[nagdu] how much is too much?

National Association of Guide Dog Users blind411 at verizon.net
Mon Aug 12 00:36:46 UTC 2013


Julie,
	I think the best approach would be to talk to the restaurant about
this. If the woman brought the dog in once, she may feel she can bring it in
again. It might also be good to find out which therapy dog programs are in
the area and send a little information about the incident to them. To the
best of my knowledge, most legitimate therapy dog programs let their
trainees know the dog does not have the right of access and would discourage
such behavior as this.

Fraternally yours,
Marion




-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie J.
Sent: Sunday, August 11, 2013 3:00 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] how much is too much?

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 


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