Peoples always want to know why working service dog handlers are so opposed to pets in public places, especially pets who are falsely identified as service dogs. Well, I had to have my paw dermabonded this afternoon, so I figured its time to address this again. We sometimes see dogs who are not SDs in public. You can usually tell because theyre using improper equipment or not following the rules (yes, we have rules! SDs dont trump all; we have to obey a complex set of laws governing our public use.), or they are barking and their owners arent correcting the behavior as a competent dog trainer would. Even a trained SD might sometimes let out a bark; a real handler will non-violently correct them once; if a person is struggling with or striking a dog, it is not likely to be a service dog. A service handler will correct the dog once and leave if the behavior continues. There is a dog who we regularly see in stores in our area; he wears a red mesh vest and uses a flexi lead. Everytime he sees us, he goes NUTS, barking and pulling his owner (we will not use handler here because this is not a valid service team) towards us . Weve seen him urinate in stores at least twice. I am trained to evade instead of engaging, so MommaMomma and I just go to another area of the store or leave if he bothers us. We saw him today and went through the usual rigmarole, and so we went to check out. Just after checking out, we rounded the corner and encountered them in a small area with few evasion opportunities, and he jumped at me before we had time to react. I evaded under the cart while his owner and my handler pulled him off; hes a Doberman, so it took both people. The owner was detained and the dog put in the security office while we sorted things out. His owner first said Hes a service dog and they attacked us! Security had witnessed the exchange and, as its a store we frequent, has interacted with us to know that wasnt the case. She then claimed, well, hes a service dog in training, and MommaMomma questioned her. You see, SDiTs are NOT ALLOWED the same public access rights as are granted to a fully trained SD. A dog in training must complete 120 hours of obedience, socialization, and task training before bring granted public access. A dog with 120 hours done has already been exposed to other dogs and temperament proofed, standards set by the DoJ that this dog clearly has not met. -_- The final excuse was, I didnt know because were just about to start his training. -_- Weve seen this dog out and about for six months AT LEAST and now hes ABOUT TO START training?!?!? MommaMomma was getting heated enough, and that was before moving on to get me completely freed of my evasion stance - which she couldnt safely do until the other dog was out of the area. So it wasnt until 5 minutes later that it was clear that I was bleeding - the other dog didnt get me, but as I crouched under the cart for safety, I was sliced across my paw and between my paw pads deeply enough to need an ER visit. We are sorry for the long rant, but heres the moral of the story: because someone decided to bring a pet into a grocery store - a place where pets dont belong - my MommaMomma and I are stuck home for at least a week. Because my paw had to be dermabonded, there is now a wound on my foot that could get infected, leading to injuries and medical complications that could lead to me being unable to do my job. MommaMomma would have to not only replace me - I would remain with her as a pet, but could not work in the community - but she would also have to invest hundreds of hours and/or 10k+ in the training of a new SD. All because someone wanted to bring their dog into the store. Also, the owner may lose her dog, will be sued by my insurer to repay them for the cost of my care today (and if it had been worse, to replace MommaMommas service animal at a huge cost), and is facing a $5,000 to $10,000 fine for fraudulently representing her dog as a service animal. If you EVER think of doing this, please ask yourself if you are willing to face those consequences.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 05:15:40 +0000
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