Crowd Stopper

One thing you have to get used to when you work with a service dog is that random strangers will come up and start conversations with you about your dog. Usually it starts with the same basic three or four questions; 1) what kind of dog do you have, 2) is your dog a boy or a girl, 3) what is his/her name, 4) how old is your dog. I don't typically mind engaging with people and providing some service dog education but there are also times when I get really tired of answering the same questions over and over. Sometimes I will leave Morey at home or in the car just because I don't want to deal with the extra attention I know I get when he is with me. For the most part though, I enjoy the compliments and opportunity to brag on my boy.

Lately I had two conversations with strangers that were a little different than usual. One happened while I was shopping at Kohls. Because the rows of clothes are so narrow there it is a difficult place for me to navigate on my own, let alone with Morey. As I was roaming through a row of clothing I heard a woman say "excuse me, excuse me" and I figured that Morey or I were in her way so I moved forward a bit, made sure Morey moved and kept on browsing. The woman continued to say "excuse me, excuse me" so I looked up and realized that she was wanting to talk to me.

Turns out her daughter has a newly acquired disability and she seemed desperate for ways to help her daughter stay active and independent more easily. She first asked if Morey helped pull me and I explained and demonstrated how he does assist with pulling my chair. She wanted to go where I got Morey and so I explained I "imported" him from Indiana and then gave her information for Service Dogs, Inc., the service dog training center near Austin. She then wanted to know about my type of wheelchair since it looked so light weight and so I discussed some of the wheelchair options as well as devices to assist manual wheelchair users, like power assist wheels and the smart drive.

It was sad to me that she was having to get this information from a complete stranger. I am sure her daughter had gone through a lot of rehab yet this mom didn't seem aware of some basic options and information about supports for people with a disability. I was glad to help her and hope her daughter can benefit from some of the information I gave her.

The second unusual conversation happened as I was leaving my internship later that same week. I was getting ready to load up in my car and a mom with a young girl came over and asked if I let people pet Morey. I told her that yes, I do let people pet Morey when he is not working. She then explained that her older daughter had been bitten by a big dog over the weekend and she wanted her to pet a nice big dog to help her get over her fear. She said "I know your dog is nice because he is a service dog." I told her I would be happy to let her pet Morey and so the mom rushed off to get her other daughter from the car.

The daughter slowly approached Morey and I encouraged her to scratch Morey's butt. I figured she might be more comfortable touching a part that was far away from his mouth and also know that Morey gets silly when he gets his butt scratched. She lightly patted his butt and Morey got all wiggly with his tail wagging- looking anything but threatening. Her mom kept repeating "see, he's a nice dog, there are a lot of nice big dogs" and after a moment the girl was smiling shyly as Morey turned upside down to give her a better angle to scratch his butt.

The mom thanked me profusely and I told her I was more than happy to help. I'm sure that experience didn't "cure" her daughter of her fear, but hopefully it provided a start for her to rebuild positive experiences with big dogs. Good job Morey!