Stop distracting service dogs, says owner, trainer

Carolyn Laidlaw says it's been life changing having a service dog — she's had Lila the labradoodle since October 2016. 

"I just love the freedom of it, the independence," Laidlaw said. 

Laidlaw has cerebral palsy and has difficulty walking. Lila helps her walk, get up stairs and supports her getting up if she falls.  

However, she says too often people try to pet or call out to her dog, which can distract Lila, and make things dangerous for Laidlaw. 

"People will come up to her and touch her, without even talking to me first," Laidlaw said. 

"When she's distracted she can't focus on me." 

'We get tired of it' 

Laidlaw says it's tough to get her dog's attention back if other people treat her service dog like a pet. Sometimes she doesn't even feel like going out with her dog because she doesn't want to deal with people coming up to her. 

"It's really common and it's really frustrating to go out," Laidlaw said. ​"It's so common we get tired of it." 

Laidlaw said she feels like she is saying the same thing all the time.

"You know, don't touch her, don't talk to her, don't distract her," said Laidlaw. 

'I ended up falling over flat'

Laidlaw was out once when a woman called her dog over using what she describes as a "baby-talk" voice. 

"For Lila that's a really big distraction — I ended up falling over flat," she said. "It was just really bad." 

Laidlaw said people nearby were able to help her, and she was left with just a few bruises, but she says the incident made her nervous for future outings. 

"It takes a while to get that confidence back," Laidlaw said. 

Dog trainer shares concerns

Lila was trained by Chantal Thibeault, of Maritime Assistant Canines, who knows all about the problem of people distracting service dogs. 

Thibeault has a dog named Annie in training and says people come up regularly trying to pet or talk to the dog — and she says that can be very dangerous.

"It's dangerous physically and also it's hard on people mentally too," Thibeault said. 

Thibeault says the marked vest doesn't seem to stop as many people as it should. 

"Everyday that I take her anywhere, I have to deal with this, at least three or four times in one shopping trip," she said.

Both Laidlaw and Thibeault are trying to raise awareness through social media, or writing articles to educate people.

They hope more people will learn to ignore the dogs and let them do their jobs. 

"Allow us to just go about our day with our dog," said Laidlaw. 

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