So I'm a little hesitant to share this story but it has been top of mind given this whole dog discussion here and on other threads.
At GF SL in April, a guest on the first floor had what I'm assuming was a service dog. We saw the dog a handful of times during our stay coming in/out of the room (it was the first room by the elevator so pretty visible in our daily comings/goings), in the lounge, and around the GF grounds. Seemed like this guest was a GF regular, or very good friends with the CMs, or both, so we mainly saw her and dog in/around the CM desk (which at SL is in the middle of the lounge).
Frankly I wouldn't have thought twice about the dog - certainly not my place to make any sort of assessment on need/purpose and I know dogs can be critical to many people. However, it was hard to ignore the fact that this particular dog wasn't exactly the "quiet / out of the way" service animal type. It was a bit hyper, would eat crumbs off the lounge floor, the owner was happy to let anyone pet her. It was a cute little white fur ball of a dog.
The dog's presence ultimately didn't impact us much at all, other than a few times where I needed to watch DD2 as she kept wanting to go pet it (still trying to teach her the proper way to approach a dog). Although I'd by lying if I said I wasn't slightly annoyed at the time because I didn't think the lounge was really an appropriate place for a dog with this personality. But then I found myself questioning if that was even the appropriate response on my part because, again, I have no clue about that person's needs and the dog's purpose. Found myself totally conflicted frankly.
I admit, part of me was being judgy, part of me was trying to be open minded, and part of me said to just mind my own business.
Certainly the CMs said nothing - they were front and center petting the dog at times.
Anyway - not sure the point of this story other than to just relay a somewhat random, isolated dog/CL experience. Our encounters with this dog certainly weren’t constant, just occasional during our stay. I could have 100 more CL stays and probably never see another service animal again!
Hope this isn't a controversial post, it's really just meant to relay an experience.
What do y’all think?