Ask To Pet Me patches???

Actually, the "Ask to Pet Me" are generally for therapy dogs, so I tihnk it'd be appropriate. It's NOT appropriate to ask to ept a SD while they are working, in all honesty- it's distracting and invasive. (You wouldn't ask to take someone's wheelchair for a spin, or touch their cane or crutches, and a SD is, while working, medical equipment- it's polite and appropriate to ignore them as far as possible, and talk to the person- not the dog.)

That said? People don't read them, even the "Please don't pet me, I'm working" ones. *sigh* I *would* be careful with the vest, though, because you *don't* want to imply he's a service dog. (So, get a cutesy vest that DOESN'T look like an SD vest, please?) I'd probably have a silk-screened dog t-shirt made instead.

The shirt is a great idea!  I usually don't ask to pet service dogs unless I am talking with the owner about the dog.  But, I work in a pet supply store, so, usually we are on the topic.  One time a lady brought in a beautiful Belgian Tervuran SD and was looking for a specific food or treat, I can't remember.  I complimented on how beautiful her dog was and told her that I don't see to many Tervurans.  She was excited that I knew the breed and we were talking about her dog and the titles he had.  After that, I felt it was OK to ask to pet him and she was fine with it.  She just had me ask him to shake first.  It really depends on the situation though.  If I had not been talking to the owner about her dog first, I would not have even asked.  There is another girl that comes in who is a friend of mine with a little white SD who is so sweet and she does not mind at all for people to pet him and encourages it.  But, he is a hearing dog who helps her more at home than out and about.  We get quite a few therapy dogs in work, but my favorite belongs to a little boy.  Bullet is his name, but hes very sweet, and the boy is just so happy to be at the store!  I talk to him and Bullet and the boy just lights up and when I ask if Bullet can have a treat, he almost jumps up and down!  So I always hand the treat to the boy and hes just so happy!  It makes me happy to see him like that!  His mother isn't very nice to him sometimes, so if I can make him feel good for a few minutes, then it makes my day!  I can't wait until I can work with a service/therapy dog program!
I really do like the shirt idea.  I could make it kind of original then.  I really didn't want to imply that they were SD because I felt that would be wrong, so that's why I asked first.  I'll definitely look into a shirt or cutesy type vest!  Thanks for the advice!
Pwca, you always know everything about SD!  Do you have one, or do you just work with them?  I really think its amazing how much dogs help people.  I'm changing my major to recreational therapy in hopes of becoming very involved with SD and TD programs and possibly art and equine therapy.  What better job than helping people and trying to make them happy and working with dogs!

Colleen - yes, I have a SD- Mal is my SD in training for medical alert/psych stuff. I do also do some work with other people's, but mostly in the networking/referral/research end of things, as I'm NOT a great trainer.

I bought two "Ask to Pet Me" patches for my dog.  She had a bad experience and can be afraid of some men.  She is otherwise very friendly and loves to be around people, so I do want people to pet her, they just need to ask first.  Actually, I want them to ask mostly because in the time it takes them to ask (rather than just run up and pet), I can read the dog's reaction and see whether or not this person makes her nervous.  She's not a service dog or therapy dog, but she'll be wearing a backpack on her walks so I'm going to put the patches on her pack.

I don't think there would be a problem using these patches, even with a service dog vest, as long as you don't get the "Service Dog" patch.  I've always seen the vests as indicators that the dog is either working, in training, has some issues, etc...so the patch you chose is just an indicator of what other people need to know.  In our cases, they need to know that they should ask before petting our dogs (which people should do anyway, but.....argh!).

I don't see much of a problem.  Go for it!  I think I may need one, too, honestly...

Where do you get them?

ORIGINAL: nfowler

Where do you get them?

 
Uhhhhhh...
 
That's a good question, actually.

Where do you get them?

I got two of the top ones ("Ask To Pet Me...I'm Friendly") from sitstay.com
http://www.sitstay.com/cgi-bin/sdisp.cgi/EQCP20.lg.jpg:EQCP20a.lg.gif:EQRG.lg.jpg

I was going to get this one, but I already had to place another order with sitstay.com so I got theirs.

Found:
http://www.servicedogequipment.com/equipment2.htm

The RH Jeffers ones aren't very well made, in my experience.

I have a lot of other links I can post privately, but I'm uncomfortable putting them on the open board. I'm sure none of our regulars would go out and dress their dog as a SD just to get access somewhere, but well.. lurkers and whatnot.

Fraudulent service dogs are a HUGE and growing problem I don't want to contribute to that, even indirectly. I see at least one and sometimes two dogs each week in places that dogs are not alllowed that have told a gatekeeper that "It's a service dog" and rushed past them. Legally, a SD is a dog that is trained to perform tasks for a disabled handler- unfortunately, shows like Miracle Pets and K9-to5 have promoted the whole idea of a 'comfort dog' as a service dog. There's one ep on K9-to-5 about a woman with agoraphobia who takes her yorkie out because the yorkie 'makes her feel better'- that's not a trained task. That dog's not a service dog by definition unless it has trained tasks, so shouldn't be out in public. But shows like that have made people think they can claim their pet dog makes them feel better to take them in public, and they have 'anxiety' or 'panic' or 'depression' (funny, they're not taking meds for it and have usually never mentioned any such thing to a doctor.)- unless they've got trained tasks, the dog is not a service dog.
Tasks would be things like reminding a handler who is getting anxious and panicky that there are meds in her handbag that will help. Guiding a disoriented handler to the door if he or she finds an environment overstimulating, or having been trained to brace (pull as a counterbalance- balance dogs are NOT a mobile cane or walker) an owner who is dizzy as a sside effect of medication.

er... slightly ranty there, but... yeah. Feel very strongly about this. Plus, it conditions people to think that vest = "I just have to ask and they'll let me pet" which is frankly, annoying- I get enough of that as it is, although less with Mal (tricolor and smooth is apparently more intimidating than Wings' sable and whtie fluffiness.)

Oh, and just to lighten things up - a photo of Mal in his vest from training last night (We were outside at Sonic. )

This is kind of an etiquette question.  I don't ask to pet the dog unless we are on the topic of the dog, like I said, usually, I'm trying to help find a product for the dog, so then I don't really feel like its wrong to compliment the dog and ask questions.  But, like in your picture outside of Sonic, if I were in the area as well and saw you with your dog, would it be appropriate to compliment his looks and training?  As long as I don't pet?  Or, is that not acceptable either?  If I want to work in this field one day, I might as well ask as many questions as possible from people who have experience!

When I was in elementary school we were taught to never pet or even ask to pet a dog with a service vest and to always ask to pet any other dog that did not appear to be working.  This man in a wheelchair came every year with his Golden and taught us about service dogs.  According to him, no one can pet the dog with the vest on and when he takes the vest off, it means the dog is done working and we can come pet him.  Unless I know the handler personally, I don't even ask to pet a service dog or dog obviously doing some form of work.  Once I was at Target and saw a couple training a young Malinois.  I could hardly contain my excitement since this was the FIRST Malinois I'd ever seen and they've been my favorite breed forever.  I kinda followed them from way behind, admiring from afar, but I didn't ask to pet the dog because my understanding is that they will usually say no while the dog is working.  The way I see it is that dog's "job" is being a service dog, just like my dog's "job" is agility, and I'd say "no" if someone interrupted an agility run to pet my dog.

ORIGINAL: ColleenC

This is kind of an etiquette question.  I don't ask to pet the dog unless we are on the topic of the dog, like I said, usually, I'm trying to help find a product for the dog, so then I don't really feel like its wrong to compliment the dog and ask questions.  But, like in your picture outside of Sonic, if I were in the area as well and saw you with your dog, would it be appropriate to compliment his looks and training?  As long as I don't pet?  Or, is that not acceptable either?  If I want to work in this field one day, I might as well ask as many questions as possible from people who have experience!

Um... it really depends, so in general? A smile and "Pretty dog." is probably okay. Last night at Sonic, we had three SD teams there and then, well, we expect some questions- it's not unusual. Some days, it's fine to actually ask more- if I'm having a good day, I'm always happy to tell people a little bit about Mal (He's a smooth collie, he's in training, and he's going to be a medical alert dog- that's pretty much all the information I'll give out, and if I'm out in public, I'm either on my way to/from work, or running an errand, and an extended conversation that I've had a million times, with a complete stranger usually isn't in the cards- if you're really interested in dogs in general, I may give you my card and tell you to email me (I have a anonymous mail account for that)). If I'm not... I'll probably just say thank you, smile, and hope you take that as a hint to move on.

 Some days, it feels a little bit like being the walking Educational Experience. Asking 'But medical alert for what?" is kinda tacky- do you share YOUR medical conditions with complete strangers? People get offended when you say "Um, that's private!". Having a service dog does NOT entitle random strangers to ask nosy questions about your health. The legal guidelines for gatekeepers (who DO get to ask questions) don't allow them to ask WHAT your disability is (it's discriminatory because of stigma on certain disabilities) but they may ask what tasks the dog performs, if it is an assistance dog, and if you are indeed disabled.

In the case of psychiatric service dogs, where there's a stigma against certain illnesses like bipolar and schitzophrenia, which I can never spell correctly, so the person may REALLY not want to tell- they don't know if you'll tell other people that they are bipolar or schizophrnic, and what if they're out with their boss for a business lunch?)

this topic inspired a thought.... golly that hurt!

um.. ok. no seriously... i think MOST dogs should have that sign, only on a bandana or something, just to sepperate them from SDs. Most people just dont think about it when they see a dog out in public. looks just like their dog at home, so why not pet him? harmless right? ha... my mom had a sheltie/collie that absolutely hated kids(one bad experience and Maggie was done with kids forever) but Maggie was a pretty dog, looked friendly to anyone that didnt know her. many kids wanted to run up to her and give her a big hug, but i had to practically jump between them to stop them.
Now when we took Bo, the american bulldog pup -75lb 6 month old puppy...- to the park kids wanted to pet him but their parents were VERY good about asking us permission first, or just avoiding us completely.... i guess he looked like a big pit bull... and we all know how violent and unpredictable THEY can be (said with tons of sarcasm[sm=crazy.gif]) Bo would no more harm a child than a fluffy kitten would....
I think a big colourful bandana(hunter orange perhaps) with bold writing or a patch on it would stop most kids and/or adults and make them consider if the dog is a service dog or not. who cares if the people think its a service dog? you have just reduced the liability and risk of your dog feeling invaded and threated by a complete stranger and biting as a result. that is always a bonus.

I agree, DumDog.  I don't see any harm in other dogs wearing clothes, packs, etc. as long as they are not wearing actual SD vests with SD patches.  Unfortunately, SDs seem like the dogs we really can trust to be socialized with strangers, but they are the ones not to be pet.  Many people have "pets" that have issues with fear, reactivity, aggression, etc but somewhere it became OK to pet anybody's dog as long as it's not a SD.  I don't think it's good to pet SDs while they are working or even ask, but I also think it's not OK to just pet someone else's dog either.  In a perfect world, everyone would always ask to pet every dog, just like when we meet someone new with a newborn baby we ask before trying to hold the baby.  I don't think it would desensitize the public to service dogs if more dogs wore their own clothes, bandanas, backpacks, etc (again, NOT SD vests but other indicative garb), it would educate the public about the many tasks that our dogs can perform.  There's more to dogs than just pets, show champions, and service dogs.  My dog has a dog backpack b/c I like to hike or go on extended walks where there might be a need for something that she enjoys to carry.  I'm not going to ditch her pack for fear of people assuming she's a service dog, nor am I doing to pretend she's a service dog.  She's a protection companion, an agility dog, and a tracking dog.  Not any less important or valuable than a service dog, just a different job with different equipment (backpack or tracking harness) and a different patch.  Her "Ask to pet me" patch is there because she does have an issue with larger men and I'd rather require everyone to ask than have some man come up behind us and reach for her.  Her patches are not there because I think it makes her more special or she deserves it more than other dogs.