A typical Wednesday

Today I woke up to find my kitten Millie had been placing paper clips all over the house for me to find. That was nothing compared to the fact that my kitten...yes kitten .....has been chewing on the corner of my kitchen table. This is not a typical behavior I'm sure, so after having my classes for today I decided to go to petco and get one of those automatic laser light toys thinking maybe she needed some entertainment, but while there I got in a heated discussion with a lady (petco trainer) who told me that I shouldn't use a "pinch collar" on my service dog Roxanne because it was cruel, I nicely Informed this lady that this was a "prong collar" which had blunt ends and do not pinch the dog but merely applied pressure. I then told her that as a trainer I'm sure she understood the importance of providing the a dog with an effective correction. I discussed how my Cainine Companions for Independence trainer has provided me with this particular equipment because that is what will make my service team (Roxanne and myself) a successful pair. A service dog is not helpful if they choose when or not to perform a task, meaning if I drop my wallet and ask Roxy to "get"(command for pick something up) I would like her to do so and not be selective. That is what an effective correction provides. Roxanne knows her boundaries and knows acceptable behavior.
So needless to say I shocked this trainer with my knowledge of animal behavior.
I assure my readers that my CCI Service dog is well loved, spoiled, and cared for. She is probably the most spoiled service dog! I even put sweaters on her in the winter so she isn't cold when she lays on the floor in class. She is in no way mistreated by wearing a prong collar it is just what keeps up her public access and acceptable behavior during her training (a dog is never done learning).
I would like to thank CCI and Thier graduate seminar this past weekend for providing me with appropriate answers for this exact situation.
Please remember that the people that ask questions like this typically do so with the best of intentions. It is a good opportunity to educate the public as some do not understand the life of a working dog versus Thier pet dog.
And always remember you should never pet a service dog, or any dog without Asking the handler first.

Thank you for reading.