September Is Service Dog Awareness Month in New Hampshire

Gov. Kelly Ayotte has officially proclaimed September 2026 Service Dog Awareness Month in New Hampshire.

I love dogs. So obviously, if you tell me there were a bunch of service dogs hanging out at the New Hampshire State House this week, you've already got my attention.

But then I started reading about *why* they were there, and I realized there was a lot about service dogs that I really didn't know.

According to WMUR, several service dogs were at the State House on Monday as Ayotte signed the proclamation, along with representatives from eight different organizations that train service dogs in New Hampshire and across New England.

And yes, part of this is absolutely celebrating some very good dogs.

But it's really about understanding the incredibly important jobs they do.

These Dogs Are Actually Working

I think this is the part that's easy to forget.

You see a dog in a store, restaurant, airport or walking down the street wearing a vest, and your dog-person brain immediately goes:

DOG! Can I pet him?"*

I get it.

But that dog may be in the middle of doing something incredibly important for the person next to them.

It's amazing how smart these dogs are. Service dogs are individually trained to perform specific tasks for people with disabilities. Depending on the needs of their handler, that could mean helping with mobility, alerting someone to a medical issue, assisting someone with a visual or hearing disability or performing other trained tasks. That stuff amazes me.

In other words, they're adorable.

But they're also at work and that means one of the easiest things the rest of us can do is pretty simple: don't distract a service dog while it's working.

This Is Happening Right Here in New Hampshire

Here's another thing I learned while digging into this.

There are organizations all over New Hampshire doing this kind of work.

Earlier this year, WMUR's New Hampshire Chronicle featured Walking With Honor, which trains rescue dogs that are eventually paired with military veterans dealing with the invisible wounds of war.

There's Operation Delta Dog in Hollis, which works with veterans and service dogs and is even holding a free "Hot Dogs & Service Dogs" community event at Lawrence Barn on September 2.

And this isn't only being recognized at the state level.

Rochester Mayor Chuck Grassie has already proclaimed September 2026 National Service Dog Month in Rochester, specifically calling attention to the need to educate people about service dogs and the laws protecting them.

I started thinking that maybe September Is Really About Educating Us.

That was probably my biggest takeaway from learning about Service Dog Awareness Month.

The dogs don't really need the awareness month.

We do.

We're the ones who need the reminder.

If you see a service dog walking through Market Basket, grabbing coffee with its handler in Portsmouth or basically anywhere else around New Hampshire, it's completely understandable to think:

Oh my God, look at the dog. Can I pet that dog?

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So when you see one, just remember that dog could be doing something that allows the person beside them to safely and independently do something the rest of us probably don't think twice about.

So admire them. Appreciate them.

Just maybe do it from a distance and let them work.

Good dog. Very, very good dog.