Dog Discussion Wednesday: What is it with service dogs?

I’ve seen a bit of discussion around the internet about this. Store owners (in Oregon specifically) have had problems with people slapping a “working dog” badge on their pooch in order to smuggle their troublesome and misbehaved pet in for kicks. At the grocer where dogs are jumping up, causing issue and licking food, they have become unwelcome. Service dogs are typically well behaved and are expected to act unobtrusively. It’s the ill-behaved dogs that raise suspicion and the people with a real need for service dogs are being scoffed.

We cannot make entry difficult for people who depend upon service animals because some insensitive idiots are gaming the system. Gaming is the exception, not the rule. People in need require less obstacles in life, not more – and it’s the rest of the world that needs to get a grip.

I wonder if Kim may have part of the answer. More and more dog owners have been pushing boundaries in taking their dogs into public places. As a dog lover, I see no problem with well-mannered dogs accompanying well-mannered people anywhere.

My mom, however, is very frightened of dogs. She turned the corner recently in a store to see an off-leash GSD (not a service dog). It doesn’t sound like the dog was causing any problems. But my mom was terribly frightened. I’m actually surprised she didn’t raise a big stink with the management and threaten to boycott the store.

So we may have situations where the more common issue is an increasing number of non-service dogs being brought into businesses. Management tightens up on the issue but forgets to do the training that reminds staff that service animals are always allowed.

As for the Special Olympics thing, I agree. I have no idea what that’s about. Maybe it’s similar to the debates we’ve had about “unfair advantages” in sports (the male to female transexual athlete or the runner with state-of-the art prosthetic legs).

I’m with Kim on this trend, where people “fake” service dog status. We have a neighbor who does this, and every time I see him in Costco with his big newphie, wearing a homemade, service vest… it makes me mad. But, the dog is pretty well-behaved, and the man does use a cane, so I keep my mouth shut.

The one area that bothers me most about this are the autistic kids whose dogs aren’t allowed in school with them. To me, that’s a pretty clear cut, legitimate need.

I think it’s still a bit presumptuous to assume that the Special Olympics of Illinois banned this child because of the dog, though they should have clearly stated the reasons for their refusal up front. That’s simply bad communication on their part and as they’re finding out, bad PR.

As far as people masqueraded their pets as services dogs…those are one-offs and I doubt those incidences weigh all that heavily into most people’s perception of service dogs.

I think that perhaps the issue is maybe not about service dogs at all but more about treating those that are different than us kindly. Quite frankly, the majority of us fail on this regard in one way or another. The very fact that laws such as the American with Disabilities Act even exists is testament to this.

The other issue I think some people have is that some disabilities are more obvious than others. When we see a blind person with a seeing eye dog the disability may be obvious to us and the need for the dog may make sense, but a soldier with PTSD? The disability is not as obvious there as viewed by an outsider. Some folks don’t even believe in PTSD, other’s probably question if a dog can detect an impending epileptic seizure, and I’m sure more than a few doubt that a service dog can help keep a persons blood pressure in check (these are all uses of service animals). Why should these folks be allowed “pets” in public places when I’m not. Of course, the animals aren’t just pets.

In the end, it shouldn’t matter. If a person feels they need a service dog, then why shouldn’t they be allowed one? But the reality is, it does matter. Many of us do not want to accommodate people that are different than us and many of us view dogs as accessories or luxuries. It maybe wrong, but as long as those perceptions exist, you’ll run into stories where someone is denied the right to be like everyone else.

I think we are suffering a collective psychosis…okay, maybe that’s a tad harsh….make that a massive neurosis. And our illness is getting worse and worse! It ‘seems’ to me (I could be wrong as I’m about to make a subjective observation) that banning dogs from here and there and this and that is INCREASING. It’s happening in Boulder, I can tell you that.

So here’s what I mean by neurosis. One aspect of a neurosis is when we unconsciously project onto other people and beings things about ourselves that we can’t, for whatever reason, accept. And then that whole group of beings gets labeled as having that unacceptable trait even when they don’t. You could also call it scapegoating or stereotyping. So it’s curious to me that dogs are increasingly being scapegoated and stereotyped as being in one way or another dirty or dangerous. For example, take the recent spate of stories about dogs carrying diseases that will jump from dogs to people. And lets not forget BSL! And what’s in the craw of the Special Olympics?

So are we humans not able to own our own ‘germiness’, our own dirty habits–which are legion, our own aggression? Is the fear level in society so amped up for so many reasons, none having anything to do with dogs, that we are looking in all the wrong places (dogs) to create the illusion that by “banning” dogs we are protecting ourselves?

I’m sick of it. I’ll take the company of dogs any day over that of many of my own weird, violent, aggressive, and especially germ-ridden, species. (Good dog people excluded )

@EmilyS- and this is where my skeptism of service dogs comes in. it’s unfortunate that it does, but in my profession you see some shady stuff, in all walks. i am working on a case right now where a woman’s service dog has bitten people in multiple jursidictions. her original cause for the service tag was being blind- not legally blind, but blind. the first time a bite occurred, she convinced a jurisdiction not to quarantine becuase the dog was a “seeing eye dog.” only now she does not use any sort of visual assistance, cane, glasses even. but her new reason for the same service dog is something else entirely. i had a gentleman return a service dog to the shelter because he ate pills if he dropped them on the ground. this was unacceptable for a service dog. i agree, it is. but the dog was an “emotional support dog,” (he told us) not providing a physical task. the dog could have been removed from the area when the pills were present.

i qualify for a service dog, at least under the old definition, and have a doctor that would write it up. i have thought approximately 18 billion times how awesome it would be to take him everywhere. how much better i would genuinely feel. he is definitely emotional support for me. but i feel like it’s abusing the privilege to take him on the subway, or the plane, or into a restaurant. i don’t need him there. i would feel BETTER there, but i don’t need him there. and truth be told, he’s a little sketchy in certain areas. and i don’t think it’s worth it- he can’t be (and not just because he’s a pit bull) a service dog that bites. i know too many of those

A few years ago I would have been aghast at the thought that anyone would question a service dog situation. Far be it for me to judge who needs the help of a dog (or what kind of help for that matter), but I have been asked on a few occasions to be the trainer for a service dog.

It seemed a legitimate request at first – the people who owned the dogs were clearly disabled, and the tasks they needed trained were well within the scope of training and the dogs ability, but over time I realized that what they really needed was an excuse to call the dog a service dog so they could either have a dog, keep the dog, or take the dog with them to places that didn’t normally allow dogs.

As long as the dog was “in training” with me the dog could pass for a service dog. I realize that bureaucracy sometimes makes us play ugly games so we can ultimately do the right thing, but those situations just felt like abuse of services.

It is not only in the States that you have problems being refused access with your Service Dogs, escorted out of stores by security staff or sometimes the police are called; even though he is wearing his jacket. I have a Service Dog and have been humiliated in multi-national stores (Tesco) and hotel (the Hilton) chains. I can’t remember how many times I have been asked “Is he a deaf dog?” You would think in this day and age people would be more aware and companies inform their staff that we may need to buy groceries, have a meal or even use the toilet! Still, we plod on and try to educate folk daily on the vital jobs they do for us and the independance that they give us. Lyn Fleet, Liverpool, England

I’d like to say their are all different types of service dogs. Like the people that have psychiatric problems like post traumatic stress sydrome. Like the people who have served in the services that protect this country, they come back with some pretty severe problems and they need a dog to just get them through the day and night. The nightmares, the fears and seizures and the mental anguish they suffer. Then their are the ones here that are mentally depressed, suicidal, fear of leaving their home, don’t have any family or friends, afraid to be alone, panic attacks,but are not sick enough to be in the hospital, Alot of these folks are to embarrassed and ashamed to tell people what their problem is. Their are people out there that can’t hear well, if there were a fire or a tornadoe warning or someone breaking into their house they wouldn’t know it. There are children and adults with autism and need to be watched 24/7 because they may hurt themselves or others. Others have down’s syndrome or MS and help with walking and bracing. Other dogs help with pulling wheelchairs and getting things from the refrigerators, picking up crutches, or foo etc.. Right now they are discriminating on Psychiatric service dogs and their owners getting on an airplane saying that the person needs a note from the doctor stating they need the service dog. But the airlines have to know what their mental illness is. That is not right because anywhere even airplanes the other people with service dogs don’t have to reveal their problems. By rights the law states that stores or anywhere you go with your service dog noone has the right to ask why you have the dog. As far as illness goes. People with seizures are warned to sit down when they are going to have a seizure. Diabetics also are warned if blood sugar is to high or low. The service dogs have saved many lives and are used in a number of ways. They help victims of assault or rape etc by instilling ralistic confidence Most os the dogs are rescue dogs. They help with fibromyalgia. The list goes on and on for the wonderful uses for these dogs and the dogs love it to. They form a tight bond with the person and or if they have a family to. The only place they cannot go in is an operating room. The only problem is you have people who would ruin it for others that trully need the dogs for their illness whether it be visible or invisible. But some people could not exist without their love and lovalty.