More on Why You Can't Pet a Service Dog

As I've mentioned before, you actually can pet a service dog, if the service dog's handler gives you permission.  However, service dog handlers often prefer that people do not pet their service dogs.  Why not?

Well, here's why I will usually be telling people no, sorry, they cannot pet Isaac when he is working.

• Isaac is a young service dog.  He's just completed his training.  He's just getting to know me and to fully understand what his job entails.  He's just beginning to learn the signs that I'm beginning to have an anxiety attack, for instance.  He needs to pay attention so that he can learn his job well.  I need him to be good at his job; otherwise, what's the point of having a service dog?
• Isaac also wants to be good at his job.  He is happy when he succeeds at a task and is rewarded, whether that reward is a tasty treat, a scratch behind the ears, or an enthusiastic "Good boy!"  If he is distracted and has trouble learning to be good at his job, he will become frustrated and unhappy.  Look at this face.  Do you want him to be unhappy?

•  Isaac really likes meeting and greeting people.  I actually enjoying letting people pet him.  However, he needs to learn when it is and when it is not appropriate to greet people.  If he gets used to random people in stores coming up and greeting him, he might begin to think it's OK for him to go up to random people in stores and greet them.  That's not OK.  Some people in stores don't like dogs.  Some are afraid of dogs, some are allergic to dogs, etc.  If Isaac learns to go up to random people in stores to say hello and this bothers people (and it will bother some people), store managers do not have to allow me to bring Isaac into their stores.  That would create a huge problem for me.
• Since having a service dog in public is new to me, it actually requires a fair amount of effort and concentration on my part to do what I'm supposed to do.  I have to maneuver through a store holding a leash while pushing a cart or carrying a basket of groceries, paying attention to the items on my list, making sure I don't run my cart into other shoppers or store displays, paying attention to what Isaac is doing and correcting him immediately if he starts to walk too fast or sniff an interesting spot on the floor or approach another shopper.  If that sounds easy, well, it's not.  My hands are full; supervising meet-and-greets with other shoppers is just too much for me to easily handle at such times.
• It's important for Isaac to understand that when he's working, different rules apply than when he's just hanging out and "being a dog."  It's similar to the way you behave differently at work then when you're out shopping with friends.  One way Isaac knows it's time for work is that he wears a red service dog vest while working.  To help prevent confusion for him, ideally I would stop and remove his vest before allowing people to approach and pet him.  Of course, this takes a little time and if I'm trying to get my shopping done, I may not have time to stop and remove his vest every time someone asks to pet him.  In addition, I have to bend over or kneel down to remove his vest, which is very difficult for me to do these days due to my back problems (I put on his vest before he gets out of my car, while he is standing on my backseat, so I don't have to bend down or kneel to put it on before we go into a store or other public place, but once inside a store, there is usually no convenient place for him to stand so that I can remove and replace the vest without bending or kneeling).