In the Service of Service Dogs

I am currently working with a handful of clients who have service dogs.  For one dog, we are working toward her being able to fly with her owner in the cabin of a plane on work trips between the Bay Area and New York. For another, we are working on her dog being able to handle long periods of down time while the owner works in a busy office setting, after two years of working from home.  For a third, we are working on what to say when people want to pet her service dog and clearly don't understand that not all disabilities are visible. This last situation really upsets me the most. Just the fact that there are a plethora of forms necessary to complete for my client who travels for business with her service dog, when clearly this is the case because there are so many people out there trying to fly with their dogs on planes, misrepresenting those dogs as service animals.  Honestly, sometimes I grit my teeth so hard my jaws hurt. 

Look. I understand you love your dog and want to take him/her everywhere with you. I love my dogs too and love taking them everywhere I *can* with me.  I will not, however, EVER misrepresent one of my dogs as a service animal.  I am fortunate; I do not have a disability that warrants the service of a trained support animal.  I recognize that there are people who do and whose disabilities may not be readily visible to those around them. Just because their disabilities aren't visible to you doesn't mean that they don't exist.  And, if their dog is wearing a service vest/harness, you need to accept that the animal is providing the service they've been trained to provide AND give them the space they need to comfortably do so.  The number of times my client and I were approached by people wanting to pet her dog while we were training her dog on the extended settle/down in her workplace was off the hook.  The dog was wearing her service dog harness.  I was sitting 6 feet away coaching my client on what to do if her dog got up or got distracted from the task.  And yet, we were approached by five people during the hour who wanted to pet the dog because they felt they needed support too; they had the right to pet the dog because the dog was in their office space; they were a dog person; and one pat on the head wouldn't be a problem, right? So frustrating.

Then there's the situation where my client and I were walking with her dog in a public space, wearing his service dog vest.  There were many pet owners walking their dogs in the same area, which was fine; we've worked hard with her dog and he notes other dogs in the area, but he's not distracted from his job.  Suddenly, a man walked right up to us with his dog and said, "Can my dog say hi?  Your dog is so well behaved!"  At this point, his dog LUNGED AT MY CLIENT'S SERVICE ANIMAL.  I jumped between his dog and my client and her dog and had a heated conversation with the man.  It is not my client's responsibility to help socialize his dog. Nor is a service dog to be approached in that way or for that purpose.  When he tried to argue with me that he didn't see the dog was a service dog as my client "wasn't in a wheelchair or anything," I just about lost my mind.  I explained that it wasn't my client's job to advertise her disability, she IS clearly designating her dog as a service animal, however, with the easy-to-see vest and harness with tags explaining what he does and who to contact in case of a medical emergency. He could see the vest, he just wanted to do what he wanted to do with his pet dog.  I've said it before and I'll say it again. People like this give dog owners in general a bad name.  Every other dog owner we passed that day smiled and moved their dog to a safe distance from my client and her service dog.  When we were in tight spaces, they picked up small dogs or moved their dogs to the side and told them to "leave it" so my client and her service dog could pass.  This is common courtesy in my mind, but some folks clearly need a refresher.

Yes, I'm happy that more and more people are teaching their children to ask before petting a dog.  They do, however, need to add to this training that someone with a service animal is not to be approached and asked that question. Service animals are not to be petted, distracted, or otherwise engaged. They are a living, breathing, thinking piece of medical equipment whose care and training is incredibly expensive and time-consuming.  Coach your children to smile and acknowledge the person with a service animal, exchange pleasantries, and move on.

I'll continue to work with these clients to achieve their goals.  We're almost to the point where we can complete the DOT (Department of Transportation) paperwork for my client to fly with her dog; we have built her dog up to 6 daytime hours without relieving himself. The airline would like a dog to be able to hold it and/or only relieve itself in-flight in a sanitary manner, for those on flights that exceed 8 hours. Given the size of her service dog, in-flight relief would be difficult, so we're working toward that goal of not needing to relieve himself.  Her flights to New York are just under 7 hours, most of the time, but things can happen that make it prudent to try and get this dog to be able to comfortably hold his urine for more time.  I truly would hate to see this client put in all this time and work only to have some pet owner with an ill-mannered dog set her dog back, or worse, make it so her dog could not perform his duties safely for her in the airport/airplane environment.

Comfort dogs, therapy dogs, and even emotional support animals are NOT the same as service dogs.  The rights and access afforded to those pets performing those tasks is limited.  Access is unlimited for service animals and we all need to keep that in mind and make sure that we aren't infringing on their ability to do their jobs. And if you observe someone misrepresenting their animal, or who indicates that they intend to just "order a vest on Amazon," so that they can take their dog everywhere with them, do say something.  You know better.  We really all should know better.

As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me. 

This dog is clearly designated as a service animal and not to be confused with a pet.