I just saw an ad on Google offering to assist people to “take your dog anywhere, legally without the conflicts.” It was an ad for a “official” service dog registry where I could presumably pay them a fee to give me paperwork declaring my dog is an official service dog.
Now, in the United States and most of Canada (British Columbia being the exception), you are not required to have any sort of papers to prove your dog is a service dog. Many service dog teams have identification cards if their dogs were trained by a school, though they are not legally required to present them. However, it is not that part of this scam that made me laugh with derision. It was the “without the conflicts” part.
Let me tell you as a former (and future) guide dog handler, conflicts abound when you take your service dog into public buildings where they are legally allowed to go, and fake service dog registries that cause people to believe they can take their pets with them into public stores and modes of transportation are partly responsible for perpetuating these conflicts.
I have been told to leave stores and restaurants because of my guide. I have had taxis refuse to pick me up because of my guide. I have had potential employers refuse to hire me because of my guide. This was all with a fully trained and legal guide dog.
Don’t even get me started on the conflicts with strangers who become belligerent and offended when I politely ask them to stop petting, coaxing, or talking to my guide dog.
There are plenty of conflicts where legitimate service dog teams are present. Don’t think for a minute you won’t encounter conflicts trying to pass a pet dog off as a service animal.
Guide dogs, and service dogs in general, have all been trained for hundreds of hours. They perform specific tasks to help mitigate aspects of a handler’s disability. They have been carefully socialized and trained to behave appropriately in public spaces and perform their specific jobs. Pets, on the other hand, lack this training and socialization.
I understand that people would love to be able to take their furry friends with them everywhere they go. However, this is not fair to the dogs, to business owners, and to legitimate service dog handlers.
I saw a post on Facebook the other day in a university discussion group by a woman who wanted to bring her dog into the buildings on campus. She was out with her dog and she needed to drop something off at a professor’s office. She wanted to know if she could bring her dog inside, just for a few minutes. Everyone in the comments was enthusiastic about this idea and demanded pictures.
In all odds, her dog had spent its life at home, in the car, on the sidewalk for walks, at the dog park, and at the vet. The university can be a stressful place for even highly-trained service dogs with its crowded, narrow hallways. She didn’t know how her dog would react in this kind of environment. Would her dog bark, growl, panic, relieve itself in the hallway, jump up on people, or even lash out in fear? Now she wasn’t planning on passing her dog off as a service dog as far as I know, but maybe she would have if she were rightfully asked to leave by an employee.
What if a legitimate service dog team had been working on campus that day? Would her dog have tried to play with the service dog while it was concentrating on its job, thus potentially placing the service dog’s handler in danger? Or maybe it would have attacked the service dog out of fear? Without hundreds of hours socializing a dog to public spaces, you can’t know how your dog will react to high-stress environments.
Bringing a pet into a public space where dogs aren’t normally allowed to go may seem like a great idea for you, but it is not fair to your dog or to legitimate service dogs. As well, the unpredictable, disruptive, and untrained behaviour of a pet dog in a business can cause the business owner or employees to preemptively deny legitimate service dog teams from entering their establishments or from receiving services in the future.
Now, business owners have the right to deny even a trained service dog access to their premises if the dog is out of control or is dirty or ill. So, a person passing their pet off as a service dog can legally be denied entry to businesses, even if they are brandishing the fancy registration certificates they bought online. Oh, and by the way, in many places if you are caught trying to pass a pet off as a service dog, you can be fined.
A service dog handler must bring their dog with them. It is a mobility aid that they require to live their life to the fullest. Your pet, though adorable, is not a tool or a mobility device. You do not require its presence at the mall, in a restaurant, or in a university’s buildings to go about your business. A service dog handler will bring their service dog to a job interview because they require the dog. In all odds you wouldn’t bring your pet dog masquerading as a service dog to your next job interview or on a first date because you recognize that your dog’s presence would create conflicts for you.
Service dog handlers rely on their dogs despite the conflicts they experience in public. Don’t contribute to those conflicts. Don’t place your dogs in situations out of their depths. Cuddle your dogs at home and take them for walks on public paths. Take them to the dog park or to puppy socialization clubs. Don’t buy that fake service dog registration. Avoid the conflicts.
Insight from the Shadows 