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Kids Have The Most Wholesome Encounter With Service Dog At The Store

a service dog walking with his handler inside a grocery store

When kids encounter a service dog, their first inclination is to pet the animal. That is exactly what happened when these small children saw a service dog in a store. The children began exuberantly saying, “Hi Doggy.” What happened next is an excellent lesson on handling service dog encounters with young children.

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The dog’s handler, Haylee Graves, answered the young girl, telling her the dog said hello. The persistent little girl asked what the dog’s name was. She was told, “His name is Jake.” The girl said, “Hi, Jake.” At that point, the handler explained that Jake does things to help her.

Image shows a service dog that had attracted the attention of a young girl, who asked the dog's name.
Image from YouTube.

The little girl adorably said, “Woof, woof.” Jake’s handler answered, “He does say woof woof.” Next, the inevitable happened. The happy little girl said she wanted to pet Jake. Without missing a beat, the girl’s mom told her daughter, “That’s a working doggy.” The young girl was insistent about wanting to touch Jake.

This is usually where these encounters go south. But the kid’s mom said, “We can’t touch him because he’s a special service doggy, and he’s working.” That is such a perfect response and explanation. Haylee, surprised and impressed, immediately said, “Thank you for explaining that to them, that’s awesome.”

Images show kids interacting with a service dog handler while their mom explains that they can't pet the dog.
Image from YouTube.

Throughout this entire exchange, everyone handled themselves perfectly. Although excited about the doggy, the young girl did not approach. Haylee answered questions and interacted. When the mom stepped in, she said all the right things in all the right ways.

We hear so many tales of encounters with service animals that go sideways; we wanted to point out this perfect encounter. The mom of these kids gave an excellent description of why they can’t pet a service dog.

You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.

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