THE EXTRAORDINARY SUPPORT OF SERVICE DOGS: TRAINING, REGULATIONS, AND DISTINCTIONS FROM GUIDE DOGS
Australian Shepherd Service Dog In Cabin At Handler’s Feet On Airline Flight
Service dogs are remarkable companions that provide invaluable assistance to individuals with various disabilities, both visible and invisible, as well as offering support beyond visual impairments. These highly trained canines offer physical assistance, emotional support, and even life-saving interventions.
As we explore the world of service dogs, we will be shedding light on their training process, the responsibilities of their handlers, and the laws and regulations governing their access to public spaces. Furthermore, we will distinguish between service dogs and guide dogs, highlighting their unique roles and areas of assistance.
The Essential Role of Service Dogs: Service dogs are trained to assist individuals with disabilities, such as physical impairments, hearing loss, diabetes, lupus, heart conditions, epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and many others. These remarkable animals are meticulously trained to perform specific tasks that help mitigate their handlers' disabilities and improve their quality of life.
The Training Process: The training of service dogs is a rigorous and comprehensive process that varies depending on the type of disability they are meant to assist with. Training organizations employ professional trainers who carefully select suitable puppies or adult dogs with the necessary temperament, intelligence, and physical capabilities for service work. If you are a highly qualified trainer and or have extensive experience with animal behavior you may train your own service dog to assist with and perform the tasks necessary to help you with your disabilities. There are no laws stating that you MUST hire a Professional trainer if in fact YOU are a professional trainer.
The training process typically includes obedience training, specialized tasks related to the handler's disability, and public access skills. Service dogs may be trained to open doors, retrieve dropped items, alert their handlers to sounds or approaching seizures, provide stability and balance, or perform a multitude of other tasks based on individual needs. * The service dog needs to be able to assist with two or more of the disabled person’s needs. An example might be that a person is hearing impaired and also has balance issues, so their Service Dog would need to be able to assist them with hearing and balance.
The Bond between Handler and Service Dog: The relationship between a service dog and her/his handler is built on love, trust, interdependency, and partnership. Handlers rely on their Service Dogs to mitigate their disabilities, provide emotional support, and assist in their daily activities. The bond formed between a handler and their service dog is characterized by clear, almost telepathic communication, empathy, and a deep understanding of each other's needs.
Public Access Rights: Service dogs are granted specific legal rights and protections to accompany their handlers in public places. These rights, often enshrined in laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the United States, ensure that individuals with disabilities can access public spaces, including restaurants, stores, schools, transportation, and other establishments with their Service Dogs and that they will NOT be singled out or Discriminated against for having chosen to have a Service Dog accompany them, rather than to use an inanimate object such as a wheelchair, walker, or cane to assist them. Having a Service Dog is the disabled person’s choice, and as such they and their Service Dog must be acknowledged and respected for utilizing that choice.
Rules and Regulations for Service Dogs:
Service Dog Assisting Handler While Out Shopping
While Service Dogs are generally welcome in public areas, there are regulations and guidelines that handlers must follow to ensure a harmonious and respectful experience for all. Handlers are responsible for the care, behavior, and cleanliness of their service dogs, ensuring that they are not a threat or nuisance to others.
Something we cannot Stress enough is how important it is to recognize that Service Dogs are not considered as ‘pets’, but rather working animals, and as such, they are granted special privileges to accompany their handlers in areas where pets may be restricted. Handlers must also respect the rights of business owners to address any disruptive or ill-behaved service dogs.
A valid and important point we feel compelled to speak out on is that Although in over 5 decades we have Never witnessed a disruptive or ill-behaved Service Dog, we most definitely HAVE witnessed disruptive and ill-behaved, humans behaving in rude, discriminatory manner towards the disabled and toward their service dog. We have also witnessed on an almost weekly basis ‘FAKE’ Service Dogs and ‘Fake’ Disabled persons. By Fake, we mean that we regularly see people attempting to masquerade their Untrained pet dogs as authentic Service Dogs, just by purchasing Vests or Patches Identifying their family ‘PETS’ as Service Dogs. This is not only completely disrespectful, entitled behavior on the part of these people, but it could and often does put their untrained family Pet Dogs in a precarious or dangerous position. In fact, on one particular occasion, one of our disabled friends and her highly trained Service Dog were out shopping in a clothing store when all of a sudden an Untrained, Aggressive Chihuahua wearing a Fake Service vest escaped her owners grasp and came running underneath the clothing racks, dragging its leash attempting to attack the disabled person’s Service Dog who was calmly sitting by her feet as she browsed through the clothing racks. The staff in the store were completely unprepared as to what to do, how to handle the situation, and the disabled woman and her Service dog were now shaking, startled and not feeling at all comfortable with the shopping experience. The woman who was supposed to be in control of her Chihuahua was yelling and screaming obscenities at her dog while trying to catch it.
No authentic ‘Service’ Dog would ever exhibit such bad behavior because all Service Dogs have to be thoroughly trained in Obedience first of all, and second of all they will have gone through 12-36 months ( 1-3 YEARS) of additional specialized service work PRIOR to being able to be designated as a Working Service Dog.
When you are a disabled person and or you are a trainer/handler of a true authentic Service Dog, and you know how much hard work, long intensive hours of training and incredible financial expense it takes in order to share your life with a trained Service Dog who can meet the tasks necessary to help that disabled person, you can EASILY Recognize ‘fake’ Service Dogs in their Fake Vests, and to the trained eye the body language of the so-called disabled person/handler easily stand out as well. Yes, we understand that if you are the manufacturer/retailer of the Service Dog or Guide Dog vests and patches that you need to be able to showcase and sell your products, but unless you have no scruples you’re most likely assuming that the people purchasing them actually NEED them in order to Help Identify their Dogs as either Service Dogs or Guide Dogs, right? You’re probably not thinking that everyday folks are purposefully buying your products to place on their Untrained, Unknowing family Pets just because they think it would be ‘cool’ or ‘convenient’ to take their pets places that ‘pets’ are not actually allowed. In many instances they are not allowed for either ‘their’ and or ‘your’ Safety. By the same token, if you are one of these people purposefully purchasing a Service Dog or Guide Dog vest or patches to place on your family pets, you need to think twice about your actions. Put your self in the place of the disabled person and or the Service Dog. Would you want to become disabled? Would you want to live your formerly active live with disabilities until you could find and or afford to have a Service Dog help you acclimate to your new life? Be kind and compassionate and considerate. Another thing to keep in mind is that as of this writing, there are NO laws or Regulations in place to ‘require’ that a disabled person put a Vest, Collar or Harness with Service Dog patches on their Service Dog. In fact, it has been our experience in working with both disabled people as well as Service Dogs and Guide Dogs for several decades, that MOST disabled people only do this courteous gesture to the general public and give them sort of ‘heads up’ to respect the dog and the handler as a working service team with rights. They do this as a ‘Means to Easily Identify their Dog as a Service Dog’ and differentiate that dog from a ‘pet’ dog to the general public. When you think logically about this, it makes perfect sense because disabled people are ‘choosing’ to utilize the help of a living, loving, breathing, sentient being; their Service Dog to help assist them with their daily lives Rather than to use ‘inanimate’ objects as we mentioned before like wheelchairs, walkers, canes, and such. Had they NOT chosen a Service Dog to help them, would it be logical if they ‘identified’ themselves as being disabled? For example if they put on a Vest or Wore some sort of ‘tag’ proclaiming their disabilities? Of course not. The General public ‘assumes’ when they visually witness people using wheelchairs, canes, walkers and other ‘assistive’ devices that they ‘must’ have some sort of disabilities. Conversely, when the general public sees people with Dogs, they don’t even remotely ‘assume’ that the dog ‘IS’ the actual ‘Assistive’; in this case a ‘Service Dog.’
Key Differences and Similarities with Guide Dogs: Although both service dogs and guide dogs provide assistance to individuals with disabilities, there are significant differences in their roles and areas of focus. While Guide Dogs primarily assist individuals with visual impairments in navigating their surroundings safely, Service Dogs are trained for both specific and a broader range of disabilities and tasks.
Guide Dogs undergo specialized training to navigate obstacles, follow specific routes, and provide mobility assistance to visually impaired people. In contrast, Service Dogs receive training tailored to the specific needs of their handlers, which may include a multitude of tasks like retrieving medication, alerting to allergens, or providing balance support.
Service Dogs are exceptional animals that offer immeasurable support to individuals with disabilities, addressing a wide range of needs beyond visual impairments. The intensive training, legal rights, and the special bond between handlers and service dogs enable individuals to overcome physical and emotional challenges, enhancing their independence and quality of life. Understanding the regulations is key and future articles will include more on the specifics of regulations, rules, and the laws as they pertain to both Guide Dogs and Service Dogs and their owner/handlers.
