An assistance dog (service dog) is specially trained to assist a person with a disability.  Some disabilities are obvious and visible and some are not.  Service Dogs guide people who are blind, alert to sounds for the deaf, alert to medical conditions and provide physical support, among other tasks. 

The service dogs are given commands to perform certain tasks and are given praise for a job well done. 

For safety it is essential that the dog remain focused on his duties. 

You may ask people not to pet, talk to, make eye contact with, call to, whistle or otherwise distract a working dog.

If asked, some handlers will give permission for their dogs to be petted but some prefer not.

Aside from being dangerous and rude, distracting or otherwise interfering with an assistance or service dog is against both state and federal laws.