Helpful tips for dealing with guide dogs

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A woman with short, curled blonde hair, is kneeling down on her right knee. She is wearing burgundy tights and a 1/2 sleeve black dress with white and red patterns. She has on purple dangling earrings and black-rimmed glasses. She is smiling, holding on to the harness of her guide dog, who is sitting. The guide dog is a yellow labrador retriever with some white and light brown pigment in her fur. She is wearing a dog harness, along with a festive collar. The collar is made up from orange and red sheer, triangles with red, yellow, brown and orange turkey shapes attached to the ends of them.

A woman with short, curled blonde hair, is kneeling down on her right knee. She is wearing burgundy tights and a 1/2 sleeve black dress with white and red patterns. She has on purple dangling earrings and black-rimmed glasses. She is smiling, holding on to the harness of her guide dog, who is sitting. The guide dog is a yellow labrador retriever with some white and light brown pigment in her fur. She is wearing a dog harness, along with a festive collar. The collar is made up from orange and red sheer, triangles with red, yellow, brown and orange turkey shapes attached to the ends of them.Heather is such a cute puppy, especially in her Thanksgiving outfit that you can’t help but want to pet her… but remember that you shouldn’t! 🐶

She is a guide dog, trained by The Seeing Eye, Inc., to keep her owner, Lori, safe. When you see them out and about, Heather is working, and should not be distracted with talk, touch or treats.

Some helpful pointers for when you see a person with a guide dog:

Speak to the handler, not the dog. Some handlers will allow petting, but be sure to ask before doing so. If allowed, don’t pat the dog on the head; stroke the dog on the shoulder area.

If the handler says no when you ask to pet the dog, don’t be offended. The dog (or handler) might be having a bad day, or they might be in a hurry – you wouldn’t be offended if the person said no to you petting their white cane, would you?