Dogs, Service, Emotional Support, Therapy, Pet

[Barberian]

Ok, so to not hijack someone elses thread, here is a wall of text I call a thread for the types of dogs listed in the thread title. Most of this post will be for American law, as that is what I am familiar with. Feel free to add anything relevant for other countries if you are knowledgeable about them. From what I've read, Canada, Australia and most of Europe have much more stringent requirements for SD's and their training. They must be professionally trained. This is a huge post for me, and took a very long time. I don't have OCD, but I have an OCD trait when it comes to writing. I often edit, read, re-edit, re-read, re-edit many, many times. Sometimes I ruin a post because of it. Hopefully that didn't happen here.

For reference SD = Service Dog. SDiT = Service Dog in Training.

Dog legal classifications:

1. Service dog. From the Revised ADA Requirements for service dogs 2010 (Federal law). Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person's disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.

Service dogs may go anywhere their owner goes that the general public is allowed to go. Allergies or fear of dogs may not be used as an exception to the law. Of course consideration should be given by the SD team, but it is not required, especially if the business is trying to deny access or hide you in a back noisy corner. There are only a few areas the dogs may be prohibited - Religious properties unless they are having a non-religious event open to the public like a thrift store, bake sale, charity event. Medical procedure area where a sterile environment must be maintained (burn unit, operating room, etc), if the owner or hospital staff does not have to wear special garments, facemask, gloves to avoid infections, the dog is allowed. Court rooms (regardless if your a visitor or in custody), and jails/prison (visitors can bring a service dog, obviously prisoners can not have one. Expect the prison to try to deny a visitor to bring one).

2. Emotional Support Animal - ESA. An emotional support animal (ESA) is a companion animal which provides therapeutic benefit, such as alleviating or mitigating some symptoms of the disability to an individual with a mental or psychiatric disability. Emotional support animals are typically dogs and cats, but may include other animals. ESA's are protected under federal law.

Emotional support animals can be just about any animal, but are often either a cat or dog. Expect a legal challenge, and probable loss, if you try to have an ESA horse in an apartment. You need to have a doctor or shrink's letter of recommendation for an ESA to to be legally valid. They only have legal protection in the home, or on the property for potty breaks. Animal must be leashed or in an enclosed area at all times outside of the house.

3. Therapy animals. Often dogs, but once again can be any animal. While they are often extensively trained, they have no legal protection. Access must be granted by the property owner/manager. Therapy animals are often used in hospitals, or caregiving facilities for the therapy of medically or mentally challenged people. Few things bring a smile and cheering up of people like a wagging tail.

4. Basic pet. Can be any animal that is not restricted by federal, state, regional, or local laws. No legal protection for access. Overwhelmingly most animals owned by people fall in this category.

Federal law does not require the SD to be professionally trained. Anyone can train the dog, but a SDiT is not protected by federal law. Only when it is considered "Trained" is it protected under federal ADA law. A SD is considered "trained" when it can dependably perform it's trained tasks as needed, when needed.

Most states have SD laws similar to the federal law. A few... are way behind the times. Federal law takes precedence over state and local laws UNLESS the state or local laws offer MORE protection for the SD team. Some states, but not all, give similar protection for SDiT. Check state laws for your state before taking your dog out in public. This link is up to date as far as I know, and should only be a starting point. Google your state laws to make sure it is up to date. http://servicedogcentral.org/content/node/51

So, you want to acquire a trained dog.

There are many ways to do this. Ensure you thoroughly research the facility, it's owners, and trainers. There are many disreputable businesses because there is such a need for service dogs. Often the very people who need them are the ones who can be hoodwinked the easiest. Don't rely on any reference provided by the facility. Check with the better business bureau, Google, Bing, Yahoo, FaceBook, local kennels, etc. Whether or not you get a paid for dog or a donated dog, expect at least a year's wait. If a dog is being trained specially for you, it needs the time to be trained... for you. Often the facility also has others in line before you.

1. Buy your trained dog. There are many places that will do this for you. A trained SD can easily cost $1,000 to well over $15,000 depending on your needs, the facilities training program/cost, the dog's breed, and bloodline, and many other factors. Insurance rarely covers this, I mean like "winning the lotto" type rarely.

2. Donated SD. [cut and paste w/edit from yesterdays post] There are some places that offer SD's for free, but the facility often serve a particular need - VET's, the blind, the deaf, seizure alert, diabetic alert, PTSD, etc. They also usually have waiting list WELL  over a year.

Many of the places that offer free dogs do it conditionally. You have to live within a reasonable distance from the facility so they can check on the dog without excessive travel. You, your home and property, anyone living with you has to be screened by the training facilities staff before they assign a dog to you. The dog remains their property on loan to you, and can be taken back at any time for any reason, or no reason. They may inspect your home and property at any time, to ensure the dog and the area it lives in are being properly maintained. Often, with reputable facilities, this is an annual visit. Most facilities like that are dependable and trustworthy. A few are not. Like I said, do a LOT of research before deciding to get a donated SD.

So, you want to train your own SD

Unfortunately most people who try to train their own SD fail. They don't have the experience, self discipline, health, or the dog doesn't have the right personality characteristics. PLEASE do exhaustive research BEFORE you decide to train your own SD and make sure you, and the dog you select are up for the task.

As stated above, many countries require SD's to be facility or professionally trained. In the US, many states are freindly to SDiT's, but many are not. Check your states laws, and work with or around them if you need to. Federal law does not require SD's to be professionally trained. A SD is considered "trained" when it can accomplish one or more tasks (this point is debated in the community. the wording can be interpreted as at least one, and also as two or more tasks. It is safer to have at least two tasks) the dog can help mitigate your disability with.

Training your own SD is a life long (SD's) process. There is an extensive process in the beginning of socializing the dog. Training it to behave in public with no undesirable behaviors. IMHO this is easiest with a very young dog. Who wants to train a SDiT to socialize during it's terrible teen years? Often with facility or professionally trained dogs, this is when a SD is socialized though.

Then there is the mitigating task training. Example of training - Opening and closing a door for you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=058a54yIZX8 , retrieving a phone - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjeJvnICWho , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQKL2gz7OHg . The more tasks the dog needs to be trained in, the more time it takes. For the degree of reliability a SD needs to maintain, this requires extensive training in each task unless you have a magic dog. Maintaining a trained task, if done regularly, can be easily done. If you don't maintain the training, the retraining can be as difficult as the original training.

So, you now have a trained SD.

Most people are familiar with the needs of a regular dog - feeding, water, potty, playtime, etc. With a SD, there are additional needs. The dog needs "maintenance training". This is rarely a problem at home. It does it's tasks as needed, and follow on training for rarely performed tasks can be easily done. The problem often comes with public access if the dog rarely leaves the home. There is a very strict expectation within the SD community on proper SD etiquette. This is not a legal requirement, but one that is best to follow as well as you can. No sniffing, barking, whining, aggressiveness, begging, or other undesirable behavior, for the dog also  (sorry had to do that). If the dog exhibits any of these behaviors, business owners/managers/employees and the general public often seize this opportunity to harass you for not having a "real" SD. It is often hard enough with a well behaved dog.

Acceptance of your SD in public.

Expect to be challenged about your SD often unless your lucky enough to live in an area where there are other SD teams. Even then, you may be challenged. One of the challenges about having a SD in an area where there are other SD teams is the fakers with poorly trained pet dogs. These fakers make it much more difficult for real SD teams because the fakers create hostility between the general public and SD teams.

Often when you are challenged, it is outside of what is legal or polite. Occasionally it may even be near hostile. Run the possible challenges through your head in advance. This preparation can help you during a stressful challenge. In US law there are ONLY two questions they may ask you: 1. Is that a service dog? 2. What tasks does the dog help you with. Any other questions regarding your disability are not allowed and can be considered harassment. It is up to you on how to proceed. Politeness is encouraged, but often the general public does not understand - "What do you mean, I can't ask that question. I just did". It is also encouraged to carry some pamphlets from the govenrment - http://www.ada.gov/svcabrpt.pdf , http://www.ada.gov/archive/qasrvc.htm

There are no federal restrictions on a dog breed for being a SD. Many states/counties/cities/housing authorities have breed restrictions for "aggressive" dogs. SD's are EXEMPT from these breed restrictions because there are no breed restrictions in the federal ADA law. Remember the least restrictive law takes precedence. SDiT - it depends on the state law(s) because federal law(s) do not recognize SDiT. Example: City law prohibits owning a "Pit Bull" dog. This prohibition can not extend to SD's because they are not pets. SD's are protected by federal law which does not have breed restrictions for SD's, the least restrictive law. This has been taken to court many, many times all over the US, and the breed restriction for SD's always fails.

Another law about SD's. Say a city has a three pet per household law. Example: two cats, one dog, or three dogs. SD's are exempt from that as well. They are not considered pets. They are in the same legal classification as an oxygen tank, wheelchair, or other medical device. So, you could have the three dogs as per city law, PLUS one SD. In this train of thought, I encourage everyone to stay within common sense. Just because you CAN, doesn't mean you should. It is up to you, because, you can do what ever you want within the law.

There is NO official registration or registry for SD's. It is not required by federal law, and can not be required by any lower law(s). Any registry you see is a scam that will be more than happy to take your hard earned money, plain and simple. Your dog may need to be registered with the city or county as with any other dog. Many cities/counties/states offer free registration for SD's. Ca is one state that offers free registration that qualifies for city/county registration. Once again, this applies to the same registration that ALL dogs need, not a special national SD registration scam.

Some commonly experienced questions and statements about SD's. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSn9WO1FCb0 . Expect people to talk about you, to you, and ask questions EVERY time you leave the house. Rarely you might even have the joy of some random person trying to enforce a law that doesn't exist except in THEIR head on you about you and your SD. Yes, my wife has had someone start yelling and screaming at her because of the service dog being in a grocery store (very legal, except to that person). Because of my size and the way I look, very few people are willing to start an argument with me, but I've heard many 'a comment when they thought I wasn't in hearing range.

Links in no particular order:

Revised ADA requirments for service dogs (Federal law): http://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm
State SD laws: http://servicedogcentral.org/content/node/51

ADA business Brief: http://www.ada.gov/svcabrpt.pdf
ADA - Commonly asked questions: http://www.ada.gov/archive/qasrvc.htm

SD awarenes pics: https://pitterpatterofpaws.wordpress.com/2013/12/23/service-dog-awareness/
Article on SD awareness with more pics: http://www.anythingpawsable.com/10-things-service-dog-handlers-want-know/#.VRMDf_nF_Qs

Experiences you may expect, and other vids of interest (YouTube):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSn9WO1FCb0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sJydhaBNag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r5hqGPudPA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvxkDRVRryY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y_a_V1QD3U
Clueless guy trying to enforce a non-existing law - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X2bfmbQJgQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_mDOdUBn-w
Fake SD's - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O-BOX8-9Mo

[foxgrove]

Wow!!!  Thanks brother.  It'll take some time to get through all this but I know it'll be worth it.  Bravo!! 

[foxgrove]

In banging around the web I came across another one of Tony B's great columns.. this one about the pitfalls and joys of having a puppy:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/turning-straw-gold/201408/puppy-pitfalls-are-pets-and-chronic-illness-good-match

[Barberian]

Very good article Fox.

One thing I wanted to stress in my post above is that people need to do a lot of research before they get a SD. To make sure they can care for, play with, maintain training, take it to a vet as needed, buy and move the dog food from the store to home to the bowl, potty breaks, etc. SD's can be wonderful in so many ways. They can do chores for us, do tasks that help us for medical and psychiatric conditions. They still take energy and time to take care of them, so they can take car of you. I encourage people to spend some time on YouTube and watch tasks SD's can do, harassment people endure, and the love they can share with a SD.

Having a SD allows me to go to stores, pay bills and such. Without her, I would probably be housebound again. They can do so much for so many people. My SD does several other tasks, but I don't want to make a wall of text again.

[foxgrove]

If those walls of text look anything like the other walls of text you've done, have at it!!  But I understand.  I really am enjoying going through your post and learning all the different things about SDs.  Very very educating... I'm also realizing that it's NOT cheap!!  I know most SDs are donated but wow.. lots of time and effort and money goes into making a dog into a service dog.

[denny]

I think they are work dogs and pets,or friend would be a better word.

[looneylane]

Yes!