Reply #24: I had a blind friend years ago [View All]

[MonkeyFunk]

and learned a lot about how to react to his dog.

It IS a real problem that people will come up and start petting or talking to a working dog. If somebody's standing at a light, waiting to cross, the last thing he needs is his dog distracted by somebody petting him.

I was taught it's always polite to ask the owner if you may interact with his dog - and not to feel insulted if the answer is no. He knows the dog better than anyone, and understands how much distraction it can tolerate.

As a side note, those dogs are amazing. When on the harness, it was the most dedicted, hard-working dog I'd ever seen. But take the harness off and it was a just a big old playful pup.