Question about service dog vests?

I was shopping with Chica at Bed , Bath and Beyond, when a man came over to see Chica. He loved her markings and petted her. He said he and his wife have small dogs to. He told me he bought off the internet the service dog vests for them so they could take their pets everywhere with them. He said nobody questions the vests or the dogs being with them in the stores or grocery stores also. Would it be a bad thing to do this with Chica? I thought I would buy a vest that said Therapy Dog. And that way I could take Chica anywhere. The food market, hotels, etc. What do you think of this?

As much as I would love to do that with Duke, I think it would be a great discredit to real service dogs everywhere. That man should be ashamed of himself. He should be thankful he doesn't need a service dog.

I agree with Val. Service dogs are working dogs, and obviously are out to do their jobs. Every time I've met one in public, their human asked politely for me not to talk to the dog, pet him/her, etc. You can tell a working dog from the average pet dog. And if people start putting the fake vests on their dogs, then stores and such will be leery when a real one comes in.

I'd rather see a change in public attitude towards pets in public instead of trying to fool the public into thinking my beloved pet dog was a service dog.

Ditto for me I think it would cause places to start denying access to real working dogs.

I feel the same as the others. It is a privilege for service dogs to wear those vests. It's a symbol of honor, and those that wear them wear them with pride and deserve to wear them. I've had people tell me I could put one on Buddy and get away with taking him places but I wouldn't do that. As much as we all would love to be able to take our pups everywhere with us I don't feel its right. But it would be fun!!:D

I couldn't agree more with every one elses views.

I did think about years ago, and yeah it would be neat, it just too disrespectful.

Most online stores now-a-days require certification from the service (blind, search & rescue, handicapped, etc...) proving that the dog is indeed a service dog. I think that is great & all sites & such stores should have the same rules & requirements.

You can bring your dogs into Bed, Bath & Beyond?

To me, it would be similar to falesly obtaining a handicapped parking placard.

It isn't always a matter of IF you could get away with it, but, SHOULD you get away with it.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...sts&category0=
It's the last one listed, the one with the pit. Note the words in red after the item description.

^link isn't working for me.

That said, I agree with everyone else...

If you go on the main ebay screen. Just type in Service Dog Vests and then a couple will appear and the one with the white boxer that says...Vest 4 working... is what you click...;)

don't you just sneak your dog in, .... in like one of those carriers/fake purses, like everybody else with a little dog? :p


we never had a problem doing that with the last little dog we owned.

I think that's a very inappropriate thing to do. No one should lie/cheat others, and this is doing just that. If a dog isn't a service dog, it isn't a service dog, and having it wear a service dog vest when it ISN'T is lying, in my honest opinion. Not appropriate. I wouldn't do it.

Okay, I see you all feel strongly about this. I read the notice also.
Why would someone tell me about this if it is illegal to have.
Yes, I can take Chica to Bed, bath and Beyond or Penny's or Sears, or any stores that don't serve food. She loves to go out to the stores with me.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...1/hound2tr.gif;) ;) :D :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ramecookie.jpg

Thank you everyone for your opinions.

:( :( :( That's not fair to the bigger dogs!!

My dad has taken Kyra into the bank before...he said..Well they aren't selling food why can't I take my dog in? So in Ky went, the people all stared and acted a little weirded out but nobody told us we had to leave, they even dug up a cookie for her and the manager came out to say hi. You really should be able to take dogs with you more places...its a shame, but putting a service dog vest on a non service dog isn't right.

I also think that putting a vest on a dog that isn't a real service dog isn't right. I wish there were places that allowed larger dogs to go with us though, I could easily take Tia somewhere because I can hide her but that's not fair to the bigger dogs, in my opinion if the big ones can't go the little ones shouldn't go either.....