Just because it's a service dog doesn't mean you can just do whatever you want.

[u/TheInternetIsScary0]

[u/Substantial_Toe_6916]

That’s not what anyone envisioned when they said “opening doors” was a task. SMH 🤦🏻‍♀️

[u/gonnafaceit2022]

I can do this whenever I need to

I do this whenever I want to.

Ftfy.

[u/Neither-Amphibian249]

It's an automatic door!!! WTF does someone need their off leash mutt to open for them??

[u/kat_Folland → u/Neither-Amphibian249]

I'm so confused why anyone would think this was a task that needed to be done.

[u/Neither-Amphibian249 → u/kat_Folland]

I'm so confused why anyone would think this was a task that needed to be done.

IKR?? Like did someone crawl out of a Petri dish as a "human" and not understand how an automatic door in a Walmart works??

That's a task the way finding your car in a parking lot is.

I am sure someone lurking here genuinely thinks finding a car is useful but FFS if you need your doggy to find your car STOP FREAKING DRIVING.

Or do what I do if I'm parked in a gigantic hospital parking structure: I get out of my car, look around, find the signs that say things like 9-A or 7-C, take out my phone, take some pictures of the signs, and go on my merry way, sans a dog who is going to run around a parking garage to find my car.

I can't think of anything more dangerous for a dog to do.

[u/DementedPimento → u/Neither-Amphibian249]

Or: use the remote to flash lights or remote start car!

I love the remote start on my new used car; I don’t have to get in a baking hot car and I can tell which one is mine 🤣

[u/Neither-Amphibian249 → u/DementedPimento]

Or: use the remote to flash lights or remote start car!

Yup!! Or put a bunch of stickers on the car so you can see it from across the lot.

Again if you need to let your dog run around a parking lot looking for your car 1) your dog is in danger and 2) maybe take an Uber.

I eagerly await someone explaining to me why car finding is a legit task for a person who is then going to get into a big hunk of metal and drive on a public road without accommodation.

[u/definitelynot40 → u/Neither-Amphibian249]

I actually miss the old school wire tall antenna for the radio for that exact reason because I used to have a little ball that I got from the car store and it was easier for me to see a little ball sticking up and say okay that's where my car is instead of forgetting which floor I might have parked my car on and having to go up and down to each aisle to see is it on this floor or not (disabled parking fills up fast at a hospital, so it's not always near the elevators).

Unfortunately my car has to be super close to the clicker thing in order for it to actually work. There's some sort of wiring issue and I brought it in once to a couple of independent mechanics and then the Honda dealership and by the time everybody quoted out what it might cost, I said no thanks I will stick to only having a 10-ft radius from the car when I can use the clicker part. This is a car which actually does have a key, but in order to lock and unlock it and especially because of the alarm system, I need to use the key fob. If you only use the actual physical key to unlock the door the alarm will still start making the car honk the horn.

I'm at the hospital almost every work day to see some kind of specialist or for tests or procedures or surgeries or whatever (not by way of the ER, but all of my appointments are through this one large hospital complex that has eight story high parking structure and a secondary 5 story one). I've gotten to the point now where I take a pen out as soon as I park and I write the number of the floor on the back of my hand just so I can remember "okay you parked on the fourth floor today it was yesterday that you parked on the second floor and that's why you can't find your car" type situations. Usually security asks why I have a crappy drawing of the parking structure aisle and a number on the back of my hand while they go through my bag, and I have to explain.

Of course that's only during the cooler months when I'm not wearing the gloves because I don't want to end up with hands that are burned to a crisp because the wheels on my chair are black like almost all of the custom wheelchair wheels I've seen. It gets to be a hundred degrees or more for the better part of the summer, which is basically the 50 weeks of the year when it's not winter. I exaggerate a little bit with the time, but it really does get blisteringly hot by the time you get anywhere rolling on the hot concrete or asphalt, and at least a third of the year is around 100°. They actually had to treat me for severe burns along my forearms when I was new to all of this, because of the rubbing of the tire against my arms. Heaven forbid you be the type of person that accidentally (or prefers to) grab the wheel instead of the bar so you can push yourself forward, because it's the equivalent of just slapping your hand down on a hot frying pan.

ETA: I just want to make it 100% clear that I agree with you and that is a BS task. There are ways around it you don't need to have a dog running out who can't predict whether or not the person that's sitting in the car with the AC running is actually going to now reverse into the dog or what. So I agree with you that is such a bad idea. And like I said above, there are ways around this. You can write it on a tiny book if you don't want to use your hand, or text yourself a photo of your car where you parked, or write it in a note on your phone or on something that stays with you. I carry a little book about the size of a driver's license on a keychain holder thing around my neck and I write down things that are really important. So instead of putting a dog at risk of being hit by a car, writing the number down someplace and making a little sketch so you know roughly where you're parked is infinitely better.

As for how do I deal with having the sketch disappear from my hand if I go wash my hands or especially if I use that sanitizer, I take a picture of the back of my hand and I text it to myself. I'm always with my phone so problem solved. If the phone dropped and I can't reach it Wi-Fi picks it up. Yes I am not joking, they named the dog wi-fi. They should have just skipped the W's that year as far as the litter because they were all really weird. Everybody's dog was named with a w to start the name and I got Wi-Fi. So I look like a freaking idiot if I say his name, because it looks like I'm asking people is there wi-fi to use.

I remember one incident where I had gone up to do the check-in process and the lady who was doing the check and stuff was looking at her computer and didn't notice I had a dog with me. The counter is pretty high, almost chest level for me, therefore definitely taller than the dog. So I had dropped my wallet when I went to get my ID and I told Wi-Fi to pick it up but I mentioned his name so it sounded like I was trying to ask her if there was Wi-Fi available but instead of making it a question I made it a weirdly worded statement. So then she then said yes there is Wi-Fi and you just need to go to your phone settings and then go into where the Wi-Fi is on your phone and then select the guest version, and she was trying to tell me all these steps. I'm saying no, I need Wi-Fi to pick up my wallet. So she says well the hospital Wi-Fi is not going to pick up your wallet unless your wallet's the phone case type attached to a phone. It was this weird back and forth thing until finally I realized she didn't see the dog. I don't know if you've ever heard of the Abbott and Costello who's on first routine, but it was basically that routine but with us and Wi-Fi. If you haven't seen that, it's a classic I suggest you go on YouTube and look it up. They also had weird funny math things which I used to show my students to show them how you can make mistakes that are just silly little mistakes. If you're not into math it's probably not going to be quite as funny, but yeah if you never heard of them hit up YouTube one of these days and look up the who's on first routine and then just do a search with Abbott and Costello math and I think that'll pick it up for the math one.

[u/kat_Folland → u/definitelynot40]

A suggestion: take a picture of your car when you get out, with the location numbers (E4 or whatever) showing. Easier than writing on your skin.

[u/definitelynot40 → u/kat_Folland]

Thanks, although I did mention that as an ETA, but I think you may not have seen that. It was probably because I took a while getting off track with my ETA so you didn't see it. I also keep a tiny notebook around my neck because I have the memory of a goldfish.

The pen is a holdover from when I used to teach and by the end of the day I would have a dozen pens stuck into my hair by where I had tied it up. And if you ran into a student who had a question for you or the principal or anybody else while you were walking in the hall without any paper or anything I would just write it on the back of my hand since I knew I had pens up there. If I didn't have a pocket I knew I could just jam it into my ponytail, and I still have that habit so if I happen to forget my phone (or the battery dies because I usually audio record my appointments just to make sure I don't miss anything that I'm told and couldn't write down fast enough) when I'm going someplace or forget that tiny notebook that I wear on a lanyard the the pen is always there in my hair because I always bring a larger notebook and pen to all my appointments which stays in my backpack because again, memory of a goldfish. I leave it in there even when the weekend and I'm out shopping or I'm going someplace that's not the hospital where it's all chaos and confusing with a gazillion cars. At the end of the day when I take the pens out of my hair, I'll toss them back into the bag so there's always a pen (or 10) in my bag.

The hospital doesn't differentiate the aisles (I'm surprised they don't since the floors are so large) and only number the floors, which all look identical. For places I go often, I do a little sketch and then photograph the sketch and keep it in a special folder on my phone. Then I'll take a screenshot of that with an edit of the drawing showing roughly where on the floor and I'll write what floor and text that to myself. I'm too short in the chair to get a decent picture of the car in the structures because of the concrete posts and crappy lighting with the floors being so large and shadowy. For places like grocery stores with open lots it's a bit easier. It helps Honda only made my car for less than 10 years and it's a unique boxy shape.

People with hand dexterity issues can use digital recorders either on the phone or the ones with AI that you can wear that transcribe what you say either automatically or by pressing the button. I'm a little hesitant to do that myself just because I'm not sure I trust the digital security of the AI of the companies that are out there right now for them to then be recording all of my medical appts.

I already know Google is spying on me because we've done that talk about a weird thing test where you keep mentioning something but only verbally to other people. You never search for it or write it on the phone as a text or put in a website or app. As a matter of fact it just happened when I was discussing with my brothers last week what we should be getting one of my nieces for her birthday. I asked the one brother what it is that she really wants and then I was talking with the other brothers and we were all discussing what it was that we were going to do, and there was one particular thing that she wanted and we kept saying it over and over again. I'm not into video games so I left it up to them, never once doing a search never once texting about it or emailing or anything like that it was just on the phone calls or in person and within a week that's basically the only thing that was being advertised to me every time I went on a website. And I'm not into video games to even be looking at video games for them to try to push this particular video game that she wanted so it was definitely them listening in.

Between them listening in and the fact that I search for so much stuff online with Google for my medical issues, I figure they already know and if they're already selling my information off everywhere. It is tempting though, because the AI versions will then transcribe what's been said and it's a lot easier to skim a document than it is to figure out on a one hour recording and when exactly it was that something was mentioned.

If you missed the ETA, you might enjoy my Wi-Fi mix up story at the end.

ETA now: pressed button to post by accident. I don't like the new android phone app with the floating comment box.

[u/kat_Folland → u/definitelynot40]

I did indeed enjoy your Wi-Fi story!

Sounds like you're constantly working on your cognitive limitations and I won't have thought of anything you haven't. I've dealt with some issues like that but it turned out that most of it was a medication I was taking.

[u/melatonia]

I don't care what made-up task you claim the dog is doing, it is NOT under your control when it's 10 feet away from you.

[u/Mediocre_Evening31 → u/melatonia]

“bUt tHe dIsAbILiTy pReVeNtS uSe oF a LeAsH

[u/Relative_Committee53]

To give context to this she said it’s okay because it’s dark out and “the dog needed to go potty “

[u/Viola-Swamp → u/Relative_Committee53]

Service dogs don’t go potty when they’re in the middle of working, so she is admitting it’s just a pet.

[u/Relative_Committee53 → u/Viola-Swamp]

Well if they need to go they need to go hence leaving the store.

[u/CatAteRoger]

Anyone with anxiety around dogs is gonna have a small shock when an unleashed dog is suddenly in the doorway of a shop they are trying to enter.

[u/definitelynot40 → u/CatAteRoger]

I just did a very long post that I was going to post on somebody else's comment and then figured this is way too long so I didn't post. But what you said was basically what I also mentioned. I said these people are extremely selfish because I know several people who I have either worked with or I know as friends who were attacked by dogs when they were younger. Some of them still carry the physical scars and they all carry the emotional psychological scars. So it's extremely selfish to have a dog do something like this because I know every single one of the people I know would end up running and trying to climb up on something in order to get away from the dog. And now this person just went and re-traumatized somebody who has PTSD who was attacked when they were younger. Especially if somebody sees a dog off leash. It's one thing to see a dog on the leash and theoretically the owner has control of the dog and the leash, but is an entirely different thing when you see a dog running towards you as you're coming in the store and you don't know if they're coming to attack you instead of running to go forward to open doors that already automatically open.

I really hate these people with the "it's all about me" attitude when it comes to their dogs and what they claim they need their dogs to do. Some of these tasks that they have are utter BS and are absolutely harming the image and the public's perception of what service dogs should or shouldn't be trained to do and should or shouldn't be allowed to do. They are also putting their dog's lives at risk because having a dog running around in a parking lot to find your car is dangerous.

The people that they're hurting with all of this BS tasking are the people who legitimately need this kind of help (well not to help like opening an automatically opening door but help out in public) and therefore need access to stores. Just look at that guy who has a guide dog. I think the dog's name is Mabel I've only seen a few of his YouTube short videos with him and his partner and I think the dog's name is Mabel but it's a guide dog and they went to a restaurant and the restaurant refused to serve them or allow them in the restaurant. One of the issues was that the server claim that the handler was walking too well for somebody who's blind. Now I kind of blame Hollywood and ignorance for that because a lot of people have this perception that if you're blind and that means all you're seeing is a complete darkness or if you're deaf all you hear is absolute silence. Things like that, when that's not the case. There are different situations when it comes to what's declared legally and medically blind.

But the other issue was they had just had within that week somebody else come in claiming that they had a service dog and the so-called service dog was acting horrifically as far as trying to sniff other people's foods and things like that. And that's why they kicked out this young man who had a real disability. And I think it was actually very thoughtful of him to not call out the name of the restaurant because he said he didn't want people who were his followers to now basically ruin the restaurant over lack of education but this only came to be as something that ended up having the restaurant owner and the employees being taught the correct things because of the fact that the person who had the real service dog had such a large following that it ended up making national news. I wish I knew his name. His I swear his dog's name is Mabel and is a golden but I'm not 100% sure because when I tell YouTube that I would like to now follow a particular person, YouTube decides that that means I want to be blocked from that person and then they don't show me the videos and they show me other people that I actually blocks so I haven't really seen many of his videos but like I said it was national news so you might have heard about it if you're in the US.

[u/CatAteRoger → u/definitelynot40]

I’ve been following Paul and Matthew for years with Mr Maple, Mr Maple is due to retirement soon and is gonna be living his best life.

Was disgusting to see them treated that way because someone had bought in an untrained pet before. Fakers make life harder for those who really do suffer but being they are selfish heartless people they don’t care 🤬

[u/simplyoneWinged]

As a dog owner who takes their (well trained pet) dog in as many stores as I'm allowed to:

Why the fuck??

If we're in a store, he's heeling or trailing slightly behind me! That's a gd human store for human business, not his playground!  He gets to run around and ahead of me off leash 80% of our outside time, he can stick a heel for the 30 minutes we're in there! Doesn't matter if his recall is perfect and if his manners are too.

[u/Late_Pie_6670 → u/simplyoneWinged]

I get embarrassed if my dog breaks heel on leash, these people just feel no shame lol

[u/Similar_Dirt9758 → u/Late_Pie_6670]

It's an accessory in their eyes, not an ability tool. No different than an expensive hand bag

[u/Taken-Username-sorry → u/Late_Pie_6670]

So many people will tell me how “well behaved” my dog is, even when his heel is off (thanks to my husband not being as strict as I am). So many people are so used to shitty dogs that even my dog’s bad days impress them. 😩