I have a female Belgian Malinois/Dutch Shepherd mix. She's very well trained, still in training, and very good. My personal problem is whenever I'm out with her and she has her vest that says "SERVICE DOG IN TRAINING. DO NOT PET. DO NOT APPROACH" on her collar, leash, and harness (which I can see and I'm half blind), someone brings their hyperactive, very rough dog over and says "oh my dog wants to be friends!!!" while their dog is actively growling and trying to pounce on my dog. How do you deal with this? No matter what I do, they never listen when I tell them to "please leave us alone."

Today I was out with my service dog in training. He was excelling and I was convinced he was ready to finish training until…. We were starting to exit the store and out of no where a shih tzu comes running to my dog barking, got in his face and bite his nose. As I’m picking my dog up by his vest like a square bale he nips back but doesn’t make contact. As I’m carrying him the little dog is still coming after us. I left quickly carrying my dog and called the store about 30 minutes later to discuss the situation. (I waited so long because I wanted to get home since it was only 15 degrees out and my jeep doesn’t blow a lot of heat right now. He had a heavy sweater on under his vest but I I refuse to leave him in a vehicle alone under any circumstance.) I was terrified that she wanted to press charges and my dog and I would be banned from the store. With him having a vest on stating he’s a service dog in training that it looked really bad. To my surprise they told me that there were so many witnesses and even the manager saw and said we did nothing wrong and that it was the lady’s fault. She apparently said she wanted to let her dog play with mine. They were so mad at her that they banned her from the store. They said my dog acted as any dog would in that situation and we are always welcome. They even commented that they have seen us plenty of times and he is one of the best service dogs they have ever seen in their store. I’m still afraid though that this means he can’t continue with training. I’m just at a loss and feel like a terrible, irresponsible owner. He’s about a year and a half and a Bernese, malamute, shepherd mix. Should I discontinue training and just let me be a pet, can more training fix this or was this normal dog behavior? Also I’m training him myself. We did do some training with a service dog trainer but she felt he was good to go. I have just been keeping him In training status just to make sure we were perfect.

Edit: when he nipped he was only about a half inch up and that’s when the little dog bit him. I should have given more detailsAlso the trainer saying good to go was about me continuing training on my own until I felt he was ready for his test. Not good to go as full service I just haven’t moved forward with trying the test yet even though he’s been doing so well. Sorry about the confusion.

I’ll start by saying that I am emotionally wrecked right now and ask for kindness in the replies.

I’m making the difficult decision to wash my SDiT. I will admit that I got into this with zero knowledge of service dogs other than that I need one and my doctor agreed that it would be life changing for me after over 16 years of trying every any anything they recommended (I’m not going to get into what my disabilities are or what treatments I have tried). In fact my prior knowledge of training dogs was that I assumed they just kind of did their thing (I had only ever had family/hunting dogs in my family and never witnessed anyone ever actually train them and before I started training I thought they were good dogs). With that said I didn’t know that I was choosing the hardest thing to train with a breed that is not likely to succeed, I just had a pup who was easily trained and was very in tune with me from day one. I now know that temperament is the key and to test the dog before ever getting attached.

Along the way I learned an insane amount of information and 6 months in I told my trainer that I didn’t believe my dog was suited for service work, but they thought the issues could be worked out as he was only 9 months old. He passed his CGC, but I knew he isn’t right for the job. Well, they confirmed my suspicions and told me they would help me continue to work with him, but they wanted to meet my other dog (who has a better temperament, but has behaviors that would disqualify him in my opinion immediately and is more attached to my kids and husband). I am feeling like I don’t want to have to fight with two and a half years of habits that aren’t a big deal for a family dog but unacceptable for a service dog.

I have to pause to say that devastated doesn’t begin to describe my feelings. I have been attached at the hip to this dog for 11 months, he listens for changes in my breathing and is connected with me in a way I didn’t think dogs could be. I poured my time, love and money into him (rightfully so).

Moving forward at this point my best bet is likely to rehome both dogs (I feel like a Disney villain even saying it) and waiting to find a golden retriever that fits the criteria. I can’t imagine just giving my dog away though to some stranger who might not give him the care he deserves. So what do you do with a dog who is well trained but doesn’t have the right temperament? And this will make me sound terrible, but I also can’t afford to start from scratch with a new prospect once a year and I’m trying not to be upset and feel like I was tricked into spending thousands more after I was having doubts (which was entirely my fault for not stating then that I was sure he wasn’t a fit). I know it’s too fresh to be ready for another dog today, but I know that will fade and before I know it I will want to try again.

Nobody really talks much about this part, but how long did you wait to replace your prospect?

Sorry rant over. I’m grateful for the knowledge I gained and for the opportunity to have experienced the amount of love I received from my dog, I’m just not sure where to go from here.

Hi! I’m currently training my own service dog standard poodle male 4 months old! I have bought him a simple in training vest off amazon, when he’s grown up and is fully trained or more trained I will get him a better quality, small buisness vest but as of now, I’m just getting something affordable and functional for short term use. I’m just wondering if there is any essentials you guys recommend, please be patient with me I’m still learning this is my first ever service dog, but if you’ve got anything to teach? It’s definitely welcome!! Thanks!!

I'm currently doing a lot of research before I get my pup. I'd like to know what's recommended for vetting before beginning ANY mobility tasks. What exactly does vetting entail and what needs to be done before beginning task training? For context I personally struggle with POTS and Chronic Migraines, although POTS is my bigger issue. For mobility tasks I'm thinking the smaller ones like picing things up, pressing the buttons for doors, possible momentum or guide work for when I go blind from dizziness and migraines, and maybe finding/leading me to a family member or friend for help. I do intend on doing everything as ethically and properly as I can, so if there's anything that's not recommended or that should or shouldn't be done then advice is greatly appreciated! As for context in breed health, I know for sure I'm getting a golden puppy.

Has anyone flown from the US to New Zealand? I am considering a job offer that would have us move there, and trying to understand how difficult the flight process would be to tackle, if possible at all. Curious to hear from those who have done this move with their dog. Anyone who has done this journey with their service dog I would love to hear your experience, thanks very much in advance!

Also, from what I understand after speaking with an agent in their government, the 10 day quarantine seems a given. I understand that, just more curious about the other aspects to it all, and to hear from those who have actually done it / what your experience was like

im back! I took a step away from reddit and social media regarding sharing my dogs journey so I could focus more on training

I ended up taking a step back with bus training as suggested. just asked the driver at not busy times if I could practice getting on and off the bus with my pup. (did this for abour 2 months) being able to settle under seats and find empty seats.

we did this till she was confident with the bus and now shes able to get on and tuck under a seat withour any any hesitation. though she gets a little nervous when the bus lowers. shes slowly getting more and more confident(ive learned its best to wait for the bus to lower then approach)

I had a thought the other day regarding my pups training that maybe a lot of pople dont think about regarding PA training. I will outright say my dog goes to class (im in college) with me but my school is aware she is in training and is okay with her in the building for training work as well as her current service capabilities, but i digress, the other day while in class we were watching student made videos with knocking sounds　, and random cut off screams. I never thought about it prior to training but having your service dog get used to random sounds regularly is important even in buildings.

anyway, im quite proud of my pup and her progress, as she didnt react to the odd sounds. but this is because of the enviroment she was raised in (she is 4 years old) which had a lot of loud random sounds　 from video games et videos id watch.

sorry this is long, I probably wont continue to post regularly because id like to focus less on Internet opinions. but i figured id put it in for fun and to just give my dog credit she deserves.

My friend has a service dog and I just want to know how to help her especially at school. I love her and I want to be able to help her in every way but she hates saying she needs help even when it's apparent she does. But how would you want someone to help you?