Service dog owner captures mom’s perfect explanation of why her child can’t pet the dog

Most kids love petting animals they meet when they’re out and about, especially when it comes to sweet and gentle dogs who don’t pose a threat.

But one anonymous mom is getting praised on TikTok for explaining the important distinction between a pet dog and a service dog — and why you should never try and pet the latter.

The moment was caught in a recent TikTok video shared by an account for Jake (@jakethes.d), a sweet yellow Lab who works as a medical and cardiac service dog. Jake’s owner was apparently in a store when it happened and started recording a small part of the conversation without showing any faces.

“It says, ‘Service dog, do not pet,'” a mother is heard saying off camera, presumably after reading a sign or tag hanging from the lab’s collar.

“Awww, what does the dog do?” the child asks, to which the mother replies, “I don’t know what the dog does.”

“He’s a medical and cardiac arrest service dog,” Jake’s owner explains.

But instead of just nodding politely and going on her way, the mom turns to her child to explain just what exactly that means.

“So he can sense when someone is having trouble with their heart,” the mother says. “Like nudge them and let them know they need to get to a safe spot.”

Clearly, this kid-friendly explanation makes much more sense to the child, who then exclaims, “Aww, ohhh!”

“Yeah, dogs are great aren’t they?” the mom says. “[So] when he’s on duty, we can’t distract him.”

The video ends with Jake’s owner thanking the mom and parting ways, though it’s clear by the post caption just how grateful she really was for that brief interaction.

“Another amazing mother and amazing moment caught in the pet store today when a mother brought her daughter up to us to tech her sbout service dogs with jobs!” Jake’s owner captioned the post.

In the comments, others jumped in to applaud the mom too, saying she handled the teachable moment perfectly.

“This mom is who we should all strive to be,” one person wrote.

“it’s so important to teach young kids about this!” added someone else. “It needs to be taught more, even some adults don’t know this!”