Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Trouble Saying No

              I know things can really be complicated between being a diabetic and service dog handler. I have always struggled in some area's in my life with telling people no. I know having Duchess I am doing it much more frequently but it is never easy. I am too much of a people pleaser but I am working on that. It can be hard and frustrating honestly to constantly tell people to not pet. I know I get really annoyed after a while. Normally my office is a safe zone where people do not pet Duchess or even ask which is always appreciated. Yesterday a new person started in the department and of course first thing asked if she could pet Duchess. I told her no because it can affect her focus on work. Then her new supervisor told her it was okay to pet her. I did not say anything because I was livid. It is such a delicate balance with everything at work and I have made some mistakes along the way but have learned some lessons by having to work with a trainer to fix issues which is never cheap. I follow these rules for many reasons including my own sanity. I was not sure how to handle this situation. I am going to my manager who knows that petting is not acceptable with Duchess. I am hoping she will tell the new girl that petting is not allowed. If that does not go as planned I am going to call my disabilities office on campus and have them come in to educate the people around me if necessary. I am hoping for a quite resolution to a problem that could spiral out of control quickly.

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