Pets in Class

[badcats]

What do you think of people who bring pets to lectures and if you do bring your pet with you why?

There was a girl who brought her Boston to O-Chem lecture and it looked like the professor was super pissed, but didn't say anything. Also it seems like there is a double standard when it comes to pets in public, like that small dogs can be brought anywhere, but do the same thing with a large breed and you will be asked to leave.Just wondering if I am the only one who noticed/is bothered by this...

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[sumstorm]

Part of the issue in public places is that the ADA stuff isn't clear. You can't actually ask about why a potential service animal is there....you can ask if it is a service animal and/or what services it performs.

 

[tpad40]

Can't say I've ever seen that! I would love to bring my dog to class, or to the library to study, that would be awesome !

 

[sumstorm]

Oh, and I wouldn't take my pets to college classes. I have taken my SAR dog to some unusual places because we were mid search and on call, but most of the time she can stay outside in the vehicle...or I make arrangements to be outside with her. And she is always in full harness at that time, and is trained to curl up under my seat, which is pretty impressive for an 80# dog (she is the one in the harness repelling down a rock face on the pet pics thread)

 

[equus2013]

its a touchy thing, ive seen people bring dogs to class at my undergrad and i kind of dont approve, even though i adore animals. i feel like its inappropriate in a college class, i dont know....

 

[sumstorm]

Completly depends. If it is an animal that is trained for service and is fullfilling a service, and is appropriatly behaved in class, then by all means it should be there. I doubt anyone would be bothered by a CCI dog assisting a wheelchair bound student, or a guide dog with a blind student. At one college, I know a young man who is deaf and has a hearing assistance dog. It was great, if you were a distance away and shouted his name, his dog would alert him. Otherwise it is a bit irresponsible...and damaging to the reputation of pet owners in general.

 

[pupsforseeing]

i brought dogs to college lectures all the time but they were always well behaved guide dogs in training. i would never bring a regular pet dog to a place like that. i have too many friends who are legitimate service animal users who have been screwed over by the people who bring their ill behaved pets in public places and end up making life really difficult for people who actually rely on these animals. so, unless i am specifically training an animal for such a purpose and i know the animal can be extremely well behaved in that environment, i would not bring an animal into that sort of situation.

sorry, touchy subject for me 🙂

 

[sumstorm]

pupsforseeing, I use to raise leader dogs for the blind out of MI, which organizaiton do you work with? I miss puppy raising in some ways, but in other ways am happy to have a break from pups.

 

[twelvetigers]

I knew a girl that brought her chihuahua to all of her lectures. He stayed in a mesh bag where he was hard to see, so most people never noticed. He was very good about staying quiet... haha. Strange for a chihuahua.

She had him at the orientation session for orgo lab (she never brought him to lab when we were messing with chemicals, etc.) and he turned around in the bag while a guy was kneeling nearby to get into his supply drawer. I think the guy nearly peed himself when the bag moved a bit. 😀

 

[splashie]

I brought my rats to Orgo once because I was using them in a speech presentation the following period 🙂 I kept them covered through class, but got some pretty sketched out looks on the bus when people asked me what was in the cage...

 

[pupsforseeing]

pupsforseeing, I use to raise leader dogs for the blind out of MI, which organizaiton do you work with? I miss puppy raising in some ways, but in other ways am happy to have a break from pups.

i raised for guide dogs of america in southern california. i've had to take a break for a few years (did undergrad in p.a. and am now living in mexico), but stayed involved teaching puppy classes when i was home on breaks from college and am eager to get back into it.

 

[Bill59]

She made her poor dog sit in on an O-chem lecture? Don't they have laws against animal cruelty where you are?

 

[CatVet2Be]

I've been tempted to take my bottle feeding foster kittens to class with me in the past. Since the really young ones need to eat every 2-3 hours it's really hard when I have a full day of class but I usually find someone that can help out during those hours.

I took my 70lb mix into Home Depot with me one day, our toilet overflowed for ~8 hours since my husband got the brilliant idea of flushing cat hair down the toilet (we had just shaved our 2 himalayan/ragdolls). Since it (of course) was on the second story I came home to a raining living room and because we had to rip up the carpets I couldn't leave the dog at home with the nails exposed. Anyway, long story short I brought the dog into the Home Depot with me and one of the workers told me that if I had her in the store she needed to be inside a cart 🙄. After the kind of day I had I told him if he wanted her in the cart he could pick her up and put her in himself. That ended the discussion. 😀 I'm normally not that snippy but my husband had just flooded our house so I'd had it with men by that point.....

My long rant is just to reiterate the double standard. It wasn't an issue of the dog being in the store, it was an issue about my dog walking on the floor vs being rolled around like a kid in a grocery cart. Lame.

 

[HopefulAg]

Hrm, we have an on-campus organization that trains guide dogs and service dogs up to a certain point, and once they get their jacket they go with their trainers to classes. And also our mascot goes with her handler to classes, but other than that, I've never seen anyone bring their dogs to class.


Though a girl did bring a ferret once. I was sitting next to her and she kept peeking at her bag and then I noticed it had a mesh front on it and then saw the ferret move inside. Kinda struck me as odd but meh, it didn't bark or anything lol.

 

[sofficat]

In vet school a lot of students will bring their pet to the small animal clinic and bring them to class with them before/after their appointment. No one seems to mind. They'll even occasionally shake (and their collar makes noise) or make sounds, but it's vet school. We had a cat in lecture and it was on its owner's lap and when the person next to her pet him he meowed really loud and we all (even the professor) just laughed. One of the girls wanted to bring her dog to the park after class so she brought her to class and the dog sat in the front row (next to her owner, on a seat) and watched the professor teach the entire class. Everyone was cracking up in the beginning of class because the dog looked to interested in what the prof was saying!
Heck, our dean cancelled the last class of the day so we could all go home and get our pets and bring them back to school because we were going to have big storms/tornadoes.
In my experience bringing pets to school is no big deal

 

[EqSci]

I've taken my dog to after-hours study sessions in lecture rooms, and I bring him with me sometimes when I need to stop by the school after hours. When he was a puppy I took him with me all around campus and in buildings and such to socialize him (people are much more accepting of a cute puppy than they are an adult 50# dog!). I also took him into a residence hall lobby once while my friend and I were studying, but we got kicked out when we were noticed.

But I've never taken him to class. He's not well behaved enough for that - he whines quietly if he's made to stay on a leash and it's too distracting for others.

Several of my professors bring their dogs with them every day and they stay in their offices. I assume they aren't allowed to bring them to lectures.

 

[twelvetigers]

She made her poor dog sit in on an O-chem lecture? Don't they have laws against animal cruelty where you are?

He went to orgo II and physics II lectures every M-W-F! Sounds cruel, but with a name like Winston Bartholomew, he might have liked it. He was a very sophisticated chihuahua. 😉

 

[sumstorm]

I think it might be different in vet school where everyone is likely to be exposed to pets at some point, but in undergrad you may have people in class who are terrified of dogs, cats, or ferrets, regardless of thier size. Or, better yet, you may have someone who is severly allergic. You are also more likely to have people who aren't animal savy and whose animals are untrained.

I fly with a pet frequently, and the last thing we do before leaving for the airport is scrub the kennel, and scrub the pet. I always feel terrible if my pet sets off someone else's allergies, especially on long flights. It must be terrible to be miserable for a long flight...the flights are uncomfortable enough.

The one that annoys me are small dogs at cafes and such ON THE TABLE. Please, if your going to bring your pet, at least keep them off of the table. I do find it to be more of a problem with small dogs.

When I was unemployed, a woman brought her whiney, yippy chihuahua to the required information session at the unemployment center.

 

[Nexx]

Occasionally there will be a dog or two in one of our classes. I think it is kind of questionable if someone brings their dog to every class, every day and it isn't a service animal. There is no way that you can pay attention to class and pay attention to your dog so you are either doing a disservice to yourself or your fellow classmates depending on how active your pet is.

*shrug* I don't mind the occasional dog as I know things come up. Heck I don't even mind when people come in late to class, but when it becomes the same people over and over again (for whatever reason) that cause distractions I know a lot of people get annoyed. I personally don't get too annoyed by it, but several of my friends do--frankly I usually am hoping for some distraction every now and again.

 

[LadyHitokiri]

Last semester, there was a girl who brought her Yorkie to class almost every lecture in my genetics course. The dog was very well behaved and the professor didn't notice I think, because she never had an accident, or barked, or tried to run around. She just lay there quietly, getting pets every so often by her owner.

Even so, I would always ask the professor to make sure that it was alright to do something like. You never know what trouble it might cause to do otherwise...

 

[redsteven]

its a touchy thing, ive seen people bring dogs to class at my undergrad and i kind of dont approve, even though i adore animals. i feel like its inappropriate in a college class, i dont know....

I agree. I don't think it's really appropriate. Maybe it would be a little different in vet school though...


Here's another perspective to look at it from though. Yesterday, a girl in one of my classes (two classes, actually), brought her younger cousin to school with her (I don't remember why... but that's not so important). The young cousin was about 4 or 5 years old. I didn't really mind that much, and she was pretty quiet the whole time.

I really shouldn't hold that to a different standard, so bringing pets to class probably shouldn't bother me that much.

I guess it's acceptable if you have an appropriate reason to do so. I just can't help feeling like it's inappropriate though when I see someone walking around school with their dog in their bag (only saw it once).

 

[Skillet9886]

Here's another perspective to look at it from though. Yesterday, a girl in one of my classes (two classes, actually), brought her younger cousin to school with her (I don't remember why... but that's not so important). The young cousin was about 4 or 5 years old. I didn't really mind that much, and she was pretty quiet the whole time.

I really shouldn't hold that to a different standard, so bringing pets to class probably shouldn't bother me that much.

Eh, I would have to disagree with that. Bringing a child to class is different than bringing a pet to class. In my vertebrate zoology class last year there was a woman who had a young son, about that age, and she would occasionally have to bring him to class. The only reason she did that, though, was because she couldn't find and/or afford a sitter.

I don't think you could leave a 4 year-old child at home by him/herself, but I leave my dog and cat at home, unsupervised, every time I go to class. They seem to manage.

I don't mind when people bring well-behaved dogs (or service dogs, obviously) to class, and I have seen it on occasion, but it does irk me a little bit that they can bring their teacup whatever and I can't bring my 55 lb mutt.

The only time that a pet really bothered me was when I went to a restaurant...can't really remember what it was now, but something like Friday's or Outback or something, and someone had their chihuahua with them in the booth. Eating outside with your pets is one thing, but I thought that was totally inappropriate.

 

[philomycus]

She made her poor dog sit in on an O-chem lecture? Don't they have laws against animal cruelty where you are?

I took my small ball python into class once in undergrad- but no one even knew he was there. I also did sneak a small unweaned kitten into a class once, because I had to- feedings, etc.

 

[Jochebed]

gone

 

[twelvetigers]

I also met someone once who kept a gerbil in her pocket. His name was Gus. No problem with me, but if anyone were scared of rodents and he wandered out of her pocket... well, I can only imagine.

 

[Shanomong]

The only time that a pet really bothered me was when I went to a restaurant...can't really remember what it was now, but something like Friday's or Outback or something, and someone had their chihuahua with them in the booth. Eating outside with your pets is one thing, but I thought that was totally inappropriate.

Also a violation of the health code. Pets aren't allowed in dining facilities. I'm still a tad awkward when I walk into the neighborhood Starbucks with my dogs on the way to work... they know me there, it's a walking city so no car to leave them in, and they love it... but I still know it's wrong and on some level that makes me nervous lol.

I am, however, a repeat toy dog offender. As a puppy my Pomeranian went everywhere with me. Never to a food establishment or to a class, but he went to the supermarket, movie theater, laundromat, etc...

A lot of you big dog people on here are annoyed about the small dog thing, but realistically you have to see the difference. Small dogs can be carried, they can be tucked away in bags. They're not on the floor where they could lift their leg or poop or leave allergens behind (assuming they ARE tucked away or carried, as they should be... otherwise they are capable of all of the above obviously).... While you might know that your dog is much too well behaved to do those things, the establishment you are in does not. And the only way they can prevent it is by keeping the dogs off the floors...

 

[sumstorm]

Ummm...small dogs can and do urinate in bags. The bags still get put on tables and surfaces where they can deposit contaminants. They are still allergen vectors. I have one relative who starts having horrible symptoms including continuously weeping eyes, sneezing fits, and eventually all over hives when she is in close proximity to people who own dogs....let alone the dog. Small dogs can still trigger fear in those with dog-phobias (I have another cousin who is a big tough guy who is terrified of chihuahua's....he was bit in the face as a child, but is fine with big dogs...as he puts it, most big dogs are clear from the beginning whether or not they want to be touched, and people generally aren't going to shove a 70 pound dog in your face, unlike little dogs than tend to be handed around like a party favor.) And, little dogs can still be distracting....is that a rat that escaped from the colony down the hall moving your bag around? And the establishment has no way of knowing if the dog in your bag is a terror that will inflict multiple bite wounds if someone should stick thier fingers in the bag. So really, the only way they can prevent this is to keep dogs out of the establishment.

I do wish the US was more like Europe in that dogs could be tethered or left in a stay outside the grocery and such, but as a trainer, I have seen the best and the worst of owners, and the worst ones limit the best ones. I would say this about kids too.... I love working with kids whose parents have a clue, but I despise working with those whose parents are clueless. After 4 years of running education programs with trained exotics, I felt the clued no longer made it worth dealing with the clueless.

 

[redsteven]

I also met someone once who kept a gerbil in her pocket. His name was Gus. No problem with me, but if anyone were scared of rodents and he wandered out of her pocket... well, I can only imagine.

I disapprove of that because I think it's too dangerous. I mean, I wish I could do something like that, and I know that people do, but I personally think it's very risky.

We bump into people all the time. We lean against things all the time (a desk, table, etc.). What happens if the animal gets hurt?

I think it's a bad idea for the same reason you shouldn't sleep with a small animal like that... you can crush them.
That said, you're not sleeping if you carry it around during the day, but I don't think most people would be able to get on with their daily lives and pay attention while trying to keep the animal in their pocket safe.


Feel free to refute that though.

Oh, and I will rescind my previous point that bringing animals to class is analogous to bringing kids.

 

[DVMorBust]

That said, you're not sleeping if you carry it around during the day, but I don't think most people would be able to get on with their daily lives and pay attention while trying to keep the animal in their pocket safe.

Now I've got this mental image of a wire pocket-insert that creates a kind of caged space for the little guys...protection from the outside world and from themselves, if they like to chew through fabrics...

 

[Jochebed]

gone

 

[Skillet9886]

I'm not too sure about the tethering thing, not only because of what Jochebed said, but also because of the numerous pets that I have read about that have been stolen out of fenced in yards. I think if someone can easily drive up to someone's house and take a dog out of the yard without anyone noticing or protesting, untying a dog from a stop sign and walking away would be way too easy.

I was at Starbucks a few weeks ago to get some coffee before driving to Orlando with my mom. There was a completely unattended Cavalier King Charles Spaniel sitting on a chair outside, without a leash or even a collar. My mom, who loves Cavaliers, was just going on and on fawning over how well behaved the dog was, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at how stupid the owner was. As it turned out, the owner was a few people ahead of us in line, and was accepting complements about how amazing her dog was. She would just respond with things like "Oh yes, I trained her from a puppy; I take her everywhere," blah, blah, blah. I can understand needing to leave your dog outside, but as far as I am concerned, there is NO reason to leave your dog unattended without a leash. Needless to say, at some point during the 10 minutes that we were all in line for coffee, the dog jumped down off the chair and was wandering around the sidewalk. Someone in line said something to the owner, and she FINISHED ORDERING HER DRINK before going outside. Even I didn't see that one coming. This Starbucks was in a very busy parking lot, so anything could have happened. What did she do? After she paid for her drink, she went outside, put the dog back on the chair, told it to stay, and came back inside to wait for her drink to be ready. It was unbelievable.

 

[sumstorm]

LOL. in many places in europe, babies are left outside in strollers. I can honestly say I never once encountered a problem dog...but I also NEVER saw people approach those dogs (I use to sit outside of stores waiting for rides, or scripts, and such) and certainly children didn't run up and tackle the dogs.

I may have just observed thousand's of anomalies...or it may just be a major cultural difference. Having said that, I do not tether my dogs here (wait, I take that back, I did when in NJ...we would walk to the library, I would tether my dog to a tree in the park the library was in, put it in a stay, walk in and deposit my borrowed books, and walk back out...and yes, I worried about my dog being stolen....did you know there are locking tethers because of that?) very much if ever. And when I have, it is a dog that has already experienced pretty rough treatment without reacting.

In places where people don't worry about babies being kidnapped, I don't worry about dogs being stolen.

Again, it all depends on where you are and what the norm is. Where I grew up, farm dogs went everywhere, and were fine left sitting in an open can or bed. My grandfather (the one that is still alive) takes his dog to his landscaping jobs. His last one lived 16 years and never was taken or harmed. His current one is now 2, a very cute and friendly dog, and seems to do fine. There is a risk....but I wouldn't tell him not to...his experience doing so would trump anything I said.

 

[BR549]

This is an aside, but along the same lines. Today was the 2nd time in a month that I saw a person with a cat loose while they were driving!! I have never in my life seen such and do not feel safe around them. I was just hoping the cat didn't claw their face while they were driving. Has anyone else seen this? It may be more common, but this was the first (actually 2nd) for me.

 

[redsteven]

This is an aside, but along the same lines. Today was the 2nd time in a month that I saw a person with a cat loose while they were driving!! I have never in my life seen such and do not feel safe around them. I was just hoping the cat didn't claw their face while they were driving. Has anyone else seen this? It may be more common, but this was the first (actually 2nd) for me.

I occasionally see it with dogs (sometimes on peoples laps), and I don't like it.

What happens when the animal decides to jump down near your feet? What happens when pressing on the brakes means crushing your pet?

We could talk more about animals in vehicles but I don't want to derail the thread any more 🙂

 

[CatVet2Be]

This is an aside, but along the same lines. Today was the 2nd time in a month that I saw a person with a cat loose while they were driving!! I have never in my life seen such and do not feel safe around them. I was just hoping the cat didn't claw their face while they were driving. Has anyone else seen this? It may be more common, but this was the first (actually 2nd) for me.

😳 I actually do this with 2 of my cats often. They sit in my lap while I drive because otherwise they get carsick. I know it's not the safest form of transportation and I'm a hypocrite about it because I would be apalled if I were to see it in the car next to me but it's what works for us and genuinely calms down those 2 cats. I make the rest ride in carriers like a normal person.

 

[Shanomong]

Ummm...small dogs can and do urinate in bags. The bags still get put on tables and surfaces where they can deposit contaminants.

LOL, well I'll let you know when I see that happen. And that's not only a bad owner, but a gross human being. But that's pretty far from the norm.

Wait, so you're bothered by pets at restaurants, but walking into the supermarket with one is ok?? I find that a little problematic.

I didn't say I was bothered by it, I said it's a violation of the health code. I don't know many people who sit down to eat in a supermarket. If it's an upscale place where food is being served and seating is available, then sure, it'd be against the health code there too. We shopped in Waldbaums, it's not a dining establishment.

 

[sumstorm]

LOL, well I'll let you know when I see that happen. And that's not only a bad owner, but a gross human being. But that's pretty far from the norm.

I didn't say I was bothered by it, I said it's a violation of the health code. I don't know many people who sit down to eat in a supermarket. If it's an upscale place where food is being served and seating is available, then sure, it'd be against the health code there too. We shopped in Waldbaums, it's not a dining establishment.

It sounds like your argument is "small dog owners are more responsible than other dog owners and that bad small dog owners are rare." I don't buy either of those arguments. I would say that dog owners violating codes would quickly negate the first one. The second one...I would say that size of dog owned doens't reflect a good or bad owner, that there are much better parameters than size of dog.

I agree that allowing a dog to soil its home, whether that is a carrier, crate, room, house, etc, is gross. I will also note that it is one of the top complaints that pets are surrendered for and one of the biggest issues that trainers are hired to assist with. How often do we still hear the advice of 'rub the dog's nose in it' which is horrifically gross. The idea that ONLY responsible owners would carry dogs around everywhere doesn't make sense.

As for grocery stores...there are some stores that don't provide any open foods: no salad bar or served foods, including sandwhiches and pastries made at the store, no sample trays or deli sections. No meat packaged on site. Where I am, that tends to be IGA's. Maybe I would understand in those situations, but if it violates code...then it violates code, so it isn't fair to others who shop in that environment expecting that they won't be exposed to pet dander.

As noted above, I would prefer that our country was more like many places in Europe, and dogs were able to be left near stores without fears of people stealing them or harming them or just generally being obnoxious to them. We don't live in a place like that, so I honestly believe that if I take my dog about in a carrier (I do own a 4 lb chihuahua) then I am making the decision that I don't get to enter starbucks, or grocery stores or other places that don't allow dogs. It is a decision I make the moment I decide to carry a pet with me. When I have one of my SAR dog around, who is often providing a service, I still avoid exposing people to her that have every reason to believe they are in a dog free environment.

I think of it this way: if I don't respect the health codes and notices, why should I expect others to respect me and my dog and not do things like give it toxic foods, poke fingers into its carrier, or otherwise?