Your trainer should have explained to you that people shouldn't be coming up to pet her while she's on duty.
So he becomes a tripping hazard for other's? Because I guarantee you they are t looking down at Disney! Where is the "threat zone" 5 feet? 1 foot? Disney gets crowded! For me, if I dog growled at me in a park/on property and I thought I was minding my own business, I would perceive it as a threat and a risk to my health and report it to a CM.
So he becomes a tripping hazard for other's? Because I guarantee you they are t looking down at Disney! Where is the "threat zone" 5 feet? 1 foot? Disney gets crowded! For me, if I dog growled at me in a park/on property and I thought I was minding my own business, I would perceive it as a threat and a risk to my health and report it to a CM.
So he becomes a tripping hazard for other's? Because I guarantee you they are t looking down at Disney! Where is the "threat zone" 5 feet? 1 foot? Disney gets crowded! For me, if I dog growled at me in a park/on property and I thought I was minding my own business, I would perceive it as a threat and a risk to my health and report it to a CM.
I don't think you get to tell other posters to "shut up". Whether you like the comments here or not, the fact is that your narrative is all over the place, and there are some things that just don't jibe with what people are used to with regards to a service dog, such as tying her up, allowing people to pet her, aggressiveness, etc. I hope you have a good trip, but I would pay very close attention to her demeanor, otherwise you could find her banned from the parks.
Yeah I don't care. If I'm attacked I'll attack back.
No one has attacked you, and the person you told to shut up didn't even mention you - she made a comment about the dog.
Yeah I don't care. If I'm attacked I'll attack back.
I don't think you get to tell other posters to "shut up".
Whether you like the comments here or not, the fact is that your narrative is all over the place, and there are some things that just don't jibe with what people are used to with regards to a service dog, such as tying her up, allowing people to pet her, aggressiveness, etc.
I hope you have a good trip, but I would pay very close attention to her demeanor, otherwise you could find her banned from the parks.
Yeah a rude insulting comment about my dog.
Come on. Of course you can't tie her up at the exit.
I am sorry you are feeling attacked about your dog. I don't think that is anybody's intention.
However, so much of what you have posted is so contrary to what is normal in the service dog industry that it makes one wonder if your trainer may not be what he is telling you he is.
I still cannot wrap my head around a service dog trainer that would purposely train a service dog to growl to alert people to stand back, when growling is one of the very few things that can get a service dog removed from the premises. It doesn't matter if the dog thinks you are going to be attacked, the dog may not growl. I cannot imagine a trainer who is familiar with PTSD thinking that it would be ok for the handler to have to deal with being asked to leave an establishment if the dog growled. That would be so stressful! In one sentence, you say she is trained to growl to alert people to step back, then you backtrack and say she will only growl when she feels you are being attacked. No matter, any service dog that is trained to growl for any reason is just way out of the norm.
Or that a service dog trainer is perfectly ok with tying up a service dog outside an establishment. That is such a huge no-no. A service dog is not just a dog or a pet, its skills are considered as necessary a piece of medical equipment as somebody's oxygen tank. One would never think about leaving a piece of medical equipment on the sidewalk where it could be easily stolen.
A service dog wears a vest mainly to alert people that the dog is on duty and should not be pet. Again, if your trainer has told you that the dog is allowed to be pet while on duty, this is way out of the norm. When a dog is being pet, their focus is on the person petting them, taking their focus off of you and she is not doing her job. I don't know a single service dog trainer that would tell you to encourage petting while she is on duty. What would you do if she was being distracted by kids petting her and somebody comes up behind you and gets into your space? She is distracted from her job and you would be the one to suffer. A working dog should never be put into the position of being distracted from their job.
Actually, I'm almost hoping that your trainer is deceiving you. That would give you plenty of time to have a consult with an experienced service dog trainer and maybe get a bit more training in before you go to Disney so that you can have a wonderful time. Your dog should be there to make everything go smoothly, not for you to be worrying if she 'may' attack, even if it is animatronics, if she feels you are being threatened.
Maybe it would help if you read this great article about how PTSD trainers are popping up right and left due to the large increase in demand for PTSD service dogs. And that unfortunately, most of them are not well trained in service dog training or even worse, are completely unscrupulous.
Read all the questions and ask yourself if your trainer meets all the criteria of a PTSD service dog trainer. Try not to be defensive (I know, very hard when you have put your trust into somebody) and read it with an open mind.
If he does, then great. You just have a very unorthodox trainer. Ask him all the questions you have asked here. Find establishments with animatronics (Chucky Cheese comes to mind) to see how your dog reacts. Just be careful around the kids.
If he doesn't meet all the criteria, it would give you time to contact another trainer for a second opinion and some additional training if needed.
http://www.surfdogricochet.com/my-blog-ricochet-speaks/so-you-want-a-ptsd-service-dog
And I'll post this again. My dog will not growl at you unless you lay your hands on me and I scream/cry/ etc. she's not going to growl because you're too close or because you approved me too fast. She's going to growl because you grabbed my hair. Hit me. Pushed me. And if you were to physically attack me I'm positive CMs would have to removed before my dog.
She only growls when someone is ATTACKING me.
When she growls it's to tell the person not only to back off. But to protect me from myself. So that I don't have a panic attack.
.
There is a difference between actively being rude and attacking me and insulting my dog and giving me advice/opinion, the comment was unwarranted and rude and I'll respond however I want.
Exactly
True service dogs are not trained for protection. That would be too dangerous, especially with a novice handler, to be out and about in public.
If your dog is growling, you need to send her back to the trainer.
Bumping into me is much different then grabbing or pushing me. He doesn't just find people threatening because they are moving. And his movement to step in front of me and someone approaching me applies to everyone. Even my boyfriend who spends the 2nd most amount of time with her besides me.