[nagdu] how much is too much?

[Julie J.]

Thanks to those who offered thoughts.

Just like you, I also felt the therapy dog in training had no business in a 
restaurant and absolutely didn't belong there once the barking and growling 
started up.   If I'm to be totally, completely honest, I am not comfortable 
confronting people about their ill behaved dog, at least not in a setting of 
this nature.  Perhaps if I knew the lady or I could have spoken to her in a 
quiet, private place, I would have felt comfortable providing education or 
whatever was appropriate.  Everyone at our table was uncomfortable with the 
situation.

The restaurant was very busy.  I do believe this was the next available 
table and that it was a coincidence.  I will see one of the group members 
who is sighted later this week.  I'll ask him if there were other available 
tables.  And no, this table was not near the kitchen or the back door. 
There were other people eating in the same area.

It had been a long day and I was very tired.  Our food took forever to be 
served.  I just wanted to get to the hotel and sleep, so it honestly never 
occurred to me to speak with the restaurant management about the situation. 
Also other members of my group had already complained to management about 
the slowness and the late hour.  I'm not sure how many complaints you can 
make before they stop listening.

I could certainly call and speak to them about it.  I do eat at this 
restaurant whenever I visit that particular town. I expect I will eat there 
again in the future.

For me as a owner trainer, I have several problems with the training 
approach and philosophy of the lady.  I absolutely do not believe in going 
to a restaurant for the purpose of having a nice dinner with your dog in 
training.  If you are training the dog, then you are training the dog, not 
having a leisurely dinner out.  Sure there will come a time that you'll need 
to train the dog to lie quietly while you eat, but the eating is secondary 
to the training.  If the dog isn't able to handle the situation, you leave. 
If you want to have an uninterrupted dinner out, then don't take your dog 
who isn't trained.

I also agree with Marion that three times is a reasonable limit for the 
nonsense.  Although I'm not sure if I could actually make it to three.  I 
have an extremely low threshold for public embarrassment.  I tend to air on 
the side of extreme caution.  I can remember times going places with my son 
and Monty when he was in training.  I'd have every intent of taking Monty 
into the store, but on the way there it would become apparent that he was 
way too excited to handle it.  I'd end up sitting on the curb in the parking 
lot while Kiddo ran into the store to pick out our sodas or whatever quick 
item we had intended on picking up.

The lady with the therapy dog in training did understand what is meant by a 
therapy dog.  She clearly stated that the dog would be going into hospitals 
and nursing homes to visit with the patients.  I do not know if she was 
associated with a therapy dog program.  Clearly she is misinformed on the 
laws regarding therapy dogs.

Julie