“Shop dogs”, where the business owner has a personal dog or allows employees to bring their dogs to the workplace which is open to the general public. What happens when a person who uses a service dog to mitigate a disability enters the business and a “shop dog” is present? Will the “shop dog” become aggressive and territorial? Will it attack?

My wife is blind and uses a guide dog for increased mobility and independence.

On two occasions she was accosted by “shop dogs”. The first was when she walked by a childrens’ music store where the owner had a German Shepherd “shop dog”. She did not go into the music store, she simply walked by outside with her guide. The Shepherd went out the open front door of the music store and chased my wife and her guide dog down to the end of the shopping center, where she had to take refuge in a pizza parlor to get away from the Shepherd. She had to call my father to come get her so she could get out of there. The owner of the Shepherd had no idea that her dog had even left her store.

The second incident occurred when we went into a pawn shop to look for audio and video items. The owner of the pawn shop had a Golden Retriever which launched itself over the counter and came in an aggressive manner towards my wife and her guide when the Golden saw us enter the shop. I had to block the Golden from approaching while the owner kept trying to call it back, to no avail. The owner finally came around the counter and corralled his dog, which was still snarling and growling at my wifes guide.

These are just 2 of the numerous incidents she has had to deal with over the 12 years she has used a guide dog for increased mobility and independence. While having a “shop dog” may be beneficial in some areas, it opens up a huge liability issue when the “dog-friendly” business turns out to have some not-so-friendly dogs wandering around without proper training, supervision, or care.

Caution is urged.

Thank you.