Respect for service dogs

The retired war dog trainer, who wanted to remain anonymous, was diagnosed with PTSD and severe social anxiety after a career spanning more than 30 years in the military, wants the public to keep their hands off assistance dogs.

Her dog can pick up on chemicals in her breath, detecting stress hormones and knows in advance when panic attacks are about to happen. She wakens her from night terrors and sleep paralysis.

"She needs to keeps her eyes on me all the time to do her job properly," she said.

And added: "It’s not just PTSD, I also have physical injuries so if I drop a sock or something she will bring it to my hand. She also responds to any alarms set at certain times to get my medication because I have many problems, including a bit of brain fog.

"It took some time but I got support, including from a charity called Combat Stress, who were incredible. We need  these little heroes to help us.

Posters raising awareness of not distracting service dogs from their work are now being sent out to businesses, hotels and shops as well as CalMac to help spread the message.

Without her trusty Collie by her side, the former servicewoman would not get out of her front door some days, she said.

"There will be people who rely on their assistance dogs and don’t speak out when people touch their dogs or distract them, but they will be stressed out and distressed by it. They will just go home and cry. To stop this happening, we need people to learn about how to behave responsibly and respectfully.

"Recently I made three ferry crossings in a short space and on each trip, when I got up and turned my back for a split second someone had their hands on my dog. Sometimes it’s as if we owners do not exist. People talk to the dogs but not us. They should not ignore us. We are real people and you should be asking us first if you can touch our dog. People need to be aware of the do’s and don’ts.

"You should never touch or talk to an assistance dog without approaching the handler first. Think of it as her only existing on my plain - not yours. She is so connected to me, if you touch her you are touching me. She is not a pet, she is working.

"Training is a hard task and can take hours, days, weeks, months and years, a lifetime of work to make sure your service dog is on the ball all of the time. If people start petting my dog, she will be distracted from the job she is doing for me. She won’t snarl at them and tell them to go away, but I will.

"If people ask me first, then my answer would depend on the day she is having and that I am having. If I am struggling, I need her to be totally focused on me and assistance dog handlers need more of the public to be aware of that."