I’m a veterinarian and so sick and tired of so-called ‘therapy dogs’ – their owners are full of it, the biggest red flag
A VET has revealed the dog practice they have a bone to pick with.
They ranted about the pet owner behavior that drove them barking mad.
Redditor Llst11 shared their doggy pet peeve in a post.
The veterinarian explained that after over half a decade in the business, it was something they could not get over.
“I [have] been in this profession for almost 6 years, but I sincerely despise the owners calling their untrained, unsocialized, and uncertified fractious dogs ‘service or therapy dogs,'” they wrote.
Not only did the dogs tend to not qualify for the certification, they added that many of the “service dogs” they’ve met were among the ruff-est they’ve seen.
“I just got bitten by a German shepherd ‘therapy dog’ and that bastard almost ripped off my fingers,” they said.
They added that dog owners often deployed deceptive tactics to sell their dogs as service dogs.
“These owners simply place [a] vest or harness with ‘service dog’ labels and claim ‘Oh, he/she is my service/therapy dog. He/she is very friendly/never bites,'” they said.
More often than not, the vet felt that the claims were a sign of trouble.
“BULLSH*T. When owners tell you their dogs never bite, we clearly know that is a red flag,” they said.
“Also when I ask them, ‘Is your dog professionally trained and certified by [a] certified professional?’ They always tell you either ‘No’ or ‘No, I trained him/her myself.'”
On top of the ethical grayness behind the behavior, the vet added that the practice often got in the way of their jobs.
“When I ask them to remove their vest or harness since it can cause major confusion, they never listen or get mad,” they said.
“Seriously, these ignorant behaviors need to be banned completely.”
Service animals are dogs of any breed and size that are trained to perform perform tasks related to a person’s disability, according to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) website.
They are not required to through a professional training program or be certified, despite the vet’s gripes.
They are allowed in most public places and don’t have to wear a vest or ID tag, neither of which are indicators a dog is a service animal.
Experienced vets agreed that they have seen similar red-flag behaviors.
“I found that when the owner says ‘he never bites’ is when you want an extra person and a muzzle,” said one.
“Also we need to remind the owner that the animal would never bite THEM!” added another.
“The dog doesn’t know us, we’re strangers and they remember previous vet visits that maybe weren’t so much fun. Fear anxiety and stress turn the sweetest dogs into biters.”