got outjerked at my job today

I work in an art gallery, and a woman came in today with a service dog, a large standard poodle. Immediately, the dog seemed skittish. I was watching intently as the current exhibition is mainly glass bowls on pedestals.

The woman starts by telling me her dog had to come inside because it was overwhelmed by there being too many people outside. Then she tells me I can pet her dog. I ask her if she’s sure, and she insists. I let the dog sniff my hand, then gently try and pet it and the dog leaps away from me, almost into a shelf full of art. I make a comment about how I don’t want to scare the dog, and the owner AGAIN insists that I pet the dog. I have to firmly decline.

Then, the girl starts taking off all of the dog’s service gear, which only makes it more skittish and scared. I’m worried about the dog knocking into a pedestal with a very expensive handmade glass bowl on it, so I make a comment that the dog should be on a leash. The woman then starts telling me that the dog can’t always wear the vest because it gets overwhelmed ?

At this point, I was trying to wrap up the interaction and get her to leave, but not before she tells me about how her last service dog died under mysterious circumstances.

Luckily, she left before any damage could happen.

So bizarre.