Hot take: the dog in the backyard was friendlier than the homeowner
Last Tuesday I got sent to a house in Mesa to swap out an old box, and the guy spent 20 minutes standing behind me asking if I was gonna drill into a stud. The real highlight was his 90 pound lab mix, who kept dropping a slobbery tennis ball on my drop cloth every time I bent down to terminate a fitting. I finally told the guy I'd throw it once if it kept his dog out of my crimper, and he said the dog had better aim than my last tech. Got the box swapped in 35 minutes with a wet ball in my tool bag. Any of you keep a spare tennis ball in the van just for jobs like that?
Keeps a spare in the side pocket of my door, cheap ones from the dollar store. Dogs read the room way faster than people do, that lab knew you were there to work and not mess around. Guy hovering behind me for 20 minutes would've gotten a "sir, I need my space" real quick though. Ball beats small talk every time.