What Everyone Needs To Know About Service Dogs
No matter who you are- from someone whoâs never even seen a service dog to someone who utilizes a service dog in your daily life- there are some things that everyone should know about service dogs. Being aware of these things can help you be a better neighbor to those who need service dogs to help mitigate the impact of a disability on their life.
Maybe youâre just curious about whether having a service dog is right for you. There is a lot of misleading information out there, and even companies that try to sell useless products to those who do not understand what it means to own a dog under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Understanding exactly what a service dog is for and what your rights are (or arenât) can help you make the right decision if youâre considering getting a service dog to help you out.
By the way, since this topic is near and dear to my heart, I want to remind you of a very special coupon code we have for you just for deciding to read this week! You can find it about halfway through here :)
What is a service dog?
There are specific guidelines that the ADA sets for service dogs, their requirements, their rights, and limitations:
- Staff are only allowed to ask 2 questions: Is this dog a service animal that helps with a disability? What tasks is it trained to perform? Besides those 2 questions, they canât ask for documentation or IDs (weâll talk about that later), what your disability is, or require your dog to demonstrate its job to them.
- Allergies or fear of dogs doesnât mean you can exclude a service dog from a location. If this is an issue, accommodations should be made for both the person with the allergy/fear and the person with the service dog, such as putting them farther apart in the room or even in different rooms.
- A service dog can only be required to leave if it is out of control or not housebroken.
- Places that make or sell food are still required to allow service dogs.
- People with service dogs cannot be discriminated against, treated less favorably, or charged a separate fee for having their dog accompany them.
- Places (such as a hotel, business, or rented residence) that charge for damage caused by pets can still charge the owner of a service animal for any damage it causes to the property.
- Others are not required to take care of or watch over a service dog as a part of their accommodation.
Knowing these rights can help you know what is appropriate behaviour regarding service dogs, whether you are working somewhere that must accommodate them, or you are a handler who needs to know your rights.
What Everyone Should Know
Whether you ever intend to utilize a service dog or not, knowing more about them and how you should (or shouldnât) interact with them can, in the most extreme cases, either endanger or save a life. If you see a service dog in public:
It is dangerous to distract a service dog. Even if you donât think that the dog is working, distracting it may cause it to miss something important when it comes to the health of their owner. For example, some service dogs serve to alert their owners to oncoming seizures and safely help them through it. In this case, if the dog is distracted, it might not be able to detect an oncoming seizure and perform its job to keep its owner safe. You may also notice a dog doing something you may consider unusual, but it may be performing part of its work, such as dogs that are meant to detect allergens that may be dangerous or deadly to their owners.
If a service dog approaches you without an owner, it may need help. The only time you should really follow a service dog is if it comes up to you without its owner or is obviously trying to get your attention. A dog can be trained to seek out emergency help if their owner has a seizure or is otherwise incapacitated, and getting another human to help can save someoneâs life!
Some disabilities are invisible. Service dogs are being trained to help with more and more disabilities. Just because you see someone who doesnât look disabled with a service dog, doesnât mean that they are âfaking itâ. In general itâs best to live and let live, give others the benefit of the doubt, and respect others regardless of whether you know what theyâre going through or not. Of course, this is a good rule in general when it comes to life!
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If You Want A Service Dog
What NOT to do
A service dog is not just a buddy or a pet. If your dog makes you happier when theyâre around, great! However, this alone isnât enough to bring your dog to the grocery store or a restaurant. Service dogs are trained to perform specific tasks to minimize the impact of a disability, not to be companions.
There is no certificate you can buy to make your dog âofficialâ. It is illegal for any business to require documentation to âproveâ your service dog is real. There are fake services and websites that claim to sell a registration or certificate to make your dog a service dog and just give you all the rights a service dog would have by paying them. Whether you want this certificate because you truly have a service dog, or you just think itâs a way to bring your dog wherever you want, showing off some sort of paper proclaiming your dogâs legitimacy can be harmful. If a dog is brought into an establishment where itâs not normally allowed because of this âcertificateâ, the people that work there may believe that official papers are required for all real service dogs. This can lead to them stopping people with disabilities from bringing their service dogs with them because they misunderstand the law. Even worse, if an untrained dog gets into an establishment because their owner showed a fake certificate, and that dog causes trouble, the business may refuse to allow any service dogs due to damage or injury caused by an untrained dog.
What you SHOULD do:
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Talk to your doctor or mental health professional about getting a service dog. Your healthcare professional can provide a written note to your landlord or anyone else that requires it regarding your need for a service dog. They can also help you decide whether a service dog can truly help you, or if it would be the best way to mitigate your health issue or disability.
Seek out professional trainers when you can. Getting help from a knowledgeable trainer, or even better, an organization that regularly trains service dogs, can help you be prepared and confident in your dogâs ability to help. Even though you could technically train your service dog on your own, it can be very stressful, and may take longer to successfully teach it to perform its tasks. Especially tricky tasks, such as detecting seizures, will probably need to be taught by a professional. A trainer can also help you keep your dog sharp and in top shape so any skills it does not use as often donât fade over time. They may even be able to teach your dog tasks you didnât even think of, such as turning on lights in the middle of the night if you suffer from nightmares due to PTSD.
Know what your rights are (or arenât). I outlined the general rules youâll need to know above, but having a deeper understanding of the ADA will help you assess situations you may find yourself in, especially if you encounter an establishment that isnât familiar with service dogs. They also have a toll free hotline you can call for more information.
Finally, be aware that a service dog will bring a lot of unwanted attention your way. Unfortunately, people are generally unaware of what they should do when it comes to proper and respectful behaviour as it comes to service dogs and handlers. Some people will stop you and distract your dog. Some people may get frustrated or judge you based on how much of your disability they can âseeâ. Sometimes all of this can make your disability even more difficult to cope with.Unfortunately, benefitting from a service dog may also mean that you experience more nosy or disruptive people than usual.
What do you think?
Did you learn something new? Are you considering getting your own service dog? Or maybe you have a service dog and would like to share some information or insight I may have missed. Weâre always happy to hear from you, so let us know what you think! Iâd like to personally thank you for reading and learning more about service dogs. Together we can make this world a better place for everyone!