Ignore the assistance dog
A working dog that gets distracted can miss a seizure warning or walk its handler into traffic.
The BeingKind editorsPublished How this is written
Why it lands
Assistance dogs are constantly interrupted by people who love dogs, and each interruption degrades the animal's focus on a job with real safety consequences. Handlers report being stopped many times a day and having to refuse strangers repeatedly, which is both exhausting and makes them look unfriendly. Not touching the dog is the single most useful thing almost anyone can do.
How
Do not touch, feed, call, whistle at or photograph the dog, and keep your own dog away. Speak to the handler rather than the animal. If you want to say something, say you like the dog and keep walking.
Related
Tell someone what you actually earn
Pay secrecy is maintained by people like you staying quiet, and it costs the people with least information the most.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Leave a note for your mail carrier
The person who walks to your door most days almost never hears from the people who live behind it.
5 minutesFreeA stranger2 people did this
Ask what the hardest part actually is
We assume we know which part of someone's situation is worst, and we are usually wrong.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Tell a carer what you noticed
Carers watch someone decline daily and lose sight of who they were. An outsider's observation gives that back.
5 minutesFreeA caregiver
Add alt text to your images
An image without a description is a blank space to anyone using a screen reader. Writing one takes twenty seconds.
5 minutesFreeA stranger