What do you do when a dog comes up to you on the streets without an owner? Many people who love dogs would look for a collar and contact information. Or if it’s in immediate traffic danger, you may scoop it up and take it to the nearest veterinarian’s office to check for an identification microchip.
Personally, I’ve gone door to door with a stray dog I found to see if any close neighbors knew who it belonged to. I’ve also posted on Facebook with photos of dogs to see if anyone knew who they belonged to.
These are all things that we could and should do to help a dog get reunited with an owner. But what would you do if you were approached by a service dog without a human? Read on to learn more.
Melissa Hope has a service dog that is highly trained to help her when she has seizures. If Melissa falls down, the dog assumes she is having a seizure, and then looks for the nearest human to alert of the problem. One day Melissa stumbled and fell on the ground. Her service dog began to search for a person to come and help. However, the dog was shooed away by the first human it approached.
Thankfully, Melissa had only stumbled and not had a seizure. However, the reaction of the woman her dog approached concerned her. Melissa went on Twitter and explained that people need to follow a service dog if approached by one without its human.
Melissa explained, “Don’t get scared, don’t get annoyed, follow the dog! If it had been an emergency situation, I could have vomited and choked, I could have hit my head, I could have had so many things happen to me,”
People Respond To Her Twitter
Melissa’s Tweet got a lot of attention. Some people shared personal experiences and explained why it’s important to follow a service dog.
Most service dogs wear vests that help to identify that they are service dogs. These dogs do their jobs very well. Let’s all help these service dogs help their people by always following a service dog when they approach you. The dog will take you directly to the person whose life may be depending on your proper response. Thank you, Melissa, for helping to educate us all.
Pass this along to friends and family so everyone knows how to help!
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