The other day a friend of ours asked “So what’s it like taking an assistance dog into a supermarket?” and now I’m thinking that’s a good question I haven’t really answered here. And while I’m at it, let me tell you a bunch of other stuff about Sparkie’s training.
Sparkie’s only been in training four months now, so she still makes mistakes sometimes. Her biggest fault is that she’s so friendly, she wants to say hello to everybody we meet. One of our first training sessions with her “in training” coat on was in a car park at the base of Mount Schank. An older, retired couple in a caravan were fascinated by the concept of an assistance dog, and when Sparkie and me had finished working on our heel and sit, I stopped to talk with them. Of course Sparkie, being the social dog she is, wiggled and bounced and couldn’t understand why they were ignoring her.
Everything is done in steps. In the beginning, I’d put Sparkie’s coat on and walk into town, letting her get used to wearing it in busy places. She also wore it when we worked on down-stays. Nobody except me is allowed to touch her, talk to her, or otherwise engage with her in any way while she has her coat on. After a few weeks, we started walking to the library, where Sparkie would down-stay beside me on her mat while I read a book. The first time I took her into a shop, she’d been training for about a month. She was walking nicely at heel with her coat on, focused and controlled. And then we walked right through the automatic doors and into the shop. It was a mall, but a tiny one, with a Woolworths on one side, a butcher, some small businesses, and a Tattersalls lottery stand in the centre. Sparkie was so excited! We sat down at a seat by the lottery stand, and Sparkie lay down under the seat, watching everything keenly until she finally relaxed. I think it was her fourth time in the mall that we actually went into Woolworths. Everything was new for her, and she was somewhat stressed by it all – trolleys, people, heaps of smells.
These days, Sparkie understands that when I put her coat on, it’s work time. We’ve spent the past few weeks working on her loose lead heel. A few days ago we went to a mall in Singleton, NSW. We don’t usually get many people stop to talk to us, but this time it was like nobody had ever seen an assistance dog before. “What’s it training for?” one guy asked, after standing right next to Sparkie tilting his head so he could read her coat (which clearly says “service dog” on it). “Service dog,” I said, and he kind of chuckling and said, “What’s that?” So I had to explain the concept in the shortest way possible because I was waiting in line at Donut King. Later, at the checkout in Woolworths, a little kid snuck up behind Sparkie, who was lying beside me, and poked her tail. Sparkie stood up and looked around all confused, like “what was that?” and the kid ran back to his grandparent and hung off their trolley. So I just patted Sparkie and told her she was a good dog. Then the kid comes back and starts patting Sparkie on the back, and I had to say, “don’t pat her, she’s working,” and the kid ran back to his grandparents again, looking all upset, and they say to him “you can’t pat her, she’s working.” And Sparkie was still standing beside me, totally ignoring him.
People don’t always seem to notice Sparkie’s coat straight away, or maybe they pretend not to. We went into a gas station once, and the lady behind the counter spotted Sparkie and said “You’re not allowed dogs in here,” all stuck-up, and Mummy said “She’s a service dog.” So the lady proceeded to stare at us with a frown as we picked out the things we needed, like she really wanted to throw us out but legally a service/assistance dog can go anywhere its owner does. More recently, I took Sparkie into Bunnings. The guy at the greeting desk smiled at me, then noticed Sparkie. “You can’t have dogs in here,” he started to say, and then he paused and looked closer at Sparkie’s coat, “Is that a…?” “Service dog,” I supplied helpfully, and the poor guy was so embarrassed. He kept apologizing! So I told him it was ok, and thanked him, and continued on. Maybe Sparkie’s coat should be brighter or something, so people will notice it before they tell us to leave!
So, now for the answer to the question that started this post. Taking Sparkie into a supermarket is awesome. She walks on a loose lead at my left side, focused on me, rarely sniffs anything, ignores all the other people, isn’t bothered at all by the trolleys. When I pause at a shelf, Sparkie tucks herself between me and the shelf so nobody will bump into her while I’m focused on something else. People stare, so I smile at them, and mostly they smile back. Little kids shout “look at the doggy!” and adults will murmur to each other “what a beautiful dog,” as we walk past. Some people seem to walk around in their own world and I have to be constantly aware, because sometimes people will nearly run over Sparkie with their trolleys or stand on her tail. It makes me all the more thankful for the people who give us space, and I try to remember to thank them for it.
