A young mom is frustrated by the lack of consideration given to her son and his service dog, when out in the community.
Hawkins, a yellow lab, is in training.
Following some disturbing encounters, mom Jenny Munro is appealing to the public to avoid contact with Hawkins and her 13-year-old son Isaiah when they are out in public.
Mom recently watched a heart-stopping situation unfold right in front of her.
“As a parent, it is very frightening when Isaiah is having seizure activity. In the summer he was at an entrance to a busy store and I had my younger son with me, and of course, we had the dog. I was trying to calm my son. It was very obvious he was having a medical issue, and unbelievably people were stopping to take pictures. I’m one person with a 13-year-old, a seven-year-old, and a puppy, trying to get to a calmer environment to help my son. It was exceptionally frustrating and scary. I went to the car and cried. I didn’t know what to do,” shared Munro.
Even the littlest distraction can have dire consequences.
“We really, really need to have people not interrupt Hawkins' training. When he’s distracted, he can’t smell the seizures, he can’t alert. And that is very, very frightening for us as a family.”
People tend to overlook the fact that Hawkins, despite wearing a dog guide vest, is working to protect his human.
“My son was having seizure activity the other day in a store. He was sitting on the floor, the dog was lying next to him, and instead of going around, someone just stepped right over him.”
Naturally, it is a difficult situation for the teen to handle.
“He gets so agitated; he just wants to leave, and people taking pictures of your dog while you’re having seizure activity or you’re sitting on the floor because you are having seizure activity is unreasonable,” Mom shared.
Hawkins' trainer Melissa Brady Corbett says people must be respectful and give the pair space.
"Because he is still in training, it is super important that people respect the vest. It says don’t pet, so don’t pet the dog,” said Corbett who gave another example of people interrupting the dog’s focus.
“We had him at the movie theatre on Saturday and as everyone was coming out of the theatre, almost everybody tried to pet Hawk. It is distracting for Hawk and especially at a young age, it is hard for him to decipher whether it is something that is allowed to happen because the handler is telling him no, but people are reaching out to touch.”
The best advice is to simply ignore a service dog.
“When they see a service dog with a vest on, the general public shouldn’t be distracting the dog from its job as it’s working. It is very important that the dog pays attention to its human. In Isaiah’s case with his seizures, it is very important that Hawk stay focused on his job because it is very important that he alerts to Isaiah’s seizures,” explained his trainer, Corbett.
Don’t touch the animal no matter how adorable he or she might be.
“We’re trying our best to seamlessly integrate into the community with a child with multiple-complex diagnoses. We’re not looking for preferential treatment at all, we’re just looking for people to be educated to know he’s not there as a puppy, he’s not there for anybody’s entertainment, he's working. He is a medical device when he has that vest on and that is what we want people to know,“ explained Mom.
“We always liken it to a wheelchair, or an oxygen tank, or glasses, or a cane. You would never ask somebody to take a spin in their wheelchair, try on somebody’s glasses, or take a breath of their oxygen. And it is exactly the same when you are distracting a service dog.”
Isaiah explains the importance of having a well-trained service dog.
“He takes care of me. He can smell when I have a seizure. He’ll bark and sniff me. He sleeps right beside me or right in front of me in bed.”
It is not a safe feeling for the young man when people approach the dog to pet him or take pictures.
“It’s a little scary,” shared Isaiah.
“He’s not doing his job. Please do not distract him when he’s working.”
The family has been approached by complete strangers, asking why they need the service dog.
“Unfortunately, even though he has his vest on, even though he has the proper documentation, we’re often questioned about why we’re at places. People will just take it upon themselves to come and pet him or talk to him, distracting him. By simply saying, ‘Hi puppy,’ that is enough to stop him from doing his job,” shared Mom.
“I really want people in the community to know how to interact with a service dog, how to behave around a service dog, essentially by not interacting. What is really important to us is for people to know he is a medical device, he is a lifesaving device, he is so important to us as a family so that Isaiah can have independence in the community. Isaiah can be safely integrated and has the right to that. When people try to take pictures of him, talk to the dog, or ask us personal questions about why we have the dog, it means he can’t do his job. He can’t keep Isaiah safe. It is like taking medication out of his mouth.”
Mom says it is also important to have employers educate their employees.
“We’ve been challenged multiple times. It has been quite surprising to me, questioned as to whether he actually is a service dog, people demanding to see his papers which is a courtesy for people to show. So, we have his badge that we’ve shown. And because he is in training, sometimes he might sniff something like a stuffed animal on a shelf, but this is part of the process of training.”
Being singled out is a demeaning experience for the family.
“Unfortunately, it has been quite embarrassing. We have Hawkins so we can safely integrate into places, and our safety is taken away and our dignity is taken away especially my son’s, when people are not respecting Hawkins' role or questioning us rudely in front of other patrons or employees, it can be very difficult. But we have taken him to lots of places in the community, restaurants included, where staff and patrons have been great. So, it is not always, but when it does happen and it does happen frequently, it is very, very difficult,” said Mom.
“I think I expected the community to make a safer space for his medical service dog but it has been challenging. Seeing a young dog in a service vest is adorable no doubt, but he still has a job to do. Please ignore the dog, just ignore him. Why somebody has a service dog is nobody’s concern. We are not the only ones in this community with a service dog, they are important to families.”
Enjoy a service dog from a distance.
