The director of our counseling and accommodations office sent out a Word document with tips on how to interact with service animals. (Basically, ignore the animal, who is busy working. You can silently push the “door open” button if you see a person and service animal approaching the door, but don’t expect the person to take time to indulge your desire to play with or talk about the animal.) I did some research on my own and found this online document, which makes a different but overlapping set of points, laying it all out pretty bluntly.

I don’t know if I was sent the email because I might have a student who works with a service animal, but it’s a good idea to be informed just in case. (BTW, I fixed the clickbaity title for you.)

Don’t distract service dogs. Assume they are doing an important job, even if they are just sitting around.

What exactly does this mean? This means:
* NO petting
* NO talking to
* NO saying his/her name
* NO eye contact
* NO action in the attempt to get the dog’s attention
So, now to the question everybody wants to ask…WHY?

And Source: Service Animals Can’t Do Their Jobs If You Distract Them– Anything Pawsable