People and their dogs ...

You should have peed on her dog. Assert your dominance.

 

Good dog story with video and a kid, gone viral:

Lady sets up camera in garage to film neighbor. The footage has gone viral

And, no, that IS safe for work, despite me posting it.

 

I am no one's idea of an animal lover but I strongly disagree with this. Someone served this country with a couple of tours in SW Asia and now needs a trained dog to help cope with the PTSD? I'm not about to shit on him or her.

 

A co-worked would on occasion bring one of her big dogs to work with her for a few hours. She would put a board or something over the lower part of her doorway so the mutt couldn't get out, but then she would take it to the computer lab where she teaches her classes. That didn't last long before the boss said no more.

There are places in this world for dogs. The office and the classroom aren't it, however.

 

I agree with you on vets. Just saw a vet tonight with a service animal. Pretty neat.

When I posted that sometime back, my reaction was due to what seems to be a rising trend in declaring pets as service animals, with dubious training as a service animal. I am concerned some find it as a method of just having their house pet around, thus abusing what a service animal is intended to be - an animal with at least some training.

 

Yeah I hear ya.

Fun fact I learned as an offshoot of this thread. The only two species the Feds recognize as legit service animals are dogs and ... miniature horses.

Guide Horse Foundation - Miniature horses for the blind

 

I want a miniature giraffe, like no more than 18 inches tall.

 

I agree with THIS.

Service animals are, or should be, distinctive, with not just some training, but a lot of training, and the paperwork to back it up that proves it when their handler -- eh, owner -- goes to a store/restaurant expecting to be allowed to bring their pet inside. Real service animals are generally MUCH cleaner, are well-groomed and better cared for, and well-behaved, and they DON'T pay attention to anyone other than the human they are supposed to be serving. And yet, they are also required to still be a DOG, and actually walk (well, and on a leash), and not ride in a shopping cart, a baby stroller or a freaking purse.

Working at Walmart, where service-animal rules are abused, ridiculously, every day (because management allows it in the interests of letting customers' have their own way), I think of how I would handle animals in the store if I were the manager. And I'd be much stricter. As in, no pets, and if you don't have an obviously working service dog, outfitted as such, and are in possession of proof of the animal's status, it would be staying in the car/outside, where they belong.

I can't stand how presumptuous these people are with their animals in thinking that everyone would want them around -- particularly in a store, where there are lots of people, lots of distractions, lots of food, lots of elderly people who are not sure-footed or well-balanced, lots of opportunities to lift a leg, etc. Need I go on?

When people bring their dogs in the store where I work, and they obviously are not service animals but are allowed to bring them in, anyway, you can expect me to pointedly and purposely never look at your adorable, dirty, matted-furred pooch, never talk to it, and generally (but quietly) let you know that I don't appreciate your damn dog sitting, standing, or sleeping in the cart, and sniffing at people and food, or when allowed by owners, just wandering around loose.

And this doesn't even cover the parrot a couple just HAD to bring in the store a couple weeks ago. The bird sat on the husband's finger/hand the whole time, leaving a trail of bird droppings the whole way. And yes, I actually saw it do it, and the husband saw that I saw, and was watching, and was giving him an evil eye. To the husband's credit, he did get the message, and looked back at me, kind of sheepishly, and definitely embarrassed. At least he got some paper towel and cleaned up after his bird, though, thank goodness. I, on the other hand, just steamed and stewed to myself. Yeah, you just HAD to bring your parrot shopping with you, didn't you?

 

Too bad the parrot didn't say something bad, like "Daddy beats his wife."

 

Having a service parrot is the only mechanism that helps him cope with the mental and emotional anguish one must feel as a result of the constant sense of abject life-failure that comes along with being a parrot owner.

 

If you are not a pirate, you should not have a parrot.
Not even a privateer. You must be a full-on, outside-all-law pirate.
Not an apprentice pirate.
Not a retired pirate.
A fully employed, engaged, height-of-your-career pirate.