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When the Mummification and Transference are complete, we place your pet within a bronze Mummiform and rejoin you with your beloved companion. Your cherished friend has been transformed, as the caterpillar to a butterfly, in the promise of another tomorrow. Because of its thorough nature, Mummification and Transference of your pet will require five 5 to ten 10 months to complete.
During its absence, we will keep you informed on the progress. Never to part, to be always in your heart, we also offer the blessings of Eternal Memorialization to you. Together with your beloved companion, Summum will lift you and set you into the hands of timelessness. Our Mummification process makes it possible for you and your treasured pet to be together eternally. If you wish to make personal arrangements for yourself, please contact us. The only thing I disagree with is a SD can be dressed up. Especially for teens, dressing the dog in a silly costume can brighten their day and make their lives just a little bit better.
My dog gets a Santa hat during the Christmas season because that bit of frivolity brightens my mood and thus mitigates my disability. Heather, as a service dog owner, I absolutely disagree with you and I applaud the author who has addressed a very serious and all too common problem. A service dog is not a pet and should not behave like a pet; their behavior is held to a much higher standard.
This article provides valuable information about how a properly trained service dog should behave in public and it explains to the public and to business owners and managers what their rights are. Properly trained service dogs have no problem adhering to the guidelines that Ms. In fact, what she says the public can expect of a service dog is straight out of the guidelines established by Assistance Dogs International. You can read all of their guidelines and standards for service dogs here:. But the handler has responsibilities as well.
A handler needs to be in control of his service animal at all times. Ambra January 16, A lot of effort put into Ms. There are to many people say there certified on this and that on dog trianing or service dog title 28 says an certiftion is not required reason because there is not such thing if there was then every person in the US would have to get certified through a proper organization just to house break there dog because that is called training. Also all these websites that post what a service dog should do or not do are wrong the law says task or work of the persons disabilities, what you think may be out of control another person may think differently.
What needs to happan is in sted of trying to post or say that you are a certified person or an organization which once again not required just your perseption of what a service dog should be like your just giving your opinion there is no law that breaks down the actions of the service dog itself. People have the right to post there opinion on the Internet and verbally but that does not make you the law.
Just like the vest tags. So before you says what a service dog should do or not do read up people civil right, and patients act rights if you tell people they need a certifcation or be certified you just violated there civil rights and in violation of title 28 federal law, disability rights. When a organization or person post something about what service dogs do they use words like should if you are tell people directly this is what the law says and this is the way I would be careful you may find yourself in a court room.
I wish people would stop posting things on the websites what they thing and post what the facts are if you are saling a service dog vest or ID its your right but not required because if it was then the federal government would have to issue them and quilify the trainers to be certified which would cost to much money thats why the federal law says what it says. Also what college degree is dog trianing under and what credited school provides this if you find it please let me know.
John reed December 3, My 7 year old daughter is very allergic to dogs. Thanks Giving day we had to go to 3 different restaurants do to people bringing their dogs puppies that are not service dogs in to these places and lying and saying they are. Here in Palm Beach County this is become more than just a problem.
I also work at a restaurant where these people bring their dogs in that are doing everything wrong barking snapping defecating urinating eating food not listening to commands and smell bad. But the way people are abusing these laws is ridiculous. Btiney May 13, This article should be entitled ignorant woman gives stupid people an excuse to exaggerate anything the animal does as excuse to violate the rights of people with disabilities and their animals. I have never once seen an unkempt service dog or service dog that is not house broken. In order for a sevice dog to be certified they undergo months of training.
Nothing on your should not list would ever pass certification. Even a human scratches their arm in public occasionally. A dog having an itch in no way presents as untrained or unkempt. As a disabled person this really makes me angry. Britney May 13, This article is going to doj absolutely nothing but cause trouble.
There are going to be rude people who will see this and use it as an excuse not to let a service dog in. I have never seen an unkempt or untrained service dog. A dog like what is described would never become certified. As far as a dog scratching people scratch when they itch does it mean they or nasty or have fleas. Really this article is nothing but a trouble maker. Trying to say it is only for handlers is not true. We all know there are people that will make false accusations just to get their way.
Cameron May 13, Roymond May 22, Can it be relocated to another area f the restaurant.. Nancy June 14, Bridget Ilene Delaney December 18, I agree that this article is not a good article. I have a service dog. She is a HUGE help to me. Sammye Darling September 3, This is why the trainers of service dogs in training should consider that their puppy is not ready for full access even if granted it by law. They should not immediately take advantage of full access, because it could give service dogs a bad image.
Instead, trainers and service dogs in training should work their way up until the dog ready for full access. We first allow school campus privileges, then grocery stores, then all public places minus restaurants, and lastly all access jacket privileges including restaurants are given once the dog shows near- perfect public etiquette and behavior.
Service Dog September 5, That is precisely correct. Monica October 11, I agree with what you say about puppies in training. I always begin slowly and take it a step at a time. Also it is good to realize that a young puppy under a year in age also has a short attention span and they tire easily. I also do not do any public access training until a puppy has completed its full round of puppy vaccinations.
That is just my choice. While we wait for that I do simple short training exercises in basic obdience a few times a day, along with house breaking. Yes restaurants are the last big privilege once there is perfect public access and behavior. James roux June 11, Until those skills are mastered, the dog is a service dog candidate and has no place being brought to pets only establishments and businesses.
A service dog in training is a dog that has mastered all of the previously mentioned skills and is in the process of , being task trained for the particular tasks he will perform in service to his handler. Once he masters those skills, he is then a service dog. But appropriate service dog behavior is always the very first criterion that must be mastered before a dog can legitimately be considered a SDiT or SD.
Tearanny Tearanny September 3, Service dogs in training have to learn, by you encouraging people to approach a manager to ask teams in training to leave during vital training, this only discourages necessary forward momentum for everyone in the long run. So much for being a team player….
I could not see myself doing this unless the handler did not take action to correct the behavior. Most ligitimate Service dog trainers would do this. Dana September 3, As a service dog handler, I agree with most of this article — however, there is one incorrect part of the article — According to the article Service Dogs can not Sniff staff members, patrons, floors, tables, counters, surfaces, products, shelving or anything else.
Cathy August 7, A Hearing Dog is trained to break a heel and go inspect the noise. That is his job as my ears. According to this article, if I am sitting in a coffee shop and my dog does his job by breaking heel which a hearing dog is never put into a strict heel gets up, leaves my side and looks around the table to see what caught his attention and to tell if he needs to alert me to it, he is acting in an unprofessional way?
Hearing Dogs are trained to go to the sound and decide if it needs to alert. I am not talking about disturbing the public, I am talking about walking to the end of his 6 foot leash. There are less strict and different rules where hearing dogs are concerned. They can never be in a strict heel or they cannot do their job. I am not talking about out of control, but quiet curiosity that a hearing dog needs to do his job properly.
That could potentially hurt us and other hearing dog teams. I am asked all the time if he is a service dog in training because not much is really known about Hearing Service Dogs. Please take into consideration the tasks that ALL service dogs do, not just the most common ones. I have even gotten glares from other SD handlers when my dogs attention is directed anywhere but at me.
He IS doing his job! Terry McCormack October 10, As a professional hearing dog trainer, I disagree. What I feel you are describing is more on along the lines of the dog reacting to a distraction rather than performing a trained task. All of my hearing dogs function off leash because of the 2 way alert they have been trained to perform.
Cathy October 10, They told me to never have him off leash unless in a contained area like a home or yard because he was TRAINED to investigate any sound he thinks may be important, not just the very specific trained ones. Curiosity is one of the characteristics they look for in a potential dog candidate. If its just kids playing he lays back down.
Say I am sitting at a coffee shop with him at my feet. If he hears something like two people arguing, he will look for the source, then show me what is going on and then he looks to my reaction to tell if it was important to me. He has his specific trained tasks, the specific alerts, but also he is trained to be curious about the surroundings we are in, to stay alert to it. Just because you train your dogs differently from how another organization trains their dogs does not make your way the only right way. You see, if you saw how my dog does his job, as opposed to how your dog does his, would you call me and my dog a fake?
I do find that you train differently very interesting because I never knew the training could be so different for the same type service dog. I guess my point is, every service dog team is unique and should not be judged in such a strict way. I totally agree that your dog is it disability dog. The problem why your getting bad looks is because of people bringing their untrained dog that they bought something online saying they were an emotional support dog for a service dog when the dog is had absolutely no training no shots has he been in bed most of the time.
They are abusing the law to give you the rights you should have. If you want to be more accepted help change the laws for those people that are abusing it and have the love go towards people who do need these dogs everywhere they go. For a service dog like yours for a seeing eye dog, which we rarely see. I have no problem with giving my daughter a ride for her so that she does not get hives and sneezing.
Without the help from people like you, who need these dogs. Others will abuse the law and you will continue to be looked at like some of those people. Miguel January 2, This list is a wish list. In the field even the best k9s have their days or give false alerts! Also the author as usual with these trainers had failed to explain that the dogs they are talking about have been bred to have these traits or the unwanted traits out of them. Think of breeding a drone. Also the cost of owning one of these dogs will and can be in the 10s of thousands!
For vets like me who only live on our benefits; adopting a puppy and hiring a trainer can save a lot of money. Adopt and train save a life they may in turn one day save yours. I know mine did twice! I completely agree — and if you are lucky enough to be a Vet Miguel — thank you for your service , here in California there are several organizations that fast track you on their waiting list or possibly get your SD for free — which is amazing for Vets, they deserve it.
The dog is in the store for what, 20 minutes, worst case scenario. Tammy July 6, Let me thank you for YOUR service. I agree about the mountains of debt and alternative solutions to the traditional method of getting and training a SD. But when it came time to begin going to school. We encountered many problems. The incident that preceeded this was when a child approached the dog in a loud and fast manner the dog turned his head.
From that point on. We ended up getting a lawyer and are working on changing schools. But this dog is incredibly well behaved. We took great pains to ensure that he could handle the high energy situations he would be faced with in school and playgrounds, and everywhere a little boy might want to go.
He even goes down slides! Our troubles were not a result of poor training of our dog but in poor training of the public. I realize that the author was trying to provide good information and much of it is. And it is articles like this one, however well intentioned, that give fuel to people who are uneducated about the actual laws. Like that teacher… In my opinion this article could be likened to an article on Adult human behavior.
The same holds true for SDs at any given moment in time they could be engaged in something on this list. We need to remember that SDs are individuals. They have bad days too. You might be catching a team on a rough day. In the early days of my research, i read eeveral articles like this one. I asked her how that could happen!
5 Questions to Ask Before Partnering With a Service Dog
She was a spunky but mature woman who had had several SDs over the years and said flat out. Some days they really push your buttons. I am very grateful to her for helping me to go into this process with a little reality. I think the general population has an idea tha SDs are robots. This article simply reinforces that notion.
I find this comment very interesting and I wonder if people can chime in on this. From the comment above it sounds like allergies are considered a disability under the ADA since an allergen detection service dog is mentioned. And even when the animal is no longer present, their allergens remain. I was shoe shopping the other day and got up from the chair to find I had dog fur all over me almost up to my shoulders. Your advise would be so welcome. Pam — the ADA suggests that if there are allergies that the person with the service dog and the person with the allergies be separated as far away from each-other as possible.
I would suggest doing the best you can to confront you allergy situation, it sounds absolutely miserable… That being said, I think the ADA is leaning towards the Allergies and Fear of Dogs thing as many people would use that as a quick excuse to deny us access.
Thanks — I think my question was not very clear. I wondered if the ADA protects someone like me from FAKE service [pet] dogs or is there an organization I can contact who is trying to stop the easy faking of service dogs? You could try to file a claim with the ADA 3 year typical turn over with that- if they decide to pick up your claim and take it to court You could also hire a lawyer and take the individual to court personally in your area. That seems to be the way it stands right now. Not sure how any local groups could help you other than stirring up attention — but its kind of a lot of fuss for the whole topic, which will end up in more articles like these.
Allergies are awful, and so are disabilities and I think those faking are psychologically disabled lol I understand that, sucky conundrum. Rachel December 9, You should probably look into getting that taken care of lol Get allergy drops or allergy shots.
Animals are everywhere and you kinda just have to deal with it. Im allergic to cats and dogs, however my dog allergy isnt as severe as cats. My service dog is bathed every month with special shampoo, that helps. Im also on allergy drops so i wont react at all to my dog unless she licks me, and she is trained not to lick anything. Pet hair can transfer some someone who ownes a pet dog, has the hair on their clothes, and then sits on a chair before you do, thus getting on the chair, and the dog never even entered the building.
If your allergy is that severe, id consider getting it under control. Monica January 5, Pam I have severe allergies to some dog breeds and definately rodents. Cats send me into anaphalactic shock. I have been and asthmatic for years. I have had 3 Service dogs in the past 20 years. All were low shed low dander types. I kept all three dog very well groomed and clean. I if I know someone is allergic I will move away. I take allergie meds every day and some days it is worse. In past years I took 6 shots two times a week so I understand how you feel. Dogs do belong on the floor in businesses.
If you are ever in a place where a legit SD team is just ask to be seated away from the animal as far as possible. Businesses also have to allow for your disability also by giving you reasonable accomadation as well. Z January 5, In fact quite the opposite, the problem they have is with all the fakers causing allergy problems.
Not actual service dogs. Pams16, i feel for you. I know my service dog can be an allergic problem for others. I always give him a through bath once a week, and a good brushing and wipe down with hypo-allergenic baby wipes before going into public places. My pain doctor, which ive been going to for 15 years, recently rented his office out to, but what else, an allergy doctor, during his off day.
At first there was no problems, but then they had a dog allergic patient have a reaction. They then took my to the closest exam room, reducing amount of dander spread in office. They then had a cleaning company clean the office and throughly clean the exam room that night i saw him on tuesdays, allergy doc was there fridays. I also gave my dog a deshedding and brush down followed by a bath the morning of my appointment.
The othrr patient nevrr had another reaction. And, a real service dog should never be on a chair or bench, bus or plane seat.
Do Pets Go to Heaven?
I have intractable seizures, mobility issues, and ptsd. If my dog alerts i lay on the floor if its a seizure and he lays on me till the seizure is over. I wish there was a way to help both sd team and people allergic. Bridget Ilene Delaney April 16, Thank you for saying that! Plus, dogs sniff to find out things. I have some allergies, although not too severe. My sister, though, has MANY allergies.
My little service dog also knows when to protect me. I am tired of people lying about our dogs saying that they run up and lick people. The majority of the time, they are VERY well behaved. StarMuse September 3, That is why if a person is unsure why a dog barked or why a dog did a certain thing they need to ask first. As long as you as a trainer keep the dog under control and redirect unwanted behavior,there really should be know problem.
The ADA business brief says this in a way. As does SD Law. Maddie November 30, This is a good point — any action taken by a service dog in training or not could be misunderstood by a patron and then you have the Gladys Kravitz of the world running to the manager reporting a non-incidence. Amanda H February 16, The article says that no dog is perfect and they are always learning.
Not breaking a heel or getting up. The behavior has to be interfering with the business and its customers, significantly. Not a, small, one time instance thing. I think this article addresses that. The place for him to master these skills and to be properly socialized as a SD is not in a restaurant or retail shop but in other public and private venues where pets are allowed. The right to Public Access is a privilege accorded to disabled persons whose dogs have mastered behavioral criteria.
You do not take your dog to a restaurant to teach him not to sniff at other people,not to beg for their food, or not to scarf up what falls on the floor. I have a service dog and I can tell you quite honestly that if a dog kept getting up and moving around in a restaurant and came near my table, I would be asking the manager to have the animal removed. Ditto for any dog that sniffed me or sniffed my dog in any no pets retail establishment.
The expectation of an SD or SDiT in a restaurant is that they will sit either under the table, the chair, or next to the handler and be essentially unobtrusive. If he is getting up and moving around repeatedly, especially in a crowded restaurant, bumping into other patrons or their table or chair, that would not be acceptable and while some people might ignore it as long as he was not violating the personal space of other patrons, legally, that could get you ejected. A lot of people who train their own dogs get confused by the terminology and they do not understand at what point their dog becomes an SDiT.
A puppy or young dog that you are in the process of training and hope to have as your SD is not an SDiT. Once he has mastered those skills and credentials, he can then be trained to master the tasks that he will be performing to assist his handler. At that point he is an SDiT. Some people who train their dogs begin with the tasks first, not the behavioral requirements. That is not a problem as long as you understand that until he has been properly obedience trained and public access trained, he is not considered to be a SD or SDiT. You can find the criteria for public access testing and CGC testing on line and train the dog yourself.
But unless you are completely secure in his obedience training and behavior, you are exposing yourself to significant civil liability if he so much as scratches another patron, even accidentally. BGSD August 12, Drea October 5, Some states treat dogs in training the same as trained dogs.
Stop advocating to limit the rights of handlers in states that have seen fit to broaden those rights. I spent several years dealing with management that thought I was faking my disability and denied me accommodations and harassed me and it was miserable. I had a person hassle me across a store telling me that if my service dog was legit he would have a vest. My dog is small 15 lbs and does sit on the booth bench with me at a restaurant but never interacts with anything on the table. Also, every change in law in the last 30 years has been to expand protection and rights of the disabled and limit barriers so climb down from that high horse before you ride it off the cliff.
Trainer September 3, An important point has been left out of this article; the dog should be on leash at all times unless the task specifically requires the dog to be off leash and then the dog is to return and be put on leash as soon as the task is completed. Byron Croft August 30, It also says that the handler may use other methods of control such as verbal commands or hand signals. My dog does not use a leash, typically.
We do in hazardous environments. Often a leash will get in the way if we are at an event where it is very crowded. Additionally, if I am shopping or working, I need both hands free, not lose another arm to holding a leash. You are only half correct. The LAW does not say a dog should be put back on leash or needs to be leashed at all if the leash would interfere with trained tasks that directly mitigate the disability. The dog should be under control at all times. If the dog is under control at all times by voice or other means and a leash would interfere with the dogs job, there is nothing that states the dog needs to be on a leash at all.
Joy Litzenberger January 14, I am currently training an epilepsy response dog whose job will be to go find help when I have a seizure. He does have a traffic leash so that I can grab hold if need be. He would not be able to get help for me if he were attached to me. Andrew September 3, Having spent countless years in the service industry and restaurants in particular in an area where the privilege and necessity of having a service dog is abused, I have a different perspective on this article.
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What the author is warning you of is this:. The problem is growing, and if it continues, I can guarantee that it will be addressed by changes in the law. Through complacency on the part of people in the know, and ignorance of the law by most everyone else, what is a fair and equitable exemption in the law is quickly becoming a loophole for the narcissists of the world to exploit. Cheryl September 21, Eventually because of fakers all of us will eventually be affected. I have always followed the rules when training and using my present service dog and I did so with my first two dogs.
I have been fortunate to have had and now have an awsome working dog who is always welcome anywhere we go. But I must say I have run into the untrained SDs in my travels. I travel via public transit. My service dog and I are quite new to public transportation in our area due to the fact I no longer drive. Now I am seeing more and more smaller untrained dogs wearing vests you can buy on line. Sad to say these dogs are not well behaved but are just pets that people want to take with them. It is really bad. One lady who has seizures on my bus rout has a Chiwawa that while yes it does alert to her seizures, it also barks at my dog who is quietly laying under my bus seat and never reacts.
The little dog will bite kids. I have spoken to this lady and told her she must train her dog for public access because this is improper behavior. Last week I saw another lady in my area who now has a vest on her pet Shi zu so she can take it on the bus. The dog drags her down the sidewalk. The driver was kind and explained to the man the difference in his dog and my dog who is trained. Fancy Nancy November 1, I am not a dog owner, but am curious about this subject. Do true service dogs have a paper showing their legitimacy? Service Dog November 1, Katie July 17, So there is the answer to the two questions, and the note should only have to be shown to the manger of the store, the owner or head of a restaurant or whatever place etc.
As to putting an end to fake service dogs no doctor would ever write a note unless it was a true service dog because that would be fraud, and the doctor knows that!!
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Service Dog July 17, Hi Katie, that is an interesting suggestion! Rondal Love November 26, I received my guide dog from Leader Dogs for the Blind. At the end of the program they gave us a photo ID with the access law on the back of the card. I think they gave it to us as a tool to use if we are wrongly asked to leave. Meagan February 13, Our county requires that the dog be tagged and there is a special dog tag they give with licensiing. They can only be licensed in my county if they have been vaccinated and had a rabies shot and that has to be a yearly thing in order to maintain the license.
I could never own a licensed dog again. Finally, people are seeing just how much these dogs can benefit children with a wide range of disabilities. While the state does encourage you to get the special tag — they are hoping it will help cut down on fakers — there are some requirements that make it inadvisable to do this every year. What is legally mandatory in all of this is the hoops they have jump through if you want to get the special tag. My service dog is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and over-vaccination in this breed is dangerous and can cause life threatening medical complications.
We experienced this in another of our dogs and she nearly died. We are not about to risk my service dog after all of the time and money we have invested in training. I would chat with your vet about the annual rabies requirement. You might want to ask your county licensing board to review and reconsider that one requirement. One of the leading experts on this she has been researching it for years is Dr.
Jean Dodds in Garden Grove California. Perhaps a letter from her would help to get that rule modified. The extra vaccinations do not make your dog more immune to rabies — that is a myth! If your vet feels annual vaccination is too much, you can legitimately just get a regular tag for your dog. He is still legally a service dog according to the ADA, and the county can not penalize you for that. They CAN charge you for the regular license tag usually they do not charge for SD licenses but the dog is still legally a service dog.
I would familiarize yourself with the ADA. It sounds like your trainer has a good handle on it. I would carry a small ADA card around with you for anyone who would choose to question the legitimacy of the dog. A lot of people do have cards printed up that explain the ADA. In fact, you can get a standardized one on Amazon. They sell packages of them for a nominal price. Honestly, if your dog is well-behaved as a SD should be and you politely explain to the managers and staff at businesses you routinely patronize that he is a service dog, you are probably not going to have any significant problems.
And if the business is not aware of the ADA requirements, the time to clear that up is not when there is a line of people waiting to be seated and everyone is frazzled, but ahead of time, when it can be done cordially and politely. Often, if we are going someplace new to us, we will call ahead and let the management know that we are coming and that we need a table that can accommodate a wheelchair and a service dog. We virtually never have a problem. In fact, once, we were told by the manager on the phone that they were expecting 30 little kids for a birthday party and suggested that we come a bit later than we had planned.
He thought the little kids would bother the dog, pestering the dog and and us, mostly out of curiosity, and interfere with our peaceful lunch. I thought that was most gracious of him to share that with us and we did go a bit later. Honestly, we had a lovely lunch and everyone was so kind to us. Wishing you and your son much more independence and the ability to widen his horizons now that he has a service dog to assist him!
I am so excited for him! My dog goes into anaphalactyc shock and coded twice when he got his rabies vaccine at 6 months. Then, he got pseudorabies as a side effect 3 days later. So, how would the county sign my service dog up if i refused to risk his life? Also, vaccines are only to be given to healthy dogs, so any dog with skin condition, immunocompromised, allergies, cancer ect should not be vaccinated much less vaccinated every year when the AVMA guidlelines now read every 3 years or as titers require.
I use titers, my dog is 7 and has immunity to this day from his puppy shot. We also live in Florida so he has a medical exemption letter from his vet for the rabies.
And no, my dog is not going to make someone elses vaccinated dog sick, if vaccines really worked that is. My dog has never been sick, except when he was vaccinated. He eats a species appropriate diet and is not bombarded with poisons that weaken his immune system. There is no licensing or certification required. However, the business owner, if he feels the dog is being fraudulently portrayed as a service dog, can make a police report.
A true service dog may not have any documentation. The owner has to have a documented medical disability but he does not have to carry that documentation or provide medical documentation or even disclose his medical condition for access to retail establishments, restaurants, etc. Most service dogs are very well trained for public behavior.
Fake service dogs are rampant. Service dog vests are easily obtained on line and many people have no problem putting a vest on their dog in order to gain access to places where a pet wold not be allowed and to get their dogs a free trip in the cabin or a commercial airline, unconfined to a crate such as would be required of a pet. Not only do the frequently display disruptive, offensive behavior in retail businesses, but they give real service dogs a bad rap — the general public is getting more and more resentful of all dogs represented as service dogs who interfere with their enjoyment of dinner, shopping, or a visit to a museum.
Creating more hoops to jump through for the legitimate service dog handler is not the solution; increased prosecution and penalties for misrepresenting phoney service dogs and making it easier for businesses and citizens to report fakers is really the key.
Kea Grace May 7, Andrew, you hit the nail on the head. Legit Service Dogs have bad days, but even on their WORST days, their training, conditioning, socialization and professionalism are clear. Beverly May 17, As someone who works in a hospital I can say that Andrew is exactly right. We have people who abuse this rule every few months and we can not say a word. That does not mean that you as a trainer can not inform the person of the two rules that allow a business owner to ask them to leave.
Pam Woncik June 1, I agree with Andrew. These dogs are now common in every public venue in Los Angeles County: Lenore May 14, It is becoming a real problem. We had a wet, antsy, yellow lab in our restaurant last night sitting behind the woman at the bar.
The dog was in the way of the hostess stand so I had to ask them to move the dog a little. She asked my name, said I was way out of line and complained about me. I feel sorry for people that really need a dog because this is making a problem for them. Although, we know what dogs really are service dogs. Kelley Jendrzejewski September 4, Found this on fb. Good article for the most part.
Young dogs need the public exposure and this may encourage a bit to much on finger pointing. Yes I feel that it is important to let the public know that they are protected under the Ada. But not to the point were it can cause issues for the service dog team. I was recently push to the back of a restaurant because of my sdit.
They stated concern about my dog being around the food. They felt it represented a health risk. But the spot they put me in was not only next to the kitchen but an employee was sorting silver wear within arms reach of me. The public reads articals such as this one and react. The only thing I was isolated from was the other customers in the restaurant. To his credit my sdit stayed were he was told and did not even sniff at employees as they passed by. Jamie September 4, I think this article is geared to those posing as service dogs.
StarMuse September 4, But why should I have to deal with the stress of being confronted for no reason, especially when part of my disability is autonomic dysfunction. If my dog was barking, defecating, etc, etc, confront me all you want but some of these suggestions ARE going to cause problems for people with dogs in training and fully trained teams. My dog is extremely well trained for his age, and where he is at in our training plan, and we choose our training outings appropriately. I should NOT have to deal with the extra stress this ill written article could end up causing me.
Jamie September 5, No one is going to be scrutinizing your dog for him to move out of position for just a second. It should be more lenient towards different disabilities… it does give general public an idea what to look for. Wendy May 25, I have — wazzos coming out of the woodwork, across large, crowded rooms, just to harass me as I sipped my tea and read in a coffee shop with my dog sound asleep beside me. My dog could never match this standard entirely or all the time at this stage, but he does what I need him to do — and most people out there think he is the model of excellent behavior.
Drea June 30, My husbands service dog behaves perfectly out in public every time. When I read this article it fit him to the T. Their is a command for just about everything. When the command is given he still remains still and simply allows people to pet him. Nothing distracts him, he is always calm. He is definitely not the family pet, he is my husbands SD and I have never seen such loyalty before. Kea Grace September 4, My dog does not work at heel at all times. She is a balance support or assitant dog. She used a Stabilizer harness to do that job.
Depending on what is needed you will see her slightly tug forward or from side to side. Or going through certain door ways I back into the door with my body and she goes to my left and exits the door and pivots without my hand ever loosing contact with the harness. She does step at a time down stairs and a pull up stairs. She is required to stay on the bus with me backing down to the pavement while steadying myself with her by harness handle then once I am safe she exits the bus and we continue. She also does retrievals when I drop things. So it would not be unusual to see her pick up a napkin or a pen or money or other thing I may drop.
I have always been about educating the public about her job and how she does it. Especially about the harness. Many people think it is a guide harness so I find myself explaining that a lot. I am glad to do it. I know not everyone is and it can be aggrevating to always have to answere questions but if I have time I will. I tell business owners who have been mistreated by the fakers about that little clause. We had a rough time of it. Still occasionally myself or another will encounter a problem but it is all in how you handle it.
I like to make a better way for those teams coming behind us. Danielle November 25, This is a great mentality to have being willing to talk to people about what the dog does for you. My dog was a stray that we found starving in Hot Springs, Arkansas while traveling the country so it was a big accomplishment for me to train her as a service dog. She helped me out of a really rough place with my disability.
I was hoping after all I went through that I would be able to relate and help people that were going through the same thing, but instead I train dogs. I think that helps people in a different way. CeCe Gwathmey September 9, I love this site and all the valuable info you put out. I have been sharing your educational graphics all summer and have received great feedback from family and friends. In regard to this article I wanted to address seizure alert service dogs.
My husband is lucky to have received a wonderful service dog who not only alerts to his seizures, but can detect the onset of a seizure. He will give my husband a warning that a seizure is imminent by whining, sometimes incessantly. Once the seizure begins he will bark to alert to the seizure and continue barking through the duration of the seizure. So I just wanted to point out that sometimes whining and barking are a part of his job. Thanks and keep up the great work. Service Dog September 9, Thank you for your excellent points — dogs who can detect seizures are rare — your husband is very lucky!
Colleen February 23, He help me with balance, forward motion, up and down steps, he also retrieves items medication, bottled water from Refer, etc. One day when driving to town he jumped up from his normal down in the car, he started pacing and whining. I had no idea what was going on so I pulled over to see if he had hurt himself or something. I checked him and he himself was fine but very agitated. I no more then got him back into the car and seated myself when my legs cramped up. I could not walk nor could I have operated the pedals of my car.
I am so happy as my Dr. He has never failed to get me to safety. Karen Ann September 18, Tearanny Tearanny November 1, I am with Karen on this one, and probably a bit more concerned. I have no desire to be a buzz-kill, simply sharing my own experiences for your consideration. The unrealistic expectations placed in this article can cause unforeseen problems for those of us with a SD for a multitude of reasons. My 16 year old SD was profoundly amazing, knew his job backwards and forwards. I used to joke about him being an fuzzy, bear-like chemical weapon of mass destruction for noses within a quarter mile, just to make light of the nature of nature.
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That is one of his many jobs, he is great at it, becoming better daily, he is still young. After feeling in the know, empowered, and informed after reading this article, how would an average person KNOW what specific job the SD is trained to accomplish without directly asking? Sorry, TOO much personal information awarded to anyone other than family or close friends, in my opinion. These events only cause drama, conflict, and unnecessary negative social interaction for all parties involved.
If I had not been forced to deal with this very type of scenario, I would not have known to have spoken up. I only WISH the average person was more tolerable to others in their world. I have seen a professionally trained service dog sniff, turn to look at other dogs, lead their blind handler in the wrong direction because they were interested in my own service dog and I had to call out to warn them. Dogs are not robots for sure. I too have met service dogs that show an interest in other things. Sometimes, especially after a long day, dogs do what comes natural to them, no matter how well trained they are.
Kelsey and Kona November 1, My service dog alerts to my blood sugar by a high pitch whine and if I try to ignore her signal she raises the volume. She also is supposed to do a lower whine on cue when I feel uncomfortable in my surroundings and need an excuse to leave. My service dog alerts to suspicious persons by a short and silent growl. If their is immediate danger my service dog is trained to bark.
She is supposed to be vocal to mitigate my disability. My service dog is trained to do boundary control and is supposed to put herself between others and me to push the others away in certain situations. That can be seen as circling because that is exactly what she was trained to do, circle around me making sure no one is invading my personal space. My service dog is supposed to focus on the surrounding and me at the same time, she can feel and smell where I am so she has no need to have blatant focus on me when her job is to ensure that I feel safe by having her be observant to my surroundings.
That is half of the article that says my service dog is not a service dog. I do not agree with that half but the other half is good information. Joseph Meep December 3, How does the average person know what that task work is? I have people ask me why does my ASD son need a service animal? And what tasks does he perform? You should see my son when we have him in public, my son is smiling, petting him talking to him, tells others about him, tells them his name etc. Like was mentioned earlier, what is a task for one person may not be a task for another one. Heather November 1, I have had a couple of accessibility issues, but not because of his misbehavior, just ignorance.
Also, alerts are going to vary depending on the dog and the disability. Two things lately have irritated the ever loving heck out of me: Part of me wants to just give in and buy one they are spiffy-looking but the other part of me just wants people to take a minute and learn something. I have spent close to 2 years training Herbert and he is wonderful—not perfect, but wonderful. I receive quite a bit of questioning whenever I travel and is it possible that this girl is right? Tahoeaway November 22, Saying all show dogs ride on Airplanes as service animals is completely not true. We own 2 service dogs one for myself and one from my deceased Mother but have many friends who show their dogs.
I do not know of even one person who is an avid show goer who would ever consider misrepresenting a Service Dog. Also the idea of going up to the manager is easily setting real service dogs and handlers up for more scrutiny. These dogs are just that… dogs and they are not perfect should not be expected to be machines. When my Mother passed she was alone with her service dog. She was immediately whisked away for 3 days to Boarding and had no clue what happened to her handler. I immediately flew to pick up her dog and then fly to another state for the funeral, the boarding kennel brought her to the Airport for me and after the stress of being alone, confused and scared from seeing her handler pass she was relieved and excited to see me.
When we were boarding the plane the flight attendant became very angry at me and stated that the dog was disturbing people and such. I explained the situation and he still was being a jerk about it. Eventually I spoke to someone else at the airline who was more sympathetic and understood the stress and trauma we were both under. This dog has flown on over a dozen flights and just happened to have 1 bad day because of her handlers passing.