Quote: michael reese

I wouldn't want to get to caught up in the "we could easily be overrun by people who just want to have fluffy come in with them to the coffee shop" attitude.

Hi Michael. I think you misunderstood me, or I didn't express myself very well. I have NO issue at all with dogs being used to assist people with a mental disability...I support that just as strongly as I do people that have a physical disability.

What I have a problem with is people who already have an exaggerated sense of entitlement and who think the whole world loves their dog as much as they do (we all know these people)being able to slap an assistance dog vest on a Yorkie in a handbag that they make wave at everybody.

Look, I would LOVE it if I could take Carbon with me to every dining establishment, mall, store or sporting event that I wanted to. And I would love it if he could fly in the cabin with me for free. I really would. And if it was just as easy as going to my primary care doc and telling her I get depressed without my dog, then I could easily sound convincing if I wanted to. But that wouldn't make it right.

Why should someone with an anxiety disorder be able to qualify their dogs more easily than someone with a visual impairment? I don't think that's "making them jump through hoops." I think it's just holding them to the same standards as anyone else with a disability, and preventing abuse of the priviledge of a service or assistance animal.

Hiya!

My heart condition is something that not all doctors agree on. I have been put through so many tests I couldn't count them all, had docs tell me I am fine, other docs tell me I need a pacemaker asap. I had no intentions of having a "service dog" as I consider myself generally healthy and able. I do not require a dog with me when something happens, having the dog does not make my problem go away, but if I am being stubborn or am too focused on something, the dog alerts to the changes in my body that signal the beginning of an attack, and I cannot ignore the dog, and will lie down before I fall down.

I don't have a dog with me all the time, and it can be dangerous for me to drive because I can pass out and become quite ill in a matter of seconds. I couldn't get my drivers license for years because of this. Having a dog to alert me just gives me that much more time to stop, pull over, park the car, or go to the side of the grocery store aisle and sit down to avoid passing out. I did not require a dog to get my license in the end, and because I have never tried to get my dog into a "no dogs" rental or apply for financial assistance/special insurance for my condition I have had no hoops or problems.

Emotional assistance dogs are often trained to find the entrance doors to a building, such a grocery store - for people that become paniced, disoriented, frightened, and cannot find their way out of a store and need to get away from all the people. But, not always.

I do not think that just any dog should be allowed to go with anybody, anywhere. Some emotional assistance dogs are no more than housepets with a vest on that really do not do anything. I think whether a dog should be considered an assistance or service dog depends on the person the dog is for and how the dogs are trained.

Someone that has panic attacks once in a while that feels better when Fido is around, should be required to have the dog evaluated(CGC, TDI?), and be able to provide solid proof of the dog doing something that is truly beneficial - as in comparrison to a person that is just shy and only has enough confidance to talk to people when their dog is around.

However, being a trainer myself, training my own dogs for my own problem, can raise eyebrows. After all, my neighbor trained their dog to sit and stay, why can't they take their dog to the store if they are feeling blue? Almost every dog owner considers themself a dog trainer.

Having not gone through any special courses, classes, or schools to learn or be certified to train dogs (YET) .. does that make me less worthy of having my trained to the ears dog in his service dog vest, with me? Just because it only cost X amount in order to purchase the best, the cards, and the training equipment, with no state programs or hoops to jump through, does that mean I should not be allowed to have my dog with me?

I am not trying to be argumentative, it is more of a generalized question directed at anybody who scoffs at my not having a piece of laminated paper on a clip attached to my dogs vest that says "certified by such and such school."

To me, SEDs should be certified and regulated because a lot more depends on those dogs, the person is a lot more dependant on the dog for everyday life than I am of my dogs, despite my having a medical conditon.

A lot of training facilities/schools that train and breed SEDs provide the dogs to the blind/visually impared for no charge, but they are of course required to prove they are blind. It is not as much of a hassle for the handicapped(blind) person as it is for the trainers themselves with state regulations and programs (such as the state of Cali for instance)

I think it would be nice to have regulations in place as far as service dogs are concerned, but I think the testing should be next to nothing, or free, depending on the service the dog will be performing. Conditions that have potential for injury, such as seizures, passing out, etc, versus conditions that are quality of life based such as emotional support for people with debilitating phobias or panic attacks. This would even things out a bit and allow people to train their own dogs for the evaluations versus spending money they likely do not have to get the dog trained by a certified school. It would also decrease the issues with untrained or ill-behaved animals walking around in grocery stores and restaurants.

I think a lot of people here are confusing service dogs with emotional support animals.

ESAs are allowed in no pet housing with the proper paperwork but are not for public access. An ESA is essentially a pet that is used to help someone at home (although not to be confused with a SD that only preforms tasks at the home)

A service dog accompanying an individual with a disability can accompany that individual in public places. This dog must be trained to preform some sort of physical task (guiding, helping with balance etc.) to assist the individual, simply being there is not enough.

ESA vs SD http://servicedogcentral.org/content/node/76

There are SDs that are used to help people with anxiety as well as things like bipolar, schizophrenia etc, however the dog needs to preform a task and the individual needs to have a disability, meaning a condition that substantially impairs a major life function.

http://servicedogcentral.org/content/node/75
http://servicedogcentral.org/content/node/74





From: http://www.deltasociety.org/ServiceInformationFaq.htm#psychiatric


How does a dog qualify to be a psychiatric service dog?

The National Service Dog Center receives many questions about psychiatric service dogs. Generally, the questions are related to what requirements a dog must meet to be classified as a psychiatric service dog.

The Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990, (ADA), defines service animal as:

"any animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability."

The ADA defines a disability as:

"a mental or physical condition which substantially limits a major life activity such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working."

To be considered a service dog, the dog must be trained to perform tasks directly related to the person's disability.

“Comforting" or "giving love", although clinically proven to be beneficial for people, would not be acknowledged as a trained "task" by the Department of Justice, which enforces the ADA. Examples of trained tasks performed by psychiatric service dogs can be found at http://www.iaadp.org/psd_tasks.html.

Here is a link to a psychiatric service dog group
http://www.psychdog.org/

Also I'm pretty sure the ADA defines a service dog as one who has been trained to assist a disabled person. In fact a dog does not have to perform any specific task to qualify, nor does it have to be licensed by any organization.

Here is a link to FAQ published by the ADA. I think the 2nd question defines "service dog".

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/animal.htm

I'm someone who does have panic attacks. My pup had shown a response to it, which I have been glad for. A big time I remember, since my attacks haven't been as bad as they were earlier this year, < knock on wood. >, is when she came up to me laid her head on the couch where I was since she couldn't climb up yet, and stayed there until it had passed. This was the day after I had gotten her.

But I don't expect for her to be able to go with me everywhere ( as much as I would like that. haha. )

The attacks I was having were affecting my everyday life, and I still don't have an answer to why they came about. They're less frequent now, but they seem to have cycles.

I can't say having my dog around prevents them, but she can help me pass through them easier. ( I think it's just the good company that can do that, since my boyfriend has a similar effect, and it's only been those two. )

But like I said, I wouldn't expect her to be able to go with me everywhere because of that.