While on a job at a customer's house yesterday, their dog...

[Orrex]

jammed its snout into my crotch so hard that it lifted me from the floor.

I pushed the creature away, and the owner waved a hand and said "oh, he's fine."

Then it rammed its nose into my ass even harder.


At what point am I justified in pepper-spraying the owner?

[chowmama]

1. That's the retriever secret handshake

I work at a vet clinic and am very familiar with the experience. It's especially startling when you're bent over the microscope and have your back turned to the passing dog.

[Probatim]

2. A friend's dog, some large breed with a head the size of a Holstein, stuck his nose in my crotch and growled.

I looked down at him and said - keep growling Oscar, they're about eighteen inches higher than when you started.

My buddy started laughing and the dog calmed down. I calmed down about 3-4 days later.

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

3. My Mother in law's retriever did the same to me a couple of weeks ago. 😂

[Orrex]

5. I do actually have a policy in place for this

After the first probing, I tell the customer that the dog gets one strike, and then I'm out. I don't care if the equipment is hanging off the wall; manage your creature, or I'm leaving the site.

What kills me isn't the dog's behavior, because it is after all a dog. It's the cavalier way that the owner laughs it off, as if everyone loves being violated by an animal.

Restrain the dog. Put it outside. Shut it in a bedroom. Take it for a walk. Anything, but keep it off your service technician.

It is not the technician's duty to wrangle your beast just because you can't be bothered to do so.

(Not you, of course, but "you" in general.)

[hlthe2b]

4. "Payment in hand, throw the sand..." as they say

But, look at it this way, that dog will remember you next time (and the next and the next and the next)... Your scent is permanently banked in his memory.