I doubt that. I'm sure OP would know the difference since I'm guessing he's not under 5 or mentally challenged. I'm sure it was a little yapping bitch dog like a chihuahua.

#16: someone who has a service dog wouldnt go psyco & fallow someone home just for saying its unsanitary for dogs to enter a grocery store.. Most service dogs have the little vest thingies on them. So i think the lady probaby had a lap dog or some shit..

My service dog doesn't wear a vest. He just has a little tag on his collar.

I love when people say that lolz, the first two I mean . I'd love to know how they would handle some of the situations that would put them in . I say "all this stuff I'm getting is free for me !" cashier says "um, no its not ?" I say "read the sign !"

She ran away, or went to the mall or something... Untill the crazy woman gone away

It was actually a seeing-eye dog...

Sometimes it makes no difference. In certain states, all you're allowed to ask is if it's a service animal. If they say yes, there isn't a damned thing you can do about it.

They can legally only ask 3 questions: Is this a service dog? Are you disabled? What does he do to help you?

I dont hate dogs at all, but i dont want them near my food! Same as the op!

Most service dogs are required to wear a vest or a special tag on their collar so that people can't say just any dog is a service dog.

The OP never said if it was a service dog or not.. And I'm guessing it probably wasn't

There are several different officially recognized certifications of service dogs, depending on your area.

But how is a service dog any more sanitary than a regular dog? And there's no federal certification. There are programs out there but all you legally have to do is say "he's a service dog" and the business owner can't question it. If you wanted to get a best for your pet an say he is, no one can stop you.

I totally agree with you. The reason I thought the OP was against the dog being in the store was due to the fact that having a dog in the store can cause chaos, he can tumble things over, cause a commotion, or start barking at people in the middle of aisle (or whatever)... but because it's unsanitary? Unless the woman picked it up randomly on the street, it's very unlikely.

A service dog is only there to do it's job. And that is to escort the person through the store. No, it's not more clean or sanitary than any other dog, but a normal dog will snoop around, get into things, run wild, and cause a commotion. While a service dog is highly trained and won't do such things. That is what makes the two different dogs so different. And store owners know and understand that.

Yeah, but the OP wasn't referring to any of that except that the dog was unsanitary, which has nothing to do with it snooping around, going crazy, and causing a commotion. Thus, the reason why i would tell the OP: YDI.

Why would you assume a non service dog would run amok? A trained dog won't run amok. It won't snoop around or get into things or cause a commotion. Now, I wouldn't want an untrained dog running around in a store, but I don't see any problem with having a well behaved dog in a store.

Would you want to risk guessing whether or not a dog will run amok in your store? I wouldn't. That being said, I would absolutely tell them that if it isn't a service animal, it wouldn't be allowed in. OP used the wrong choice of words when telling the woman, but that doesn't make them wrong.

#86 The problem with that statement is that every dog owner seems to think that THEIR dog is perfectly trained and won't bite or misbehave...

that's bullcrap. my dog is the smallest breed. I carried her around in my jacket/purse when she was a puppy. she still likes traveling around in my purse. she is cleaner than mist people and doesn't toucha thing. so.... no SmallestDOGever.webs.com

73- That's the point I was making. A poor choice of words on the OPs part. Every person does think their dog is the most well behaved. So it's all a matter of opinion and good judgement. My pooch is a very well behaved dog. It has been to Doggy Boarding School and has been trained by professionals. But there's no way in hell I'd take him in a store! You never know what your dog may pull. Dogs are known to have anxiety disorders. So someones dog may be the best dog in the world at home, but take the dog into a store with alot of people and many distractions, and your well behaved dog may misbehave.

What's to say a service dog won't go nuts though? And what about service dogs in training? They're taken everywhere as a part of their training and they do go nuts sometimes, but you can't exactly train a service dog without taking it everywhere.

Think of it, then, as a matter of probability. For the sake of argument, let's assume that all dogs are unsanitary - service dog or not. Stores that value high sanitary standards would ban all dogs, but that would violate

The point is service dogs are trained and regulated. A business (at least in california) is allowed to ask for proof/ID for the dog being a service animal. If the owner can't provide that information they are ejected from the store. Failure to do so is tresspassing. The reason you trust a service animal is that it has training to be much less likely to misbehave. And even a service dog in training will have a handler who is keeping a sharp eye on the dog. In all of these cases the dog will almost always be required to be on a leash. If you see no difference or don't understand why some guy just saying his dog is trained isn't good enough? Then I don't know how to more clearly state it.

First off, there's no federal regulations for certification or training for service dogs. Second, there is no requirement to wear any form of vest or collar. Third, asking for an id or certificate violates the ADA laws.

Service dogs aren't required to wear vests or tags. The reason most service dogs have one of these things is because people typically assume someone is just "breaking the rules" by bringing their dog somewhere. My boy only wears a vest when we go somewhere he hasn't been before and people aren't likely to recognize him. He is very memorable. It throws people off to see a bluetick coonhound as a service dog.

Sorry but I disagree. It is not fear. It is the moral position that one should only give someone else grief when the cause is substantial. Here I doubt it.

#31 U wrong (nuff said)

#31- Wrong. It is fear. I've seen so many hide behind a kind of fraidy-cat "non-judgmentalism" when it's because they don't have the stones to handle what happens after you say what you know to be right.

Right. I call people on their misbehavior all the time and it's funny how often they walk around like they have big stones UNTIL they are actually confronted. Then they're whiny little crybaby *******.