[nagdu] Please don't pet me, I'm working.

[Bridget Walker]

Hi everyone,
For some reason I spend much of my time trying to educate people about the harness. People for some reason do not believe my dog is working because he does not wear a vest. I do not know why the public can only think working dog equals vest and nothing more. When I tell people not to pet my dog that's the response I get. "Oh he's not one of those service dogs on a vest so I can." Really? First he is a guide dog and guide dogs wear harnesses to assist their handlers. Second he with a type of service dog protected under ADA law. Third my dog don't touch. I have considered putting a do not pet me sign on him for a while 
, but I don't even know where to get the m. 
Honestly my best comeback to people when they pet my dog is "my dog is working. I'm sure you wouldn't like it if I started petting you while you were doing your job. Please do not distract him." Of course I get the same remarks everyone has already stated. "Oh I know I'm not aloud but..."
So what do you think, should I get a sign? If so from where? 
Bridget and Paulson
Sent from my iPad

> On Aug 28, 27 Heisei, at 11:06 AM, Kaye Kipp via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Well, the thing about the sign is, I don't believe it really educates
> people.  I took my sign off of the harness so I could wash it and people
> would say, "Oh good.  She doesn't have the sign on, so I can pet."
> 
> Kaye
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Craig Heaps via
> nagdu
> Sent: Friday, August 28, 2015 7:39 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Cc: Craig Heaps
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Please don't pet me, I'm working.
> 
> 
> I have that exact sign on Chase's harness: Do Not Pet Me I Am Working.
> 
> I believe it helps.  But it's impossible to know. Some people still pet him
> even with the sign, so it's not an absolute cure.  And how to do you measure
> a negative such as how many people didn't pet him who would have petted him
> if the sign had not been there?
> 
> I got the sign mostly because we go to crowded places such as Giants
> baseball games at AT&T Park in San Francisco. It seemed people on the BART
> train wanted to pet him. So did people on the Muni Metro light rail.  And so
> did people in line to enter the ballpark.  So I got the sign.  I think it
> helped.
> 
> A lot of people read the sign out loud.  I think that's good.  It gives me
> an opportunity to reinforce to them the danger for me of distracting my
> guide dog.
> 
> I have considered changing it to No He's Not Training Me. He's Legally
> Blind.
> 
> Craig and Chase
> 
> 
> 
>> On 8/28/2015 3:11 AM, Raven Tolliver via nagdu wrote:
>> Does anyone use these signs on their guide dog? I recently encountered 
>> a couple people who said that I should have a sign on my dog's harness 
>> so that they and others know he is a working dog and will not pet or 
>> interact with him.
>> I argued that the idiots who lack self control and common decency will 
>> still pet my dog, regardless of some sign that most people won't 
>> bother reading.
>> But is this something worth considering?
> 
> 
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