HEADLINE: Service Dogs Generally Well Accepted by Businesses

It's not a big problem to walk into the average business with a service dog, but you rarely see that fact in newspapers, Facebook, or other media. I hate to post material that mentions the difficult problems people do sometimes encounter without emphasizing the much greater number of times there is not a significant problem.  The other day I posted something about a problem business in Massachusetts, so let me give you the scoop on the many  businesses that treat us appropriately.

Just last week Maeve's Business Honor Roll added its 100th business. Note that this list contains only the businesses I REMEMBER to enter (I have significant memory and attention problems) and it includes only businesses Maeve and I have personally had a good experience in since we began documenting our good experiences seven months ago. These are not just local businesses that have gotten used to us either -- there are multiple businesses on the list from each of seven states.

Let me tell you about our experiences from today -- 100% positive in visiting six businesses and private medical facilities.  Our itinerary included:

1. Appointment with my internist -- perfect treatment of service dog and handler team.
2. Xrays at a private imaging practice -- perfect treatment  plus assistance above and beyond (the xray technician was very accommodating of Maeve staying with her to keep Maeve from getting zapped by the radiation).
3. Tea and cookies at Whole Foods followed by grocery shopping -- perfect treatment
4. Shopping at Trader Joe's -- perfect treatment
5. Shopping at EMS -- no access problems, but staff were a bit too friendly with Maeve. If she'd been one of those dogs who aren't supposed to be petted or distracted (part of her job is to engage people) I might have been annoyed.  Note, however, that Maeve does not wear any patches indicating that she should be ignored or not petted. We gently educated the staff. This business actually had a sign at the door indicating that while it does not allow pet dogs it does welcome service dogs.
6. Coffee at Starbucks -- perfect treatment.