The problem with having a service dog ... About This Page:

[Tabitha34]

Originally Posted by tinker_me_happy

Ok, I have a question about service dogs. I know people who have trained them and someone who has one and seen others around. In the area where I live, service dogs have very specific vests and or badges to alert you that they are service dogs. It is very clear! While we were in Disney this past week My DH and I saw a couple pushing a baby stroller sort of contraption with a pet carrier on it with 2 small "purse type" dogs laying down inside. On white paper written in black stuck in the front of the carrier were the words "service dogs". This is Nothing like the accredited type of badges or other service dog "please don't pet me I'm working" type of wear I have ever seen before! Can anyone at all tell me if there is any legitimacy to this at all??? Or are these people scam artists who just wanted to brings their pocket dogs into the parks?

Oh.. and I am familiar with Therapy Dogs, so I did take that into consideration.

I would think if they were therapy dogs they would still have to have more than a piece of paper. A vest or something. I could be wrong though.

[Eeyore Tattoo]

Originally Posted by tinker_me_happy

Ok, I have a question about service dogs. I know people who have trained them and someone who has one and seen others around. In the area where I live, service dogs have very specific vests and or badges to alert you that they are service dogs. It is very clear! While we were in Disney this past week My DH and I saw a couple pushing a baby stroller sort of contraption with a pet carrier on it with 2 small "purse type" dogs laying down inside. On white paper written in black stuck in the front of the carrier were the words "service dogs". This is Nothing like the accredited type of badges or other service dog "please don't pet me I'm working" type of wear I have ever seen before! Can anyone at all tell me if there is any legitimacy to this at all??? Or are these people scam artists who just wanted to brings their pocket dogs into the parks?

Oh.. and I am familiar with Therapy Dogs, so I did take that into consideration.

Personally I would be very skeptical..
I wrote a thread a few months back about people abusing the system, http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...gs-disney.html
I think people like that need to be questioned about what the dogs job is, Why 2 dogs? How will they "alert" if inside a stroller.. Just sayin!
P.S. Miss Haley was fully trained to help me with my illness & wore a vest with patches & had a photo ID to identify her..

[Tabitha34]

Originally Posted by Eeyore Tattoo

Personally I would be very skeptical..
I wrote a thread a few months back about people abusing the system, http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...gs-disney.html
I think people like that need to be questioned about what the dogs job is, Why 2 dogs? How will they "alert" if inside a stroller.. Just sayin!
P.S. Miss Haley was fully trained to help me with my illness & wore a vest with patches & had a photo ID to identify her..

Thanks for sharing this! I have thought about the possibility of a service dog for my daughter when my she is older.

[tinker_me_happy]

I think service dogs are wonderful! It really bothers me that people would do that to get their pets inside the park! I can not speak highly enough for the job the real service dogs do or for the amount of training that they and their "people" go through! People who abuse that system should be ejected from the parks immediately! But honestly, what can we do to stop the abuse? Totally serious question BTW! I'm so tired of the rule breakers and CMs turning their heads because they don't want to deal with it!

[PamelaK]

Merlin has a red vest with a patch saying "I am a service animal" and an orange saddle pack vest with two of the same patches. He also has a photo ID with his shot records and a member/certification card from International Association of Assistance Dog Partners. When we take him out, it is very clear that he is a service animal. The only time he really breaks from this working attitude while wearing his vest is when we go to the shelter that we adopted him from. We like to take him there to visit every now and again so that they can see his progress. He is one of their success stories.

Therapy dogs generally have a blue vest with a "I am a therapy animal" or "I am a service animal" patch on them.

A handwritten note on a stroller type carrier seems EXTREMELY fishy to me.

ETA: Ramoan (DBF) brought up this point: if they are really small dogs, it may be hard to put a vest on them. Lilly is a smallish dog (not "pocket" size) and it is a little hard to get a vest on her. Granted if we had one the right size it would be easier, but her legs are so short that having a vest on her makes it hard for her to walk. (We are considering training her as a therapy dog to go visit nursing homes on a volunteer basis.) Even with a vest on the dog, people tend to question whether or not it is really a service animal. Merlin works really hard and is often questioned about his service animal status because a boxer is not a typical service dog. For instance, when we ate at CRT in November a VETERINARIAN questioned whether or not Merlin was really a service dog. We were just leaving the restaurant and at the top of the stairs waiting for a clearing for us to go down. A little girl came up and roughly patted Merlin on his butt. Merlin began barking and Ramoan had to hold on to him. The girl turned out to be the daughter of a veterinarian. The vet told Ramoan that he had worked with a lot of service dogs and none of them acted that way. Ramoan replied by telling him, that may be true, but his daughter had forcefully patted his dog on the butt without any warning since she came up from behind. There was also the fact that when we got Merlin, he had just had heartworm treatment where they shoved a long needle into his spine at his butt. He is really sensitive about that region. We can pet him and touch that area without him getting upset, but a stranger hitting him there will upset him.

[Eeyore Tattoo]

Funny thing Pam, You would think a child of a vet would know better than to sneak up on a dog & "pat" it at all! My thoughts, that man was no vet because vets do know any breed can be a service dog (Haley being a Whippet) and the fact that service dogs can be protective of their person especially when a unknown sneaks up & assaults them (the dog) Good Boy Merlin, you are doing your job..

[lauriep]

Stay away from that vet! For a veterinarian not to know and teach his children that you never pet an unknown dog and that ANY breed can be a service dog is shameful. Boxers are used frequently as service dogs for the blind (there are several that I see around Boston) and as seizure dogs.

[B.M.]

Originally Posted by PamelaK

Merlin has a red vest with a patch saying "I am a service animal" and an orange saddle pack vest with two of the same patches. He also has a photo ID with his shot records and a member/certification card from International Association of Assistance Dog Partners. When we take him out, it is very clear that he is a service animal. The only time he really breaks from this working attitude while wearing his vest is when we go to the shelter that we adopted him from. We like to take him there to visit every now and again so that they can see his progress. He is one of their success stories.

Therapy dogs generally have a blue vest with a "I am a therapy animal" or "I am a service animal" patch on them.

A handwritten note on a stroller type carrier seems EXTREMELY fishy to me.

ETA: Ramoan (DBF) brought up this point: if they are really small dogs, it may be hard to put a vest on them. Lilly is a smallish dog (not "pocket" size) and it is a little hard to get a vest on her. Granted if we had one the right size it would be easier, but her legs are so short that having a vest on her makes it hard for her to walk. (We are considering training her as a therapy dog to go visit nursing homes on a volunteer basis.) Even with a vest on the dog, people tend to question whether or not it is really a service animal. Merlin works really hard and is often questioned about his service animal status because a boxer is not a typical service dog. For instance, when we ate at CRT in November a VETERINARIAN questioned whether or not Merlin was really a service dog. We were just leaving the restaurant and at the top of the stairs waiting for a clearing for us to go down. A little girl came up and roughly patted Merlin on his butt. Merlin began barking and Ramoan had to hold on to him. The girl turned out to be the daughter of a veterinarian. The vet told Ramoan that he had worked with a lot of service dogs and none of them acted that way. Ramoan replied by telling him, that may be true, but his daughter had forcefully patted his dog on the butt without any warning since she came up from behind. There was also the fact that when we got Merlin, he had just had heartworm treatment where they shoved a long needle into his spine at his butt. He is really sensitive about that region. We can pet him and touch that area without him getting upset, but a stranger hitting him there will upset him.

By chance; did the little girl have brown hair and appear to be 4 or 5 years old? And have a twin brother? I ask because I know a family that went to Disney the same week as you; the dad is a veterinarian; his wife; and their twins..... I could feature this being the ones you ran into....

[PamelaK]

Laurie - Luckily we LOVE our vet, so no worries about running into the one from WDW.

Brandi - I don't remember off hand what the little girl looked like, but Ramoan said she had brown hair. She was about 4 or 5 years old. I don't know about the brother though. It would be a really small world if it were the same family though.

[RobinKay6573]

One of the trainers I work with trains service and therapy dogs. Please understand there is a difference. Service dogs are paired with a person to "help" that person be as close to "equal" to a normal person... Kind of like a hearing aid does for a person that has trouble hearing. They provide a service. Service dogs are for the most part prescribed by a doctor and have special training to assist the individual with tasks in life (or alert to dangers or ailments). That being said, it is against the ADA law for a business to ask to see an ID (and the animal doesn't need to wear a vest or any sort of identification). I personally think that is weird because that opens it up for anyone to bring their everyday dog anywhere and just say “he is my assistance dog” and by law no one can question it. A few organizations that train service dogs recommend their not be another dog in the household (I think Paws With a Cause doesn't allow other dogs in the house but I am not 100% sure). I believe this is to help curb jealousy issues that can distract the working dog.

Here is what the ADA says about service dogs:

• Businesses may ask if an animal is a service animal or ask what tasks the animal has been trained to perform, but cannot require special ID cards for the animal or ask about the person's disability.
• People with disabilities who use service animals cannot be charged extra fees, isolated from other patrons, or treated less favorably than other patrons. However, if a business such as a hotel normally charges guests for damage that they cause, a customer with a disability may be charged for damage caused by his or her service animal.
• A person with a disability cannot be asked to remove his service animal from the premises unless: (1) the animal is out of control and the animal's owner does not take effective action to control it (for example, a dog that barks repeatedly during a movie) or (2) the animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others.
• In these cases, the business should give the person with the disability the option to obtain goods and services without having the animal on the premises.
• Businesses that sell or prepare food must allow service animals in public areas even if state or local health codes prohibit animals on the premises.
• A business is not required to provide care or food for a service animal or provide a special location for it to relieve itself.

• Allergies and fear of animals are generally not valid reasons for denying access or refusing service to people with service animals.
• Violators of the ADA can be required to pay money damages and penalties.

Good luck with your new assistance dog!! It is a very exciting venture!

[PamelaK]

A friend of mine on Facebook shared this video, and I thought my friends here would like to watch it as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbiz3zpkzxE

[Eeyore Tattoo]

Thanks for sharing that Pam !
I saw a Whippet!!!!!!!!!!
I know many Whippet service dogs too!

[lauriep]

It's never safe to read the boards without a box of tissues handy! Thanks, Pam.

[SueM loves WDW]

Originally Posted by Sandra Bostwick

Interesting! I never knew that!

When my DD's dog is outside of our house, he wears his vest. For many dogs, it works as a 'uniform' that signals to the dog that he or she is working.

When her dog is not working, he is just a dog. He does have some pieces of work he does automatically - in our house, if anyone drops something, it WILL get picked up.
And shoes left out are MEANT to be picked up and put in the closet. He's very serious about those things, whether the vest is on or not.

A vest or other marking is not required, as a later poster mentioned, but many Service Dogs do wear them for the 'uniform' reason and also because it does tell others the dog is working.

Originally Posted by Tabitha34

I would think if they were therapy dogs they would still have to have more than a piece of paper. A vest or something. I could be wrong though.

As a later poster noted, there is a difference between service dogs and therapy dogs.
Service Dogs are looked at under the ADA like a piece of assistive equipment (I know, kind of weird to think of a living thing like that). They are individually trained to provide specific assistance to someone and do tasks that person needs because of their disability.

Therapy Dogs are well trained dogs that go into health care or other settings and do things that are therapeutic. We have thm at the hospital where I work. They are well trained dogs, but are trained to do non-specific things like sit calmly so they can be petted.
Since they are not specifically trained for doing tasks or providing assistance to a person with a disability, under the ADA, they are not allowed out in the community like Service Dogs are.

Originally Posted by RobinKay6573

One of the trainers I work with trains service and therapy dogs. Please understand there is a difference. Service dogs are paired with a person to "help" that person be as close to "equal" to a normal person... Kind of like a hearing aid does for a person that has trouble hearing. They provide a service. Service dogs are for the most part prescribed by a doctor and have special training to assist the individual with tasks in life (or alert to dangers or ailments). That being said, it is against the ADA law for a business to ask to see an ID (and the animal doesn't need to wear a vest or any sort of identification). I personally think that is weird because that opens it up for anyone to bring their everyday dog anywhere and just say “he is my assistance dog” and by law no one can question it. A few organizations that train service dogs recommend their not be another dog in the household (I think Paws With a Cause doesn't allow other dogs in the house but I am not 100% sure). I believe this is to help curb jealousy issues that can distract the working dog.

Here is what the ADA says about service dogs:

• Businesses may ask if an animal is a service animal or ask what tasks the animal has been trained to perform, but cannot require special ID cards for the animal or ask about the person's disability.
• People with disabilities who use service animals cannot be charged extra fees, isolated from other patrons, or treated less favorably than other patrons. However, if a business such as a hotel normally charges guests for damage that they cause, a customer with a disability may be charged for damage caused by his or her service animal.
• A person with a disability cannot be asked to remove his service animal from the premises unless: (1) the animal is out of control and the animal's owner does not take effective action to control it (for example, a dog that barks repeatedly during a movie) or (2) the animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others.
• In these cases, the business should give the person with the disability the option to obtain goods and services without having the animal on the premises.
• Businesses that sell or prepare food must allow service animals in public areas even if state or local health codes prohibit animals on the premises.
• A business is not required to provide care or food for a service animal or provide a special location for it to relieve itself.

• Allergies and fear of animals are generally not valid reasons for denying access or refusing service to people with service animals.
• Violators of the ADA can be required to pay money damages and penalties.

Good luck with your new assistance dog!! It is a very exciting venture!

Very good information.
Just wanted to point out that whether there is a doctor's prescription or not probably depends on the agency providing the Service Dog. Because it is very expensive to train a dog, different agenies have different rules for how they determine who best to assign their dogs to.
My DD doesn't have have.rescription for her dog, and neither do any of her friends. But, that is the agencies we dealt with.

[lauriep]

I just read the newest PassPorter news. Congratulations on the new blog, Pam!