior, they are not permitted in carts, and the store employees should have had them removed. Keep in mind though that whining and barking is sometimes how a dog is trained to alert of a medical need. Barking at others is not permitted.

This dog was continually barking and whining while they stood there and completely ignored it so I'm pretty sure it wasn't alerting.
We already require proof for many things such as parking in a handicapped parking space. If a person needs a service dog they don't need to prove their disability they can just quickly show their card and without question the store employees can know they need have a valid service dog. Or it can be a prescribed collar or something thats easily seen without questions. At this point they can be asked if their dog is trained to perform a task and what task they perform and imo a simple card is less invasive than that.

[quoteIs rigorously trained and has impeccable leash manners: a dog who tugs at the leash is not a true service dog.
Never barks or whines except to alert the owner of an impending stroke or panic attack, for example. Barking out of impatience betrays a ‘service’ dog as an impostor.
Is trained to avoid distractions, including interesting smells. Even in a store, a service dog resists sniffing at items placed on lower shelves.][/quote]

https://news.orvis.com/dogs/is-that-a-r ... meones-pet

[carterscutie85]

If a dog is misbehaving, such as using the bathroom on the floor, snarling or biting people, then an associate is allowed to ask for proof that it is indeed a service dog. That's the rule where I live anyways.

I don't mind dogs in stores as long as they behave.

[Traci_Momof2]

No. A service dog is medical equipment. My sister had a service dog and did not need anyone coming up to her demanding that she prove her disability when it’s not of their business. It would not be socially acceptable to make someone prove that they need their wheelchair, which can also be used to inconvenience and harm others if not used properly, same with a service dog.

There are already laws in place to prevent situations like this, people just need to be better educated on them. A person using a service dog must legally remain in control of their dog. There is a list of behaviors a service dog must be presenting in order to remain in the store. A service dog is not permitted to bark at others, snap at others, or show any other aggressive behavior, they are not permitted in carts, and the store employees should have had them removed. Keep in mind though that whining and barking is sometimes how a dog is trained to alert of a medical need. Barking at others is not permitted.

IMO, the problem is that individuals or store staff are required to "police" which is really an unfair burden (remember masking requirements during Covid). Unfortunately, there will always be the "rules don't apply to me crowd" which sucks. In my area, we can't even get leash laws passed <sigh>.

Legally you can ask: Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? and what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? These two questions are effective in determining if a service animal is legit but I can't imagine a teen working at Food Lion is going to be comfortable asking those questions at the front door.

This is where they can have someone higher up be the authority to deal with it. Shift manager, store manager, I would think there is always someone of authority present. And those in positions of authority would need to be very well trained in exactly what can be asked and what can't be asked, what (dog) behaviors are acceptable and are not acceptable, so that they can handle it without incident. But then when any employee sees a suspected not-service animal brought in, they can just radio to the person in authority and let them go handle it.
And if stores actually grew a spine and cracked down on this and called people's bluffs when they say "you can't legally throw me out!" and whatever other shit, then the fakes would stop trying to do it so often. But unfortunately the stores are either too scared or don't want to upset their customer base. It all comes back to profits.

[Traci_Momof2]

We live in a dog loving society. They’re our best friends, our babies and they help us live better. Try enjoying the sound of barking.

Bullshit. Roughly half of society loves dogs. The other half doesn't.

As human beings we have certain behaviors that are considered acceptable when we are out in society, and certain other behaviors that are considered unacceptable. No reason we can't do the same to dogs. If your (general) dog can't adhere to acceptable behavior then leave it the f**k at home. We ask kids to be removed if they are having a screaming and crying fit and can't be calmed. We should absolutely ask the same things of dogs that won't shut up.

Just because dogs are a part of our society doesn't mean there aren't behavior standards to adhere to, and it doesn't mean there aren't places that they just should NOT be allowed.

[Anonymous 3]

We live in a dog loving society. They’re our best friends, our babies and they help us live better. Try enjoying the sound of barking.

Bullshit. Roughly half of society loves dogs. The other half doesn't.

As human beings we have certain behaviors that are considered acceptable when we are out in society, and certain other behaviors that are considered unacceptable. No reason we can't do the same to dogs. If your (general) dog can't adhere to acceptable behavior then leave it the f**k at home. We ask kids to be removed if they are having a screaming and crying fit and can't be calmed. We should absolutely ask the same things of dogs that won't shut up.

Just because dogs are a part of our society doesn't mean there aren't behavior standards to adhere to, and it doesn't mean there aren't places that they just should NOT be allowed.

You shouldn’t ask that of kids either. It’s not a baby’s fault if it cries.

[MrsDavidB]

No. A service dog is medical equipment. My sister had a service dog and did not need anyone coming up to her demanding that she prove her disability when it’s not of their business. It would not be socially acceptable to make someone prove that they need their wheelchair, which can also be used to inconvenience and harm others if not used properly, same with a service dog.

There are already laws in place to prevent situations like this, people just need to be better educated on them. A person using a service dog must legally remain in control of their dog. There is a list of behaviors a service dog must be presenting in order to remain in the store. A service dog is not permitted to bark at others, snap at others, or show any other aggressive behavior, they are not permitted in carts, and the store employees should have had them removed. Keep in mind though that whining and barking is sometimes how a dog is trained to alert of a medical need. Barking at others is not permitted.

IMO, the problem is that individuals or store staff are required to "police" which is really an unfair burden (remember masking requirements during Covid). Unfortunately, there will always be the "rules don't apply to me crowd" which sucks. In my area, we can't even get leash laws passed <sigh>.

Legally you can ask: Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? and what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? These two questions are effective in determining if a service animal is legit but I can't imagine a teen working at Food Lion is going to be comfortable asking those questions at the front door.

This is where they can have someone higher up be the authority to deal with it. Shift manager, store manager, I would think there is always someone of authority present. And those in positions of authority would need to be very well trained in exactly what can be asked and what can't be asked, what (dog) behaviors are acceptable and are not acceptable, so that they can handle it without incident. But then when any employee sees a suspected not-service animal brought in, they can just radio to the person in authority and let them go handle it.
And if stores actually grew a spine and cracked down on this and called people's bluffs when they say "you can't legally throw me out!" and whatever other shit, then the fakes would stop trying to do it so often. But unfortunately the stores are either too scared or don't want to upset their customer base. It all comes back to profits.

Yes to the bolded. And also you have people who will whip out the cell phones and record a manager telling a cute little fluffy dog it can't be in the store and people will go nuts with pitch forks. If ANYONE makes a disparaging remark about a dog/cat these days they want that person's head cut off. People have gone completely off the rails with caring about animals and their "rights"

[WellPreserved]

No. A service dog is medical equipment. My sister had a service dog and did not need anyone coming up to her demanding that she prove her disability when it’s not of their business. It would not be socially acceptable to make someone prove that they need their wheelchair, which can also be used to inconvenience and harm others if not used properly, same with a service dog.

There are already laws in place to prevent situations like this, people just need to be better educated on them. A person using a service dog must legally remain in control of their dog. There is a list of behaviors a service dog must be presenting in order to remain in the store. A service dog is not permitted to bark at others, snap at others, or show any other aggressive behavior, they are not permitted in carts, and the store employees should have had them removed. Keep in mind though that whining and barking is sometimes how a dog is trained to alert of a medical need. Barking at others is not permitted.

IMO, the problem is that individuals or store staff are required to "police" which is really an unfair burden (remember masking requirements during Covid). Unfortunately, there will always be the "rules don't apply to me crowd" which sucks. In my area, we can't even get leash laws passed <sigh>.

Legally you can ask: Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? and what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? These two questions are effective in determining if a service animal is legit but I can't imagine a teen working at Food Lion is going to be comfortable asking those questions at the front door.

This is where they can have someone higher up be the authority to deal with it. Shift manager, store manager, I would think there is always someone of authority present. And those in positions of authority would need to be very well trained in exactly what can be asked and what can't be asked, what (dog) behaviors are acceptable and are not acceptable, so that they can handle it without incident. But then when any employee sees a suspected not-service animal brought in, they can just radio to the person in authority and let them go handle it.
And if stores actually grew a spine and cracked down on this and called people's bluffs when they say "you can't legally throw me out!" and whatever other shit, then the fakes would stop trying to do it so often. But unfortunately the stores are either too scared or don't want to upset their customer base. It all comes back to profits.

In theory I agree with you but in practice, it's a lot harder. I ran into this issue all the time when I was running our farmers market as people just assumed their dogs were allowed and didn't believe that because we were selling prepared food, dogs weren't. I would say, I'm sorry but you can't enter the market with a dog and they would walk right by me. I was not about to try to physically remove or restrain them! My solution was I wouldn't run a credit card (serve) someone who had a dog that wasn't a service animal. Lot's of irate people but they got the hint and stopped bringing their dog.

I think that would be more effective. You bring a dog that's not a service animal into a business, you will not be served. Don't stop them at the door, stop them at the cash register.

[mater-three]

You never know why someone needs a service dog.

I don’t have TikTok and I don’t want to download it just to read the caption. What does she have please?

[Murdoc's Mistress]

Yeah, if I see a "service" dog misbehaving and barking at people and trying to fight other dogs, I've yelled at the people to get their F***ing dog out of the store. Service dogs serve a specific medical function.

The only store non service dogs belong in is Petco and Petsmart.

No, your emotional support rat-pom mix that looks like it's gonna have a F***ing stroke in your shopping buggy is not a legit service animal and does not belong in a store.

[Pjmm]

I probably will be in the minority but so long as the dog behaves and is toilet trained Idc if they're a service animal or not. If they were barking the library workers can ask the dog to leave, assuming they weren't trying to alert. I believe they are within their rights to insist the dog be trained and well behaved. Our grocery stores here no longer allow anything but service dogs in them and especially not in carts. But I'm not the dog police and I don't ask if they're service animals or not. I leave that up to whoever runs the business.