I know of at least one trainer in my area that uses a service dog vest for their board and train dogs so they can socialize them in environments like shopping malls, etc. I've yet to see a client of theirs have a noticeable need for a service dog and most of their clients are pet owners that just want to pay someone to train their dog. This strikes me as a bit abusive of veil the laws provide

well i just had an interaction with a service dog , with ID vest . strangely , the pictogram on the vest was a wheelchair .

nevertheless , i was sent to go greet the young couple as they got off the chair . the nice young lady informed me that the dog was an asthma dog , and that the dog was trained to go find someone if her owner was having an attack , or in some cases could somehow alert the owner that an attack was imminent . without asking , she readily produced a plasticized card which identified the dog as associated with a national certification board / registry .

i informed them of our policy regarding dogs in the alpine area , and asked them to respect the other guests who might not be comfortable around dogs .

naturally i was interested in this dogs' work , so i engaged them in conversation about the training the dog goes through , but i was most interested to learn that the dog actually focusses on the breathing patterns of it's owner . if it senses that something is amiss it will actively nuzzle the facial area of the subject , and if things really go south , will start a bark alert and seek out bystanders and draw their attention to the now downed subject . the nuzzling is the owners alert to take their medication .

the dog was obtained primarily as a companion , but with the intention of training it for this specific purpose . the initial training is conducted by a private company who use reward based training , and then the handler / owner is brought into the training . the dog must pass a certification process every year , which includes basic obedience , and of course a re-currency exam on the specific behaviours related to its' service .

Properly done.

Nice post, Ian. Thanks.