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Service dogs play a super important role in many people’s lives, but it’s a serious job. Or at least, it should be.

And yet, some people will say they have a service dog when it’s actually just a regular dog with a fancy title.

Still, bringing a “service dog” into public spaces comes with certain expectations.

In this case, a man found himself feeling embarrassed to be in public with another friend who always brings his “service dog” with him. Even though they love dogs, this particular one simply didn’t know how to behave around people.

Unfortunately, it was a sensitive subject for his friend, so nobody could say anything. Until a stranger did.

Read the full story below.

AITA for telling my friend his “service dog” is just badly trained?

One of my friends, who is 24M, has been taking his dog everywhere since about a year ago. He calls it his service dog.

I’m not sure how much he really needs it but I do know he has anxiety, so I don’t pry into it too much because I’d rather be the ‘oh, we’re fine, let’s move on’ type, which also leads him to not tell me very much.

Nobody in our friend group really cares about him taking his dog out when we go anywhere but after some time, everybody is kinda frustrated that this thing is such an untrained, bad behaving thing.

He is not happy about it.

The thing barks at random people, jumps on complete strangers (who all love dogs btw), can’t behave on the leash at all, literally sniffs anything and tries to grab food off the table in restaurants.

He gets totally distracted if there’s another dog around.

We were at the grocery store a few months ago and the dog barked nonstop at an employee who was pushing carts. Another time, he relieved himself right next to the entrance of a bookstore.

But it’s becoming a problem.

My friend usually just laughs it off and says something like “he’s still learning” or “he’s just having an off day.”

Well, the last time he overreacted was this past weekend at a café. We were eating outside when suddenly he lunged at another table because someone dropped part of a sandwich.

He didn’t bite anything or anyone but he did knock over a drink and bark loud.

The people at the other table got annoyed and one guy asked “is that a real service dog?”

Someone else started the discussion, but it continued.

My friend immediately started getting defensive and lecturing the guy about how it’s rude to question service dogs and invisible disabilities.

The guy backpedaled pretty fast and the table fell into an awkward silence after that.

So when we left, I pulled my friend aside and explained that I wasn’t trying to be mean but honestly I think people get annoyed because the dog is not trained well enough to be in public spaces like that.

That didn’t go well.

He got super defensive and basically called me an ableist and said I was “acting like one of those people who thinks mental illness is not real.”

I told him I wasn’t saying that at all, I was talking about the dog, not him.

Now he barely talks to me.

Apparently he put up some vague Instagram story about “fake friends” and people “judging disabilities they don’t understand.”

I just talked to a couple mutual friends who agree with me that the dog is a problem but they also think I shouldn’t have said anything because it’s a sensitive topic.

AITA?

I don’t think this person is ready for a relationship, even if it’s just a friendship.

What did Reddit think?

A reader shares their opinion.

It creates a bad rep.

Something to consider.

Another reader shares their opinion.

Food for thought.

This situation is quite baffling because nobody criticized him or questioned his disability. They are his friends, and as friends, it’s actually their right to ask questions and be honest when necessary.

They simply made an observation that the dog needs proper training. Unfortunately, some people are really sensitive about their dogs. This creates problems even for the dogs, as well.

Even strangers reacted to a pattern of disruptive behavior that is impossible to ignore in public places.

I believe that if your friendship can’t survive one criticism, then that person wasn’t your friend after all.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee whose dietary restrictions caused the whole office to turn against her.