AIBU to take my dog everywhere I go

So if this is the case why are you taking your dog to places that are not suitable for it yet. No one should have to tolerate your UNTRAINED dog.

It is not a service dog and as you have already stated in your OP, sometimes she doesnt behave when you go out. You are also not a trainer and do not have the skills to teach them in difficult settings.

So you should treat it like a pet in settings for pets and pets only and stop annoying other people. No one should tolerate your pet being trained by a novice in places it should not be.

What - even if they have cats? There is no way you should be taking a dog into a house with cats regardless of how nice your friends are. If you still expect that, then YABU.

So, as someone who has trained one dog (awaiting PAT test) and is training another, there is absolutely no need to take a 12 month old puppy into non dog-friendly environments, in my view. There are so many places where you can go that are dog friendly. The Range are dog friendly, so you can practice lifts and aisle walking. Costa Coffee is dog friendly, so you can practice settles. Many shopping centres are dog friendly. Garden centres. Pubs. Pet food shops, farm shops.

It's really only hospitals, etc., that you can't replicate, and she's too young to be working in those environments anyway. She'll burn out.

Service dog trainers training a service animal are very different to pet owners. Right now, OP is a pet owner.

Then yes, I would expect people to be more tolerant and understanding. Maybe she could also wear something saying she's just a puppy/ young dog in training, people might not realise her age and are being judgemental because they think she's an adult? I think most people realise that you can't expect perfect behaviour from a youngster!

The people who care for guide dog puppies don’t take them everywhere with them. They are exposed very carefully as part of a structured plan.

I went to the Garden Centre today .. lots of dogs (no suprise as no dog can be left at home anymore) .. someone had 4 dogs with them .. chaotic was the word.

No, you take them to normal places dogs go. You don’t overwhelm a puppy with learning to be in places that aren’t puppy friendly, hence that part is a structured plan.

For those saying unreasonable would u be happy if ur child or parents needed this dog anytime anyplace for health but they left him her at home as to not upset other people?

I had a friend at church who worked for a while training guide dog puppies and sometimes brought them to church. If she is wearing a "service dog in training vest" then she is being trained and she is allowed where a service dog is. I honestly don't think there's a hard a fast answer on this one. For each outing you need to ask:
1) What will the dog do that a fully trained dog will not?
2) How will this impact on those around us?

If she's barking at a concert then, she isn't ok there because that will stop people listening. If she barks in a shop and you do whatever you do to calm her, that's ok.

If she is more interested in people than a guide dog would be and bounces up to them jumping up, that's not ok. If she might poke her head out from under a table in a cafe, where a fully trained dog would have stayed curled up under the table, that's fine.

I don't think it's reasonable just to expect you keep her out of public places until she's trained, because she needs to be used to the situations she will work in and she can't get used to those without being in them. However, if she is going to be a ridiculous pain to people that isn't ok. Same really as human toddlers - there are places where they go and they don't behave like 10 years olds, but that's ok because it's a place people expect to see toddlers and it doesn't disturb them too much. There are other places where you don't take a toddler, not because they are bad, but because to be there they need to do things they can't yet do.

I think you'd have to be an awful person to complain about a service dog in training being in any public place (except if you have a deathly allergy, but then I'd still expect you to be polite and ask nicely if the dog could be removed). It's not someone's badly trained pet, it's a service animal learning to do a very important job.

OP, as long as you're not letting the dog jump up at people you're fine. Service dogs need to be in busy places in order to learn how to behave appropriately.

It sounds like this dog could prevent you from becoming seriously unwell. Someone's health (or ability to be independent in the case of guide dogs) is more important than other people's preferences on whether they share public spaces with dogs. Frankly, I wouldn't be that concerned about other people tutting or rolling their eyes in these circumstances.

Assistance dog is the correct UK term.

In the UK a service dog is a police or army dog.

AD pups in training shouldn't be in shops etc until appropriately trained, stick to dog friendly shops and cafes, there are plenty of these.

The other thing to bear in mind, is that dogs can burn out if they are expected to work before they are ready. My organisation doesn't allow us to take the PAT before 18 months, but they recommend 2 years old. Slow is fast and fast is slow.

This is really interesting. I know a few people who have “emotional support dogs” which have had no special training and they take them to cafes etc. It worries me that this in undermining the traditional idea of a service dog, which is allowed everywhere on the understanding that its exceptionally well trained. Perhaps in future we will see the law change to require this sort of certification

So she's not a service dog but might become one some day....

yabu

If you are in a performance space where people have paid for tickets I can understand people being annoyed. Maybe keep her from such places till her training is more secure.

Oh no OP. What have you done.....this thread isn't going to focus on your question but is now going to turn into the weekly 'dogs shouldn't be allowed anywhere, they're dirty and smelly and it's a disgrace they're allowed anywhere becsuse they wee and poo everywhere. Blah. Blah , blah....' As long as you have a clearly labelled harness, you'll be fine OP 🙂