[yorkieK9trainer]

Sissy,

YOU are not the one that should govern for the populous whether you think your animal is safe enough to be in crowded every day environments. You should pass a course for this. Like the CGC which is open to all dogs.

I think it's ludicris for this to not be done. If you are not a professional trainer or someone licensed to qualify a dogs mental soundess, then you have no business saying your pet is mentally able to be stable enough in everyday life as you'd otherwise experience it without him.

The vest is for YOUR protection. You don't need some three year old running up shouting DOGGY! and giving your "service dog" a hug and then getting bit in the face because of it and now YOU have a lawsuit on your hands. And whose responsible, yep, YOU! Not the parents of the child, although if you had been clearly marked as a service animal and that it should also not be petted, many people do in fact abide.

I think it should also be mandatory that you carry insurance on your dog. Just like you would your automobile out in public. I don't care if you have a monkey that stays on your shoulders all the time to help with you MS. But since this is a dog forum, I'll stick to talking about dogs in specific.