I'm utterly appalled

I just saw a blind man use a choke chain on his guide dog.........

I was standing in a cafe and this man pushed infront of me in the queue. I let it slide as I saw his was blind and maybe couldn't find the end of the queue easily. He has a yellow lab guide dog with him. It was a very busy cafe full of the smells of fried food and the dog got a little distracted by the yummy smells and literally wandered about a foot from his feet. The man had the dog on a loose lead and collar, the proper metal handle on the harness was dropped (which I though meant the dog was in "relaxed mode" anyway, rather than guiding) and suddenly I saw him tug the lead really hard twice. I noticed that the collar was a choke chain. He grabbed the dogs muzzle, put his face right close it it and growled "NO!".

I was horrified. I could see nothing the dog has done to warrant this. And I'm pretty sure that Guide Dogs for the Blind do not advocate the use of choke chains nor wopuld this dog have been trained on the choke chain.

He seemed like a man who had perhaps had trouble gettng his dog to listen previously - he seemed on a short fuse with it. But surely if he has issues he needs to contact Guide Dogs and arrange re-training, not introduce his own choke chain and hang the poor thing

I felt sick and left before I said something to the man. I bet Guide Dogs wouldn't be happy aboutt his and I'd love to report him but I have no way of knowing who he was. He doesn't deserve a guide dog

I doubt very much that was a genuine guide dog for the blind dog at all, they are very chosy who gets a dog and the training the dogs go through mean a choke chain is never needed.

I'm fairly confident it was a real guide dog. The man definately seemed blind, the harness was genuine and even the lead attached to the choke chain was also a proper guide dog lead (with the "don't disturb me, I'm working" signs). I suspect that Guide Dogs do not know that he's using a choke chain on the dog and he is doing it off of his own back (some people will always think they know better). I know Guide Dogs are very careful who they give dogs to but they can't be with the owners all of the time, they only know what they get told and what they see during visits. He's probably smart enough to know they wouldn't be happy and switch to a flat collar when they come for check ups

I'm with Julie. I have to wonder if the dog was really a guide dog or if the guy wasn't just pretending in order to get a better spot in line and to be able to bring his dog into the store.

For one, a blind person would never drop a dog's harness when in a crowded coffee shop and when needing the dog to continue guiding him. And the dog should be far better trained than that. Something's fishy!

Better trained than what though? The dog didn't do anything wrong! It was a bit of a sniff of the air and looked at the people in the queue, he barely moved more than a foot from the man's feet.

I've met a number of guide dogs and when on the loose lead the dogs know they can be more relaxed. The man used the handle to get to the queue then swtiched to the loose lead while waiting. I've had a gorgeous guide dog climb up on my lap on a bus once when she was on the loose lead. The owner just laughed and said she was young. At the end of the day they are dogs not robots and they do relax a little when "on duty" when on the loose lead, I don't not feel that this dog's slight lapse in concentration is a sign that is could not possibly be well enough trained to be a guide dog.....

I'm convinced this was genuine.

Well, you said the dog stepped a couple feet away from the guy.

I'm just surprised the guy didn't keep her in working mode and then freaked out when she stepped a bit away. I don't know. Something seems off about the situation to me.

I agree. But ... if it IS a genuine guide dog/blind person situation, then it needs to be investigated. I know one or two blind people with guide dogs, and they most certainly NEVER use a choke, and NEVER release that handle thingey that they hold when the dog is working, ie in a busy store or walking along. In addition, as greedy as labradors are, I have never known of a guide dog deserting his post as it were to pursue a smell. The two that come in to our Ophthalmology Clinic will both sniff the air at the most, but would never get up and move towards the source of the smell, even by as little as a foot!

Sorry double post

No I did not, I said a foot - that's a small amount of space. *shrug* I'm not going to argue but I don't see why it couldn't be a genuine guide dog. Perhaps it was the man's mistake for changing her to the loose leadinstead of the handle, however I still think that the behaviour could easily be genuine guide dog behaviour because she was on the loose lead. She certainly didn't leave him. And anyway, genuine or not, I am still totally disgusted with the way he treated that dog.

Absolutely Moon's Mum, that's the main issue here. I guess though just because the guy is blind, it doesn't make him somehow a more perfect human being. There are good and bad dog handlers everywhere, and although it is of little excuse, maybe the poor chap was just having a thoroughly bad day and took some of his frustration out on his dog. I do not have the excuse of being blind, but I really let rip at Ben last night when I took the boys out for there late night wee in the field, and he ran off, first one way and then when I eventually got him to come back to me, he ran off round the other side of the field and into a neighbour's garden who have chickens (luckily shut up for the night) and it took me several minutes to get him back. I yelled at him with all my might, and he shot into the garden like a scalded cat. Not very calm assertive behaviour - just all assertive and extremely uncalm!! None of us are perfect, but still, I really do hate choke chains, and it seems particularly bad to use one on a guide dog.