Seeing 1st hand the need for service dog awareness (and manners in general)

While I'm well aware of the horror stories that go on concerning the way service dog teams are often treated, I had never had to much problem until recently. Of course we always get those that rush up distracting her to pet or by speaking to her, those that attempt to call her to them, kissy noises, & the more aggravating - those that think they are funny by barking at her. Lexi & I were denied access by our local gas station, & while Bridget & I were sitting on the sidewalk (in a small village, on a side street so clearly not crowded), multiple times people have gotten bent out of shape that we were sitting there. Recently though, we've begun to encounter some of our own horrifing stories that you here about. Thankfully ours had a better outcome than some. We recently had a winter storm coming & had to grab a few things from the stores. For one of the items we had to go to a different town than normal, I guess this is where the problem began. As we were shopping at a Meijer store we were standing at the end of an isle, Bridget patiently in a sit stay as we waited for a couple people to pass by so that we could continue our shopping. As we stood there a woman came into the isle pushing a cart. She locked eyes on Bridget & aimed her cart right for her trying to bulldoze her down & head on! She had full intentions of hurting her! I was so upset that I was shaking. Bridget means everything to me, she's not just a service dog, she's my best friend. I will never be able to comprehend why anyone would ever want to harm another living being, especially one so sweet, trusting, loyal, & that is dedicated to helping someone with their medical issues! As it was, I barely got Bridget jerked out of the way before getting slammed, I'm sure confusing her about my sudden & forceful demands. If she had gotten hurt this could have easily caused her to be fearful of carts making it difficult for her to ever stay focused on my medical needs & jeopardize her life as a service dog. While that may sound drastic to some, a fearful, jumpy dog can not succeed as a service dog. After leaving this store our next stop was a super Kroger. I walked in with Bridget & stood just inside the store as we waited for my husband to get a cart. As Bridget & I stood there, near a service guard, I noticed that he was leaning in hard to read all of the patches on her vest. After doing so, he then asked "Does it bite?". I answered "No, she's a service dog.", but he again asked "...but does she bite?". I again answered "No, she's a service dog." Not taking no for an answer, he asked me a third time, he now said "But I see her patches clearly say Do Not Pet so does she bite?". Already still shook from the woman trying to hurt her, & now this guy totally missing the point, I'm now getting very frustrated. I answered, " Of course it says Do Not Pet, because she's a SERVICE dog so no one can distract her from her job." Unbelievably, he asked me again, "...but does she bite, isn't she a German Shepherd?". I answered, YES she's a Shepherd AND a SERVICE dog!". At that point my husband came up with the cart & we went on to do our shopping. I was so relieved to get away from the guard! Before leaving I went to the service desk & caught a manager, explaining to her what had happened. She was much more knowledgable & said she would have a talk to him. Since getting Bridget I have been pushing myself to walk her around our little village for multiple reasons. Firstly, she needs the exercise to stay healthy & keep her from becoming over weight, the stimulation, & for the training. Second, I need the exercise in an attempt to slow down the worsening of my conditions & because I don't want to be confined to my wheelchair permanently. I have watched myself going down hill from needing a manual wheelchair part time, to a custom powerchair nearly full time & I am not ready to accept that yet so I'm pushing back & trying to do whatever I can to help myself. With the winter weather I haven't been able to walk her & she seems to get bored, depressed & not task as well whenever we can't get out for awhile. Understandable as this happens with many service dogs. Yesterday we had a break between winter storms & sidewalks were finally cleared for the most part so we went on a short walk. As we were coming back & at the corner of our home, I suddenly heard something rushing up behind us. I whirled around to see what it was & find the neighbors dog in our yard & now only two feet from Bridget & staring her down. Bridget handled it perfectly & calmly just looked back in curiosity. I was nervous as to what the dog would do as it's not the first time he has gone after someone so I wanted to get Bridget safely back into our fenced yard. As we started to walk, the dog snarled loudly & lunged toward Bridget. I automatically in fear & defense screamed "Hey!" at the dog & at that time the owner called the dog back. Thankfully Bridget behaved perfectly & never reacted back, but kept on walking & the other dog left upon my screaming & the owner calling. Just the thought of how badly that could have turned out gave me anxiety though. Not only could Bridget have been severely injured (which I can't bare the thought of), but a dog attack could have ruined the months of training & ended her life working as a service dog. Dogs just like people suffer from trauma & have the same difficulty in recovering. I hear way to often about a service dog getting attack by another dog (typically "fake" service dogs) & having to be "washed" (removed from service dog work) after years of work, training, & lots of money. I wish that more people would take the time to properly train their dogs, protect them & others with a fenced in yard, & understand why "fake" service dogs are such a danger.