#guide dog

Ramble tags!

They are a guidance aid designed by a blind man and his guide person to use instead of arm linking, so that visually impaired people can walk and run whilst being guided. The guide wears the tags and the visually impaired person holds the handle to be led. There are ones for your upper arm and ones for your wrist

This is a much more practical item for being a service animal given a lot of our anatomies and social situations make it hard to use gear for theriform animals.

They come in a few different colours in patterns, many of which are bright neons for visually impaired people to see easily and are therefore very service animal coded since they’re often brightly coloured for similar reasons.

Note that these are not lifting aids and aren’t safe for use on escalators and similar things.

They ship worldwide from the UK. Image by ramble tag. Here’s the link if you want to look into it https://rambletag.co.uk/

A typical New York scene on Sixth Avenue, 1959. Two blind pan-handlers on a city street, the man playing the accordion, the woman holding a cup. A dwarf drops a coin in the cup as he passes. A guide dog stands next the blind man.

For those wondering where I’ve been: I got a guide dog!

I’ve spent the past three weeks working with my new partner Linda: we’ve been training together for twelve hours a day, and now it’s time for us to come home.

Hello!! Just wanted to present some facts about service dogs as a service dog handler myself! Feel free to ask any questions that you may have as well! My current service dog, Ahsoka, has been working for 3 years, and service dogs have been a lot that I research about! (This is research is based in the US)

How are service dogs helpful?

Service dogs can be helpful in a variety of ways, and it really varies from handler to handler. For example, guide dogs help guide their blind handler! Or a service dog alerting to a high heart rate! It varies based on your need, but typically, they help regardless.

What types of service dogs are there?

• Psychiatric Service Dog

• Dissociation Response Dog

• Autism Assistance Dog

• Seizure Alert Service Dog

• Diabetic Alert Service Dog

• Cardiac Alert Service Dog

• Allergen Detection Service Dog

• POTS Alert Service Dog

• Hearing Service Dog

• Guide Dogs For The Blind

• Dual Sensory (Deafblind) Service Dog

• Mobility Service Dog

• Medical Detection Service Dog

• Cancer Detection Service Dog

Mind you, Cancer Detection service dogs I mostly see used in hospitals to help detect if a patient has cancer! Multi-purpose service dogs also are a thing where they may have both, for example, psychiatric tasks and medical tasks.

Also, if your disability wasn’t up there, that doesn’t mean a service dog can’t help with it! I just put what I can remember right at the top of my head!

What tasks can service dogs perform?

Here is a giant list of service dog tasks! Be aware though that any task that requires the dog to leave your side in a public space is dangerous. If you are a faint risk or have a disability that when you’re down you’ll need help, please train a bark alert for your dog. The dog will bark until someone comes! The reason why the dog leaving is risky is because he/she can get hurt, attacked by another dog, or even stolen. A task that requires the dog to leave you entirely should only be done at home or somewhere safe that nothing bad can come to the dog (NOT in public).

Do emotional support animals, Therapy dogs, and/or Guard dogs count as service dogs?

They do not! A service dog is defined as a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability.

Emotional support animals are not task-trained; therefore, they aren’t allowed in non-pet-friendly spaces.

Therapy dogs can sometimes be allowed in public spaces if requested by a school, hospital, etc. However, therapy dogs help more than one person and are also not task-trained.

Guard dogs are not task-trained, and service dogs cannot show any aggression towards the public or someone else. (I don’t count if your dog is attacked and they’re defending themselves against another dog.)

Do service dogs need identification or certifications?

Service dogs do NOT need to wear any kind of service dog vests or tags as it’s not a requirement per the Americans Disabilities Act.

In the US, we have no certifications either! People make fake ones online, but they do no justice as they aren’t real or official.

A college or school may ask for a doctor’s note for proof of disability and why you might need a service dog to give you accommodations for you and your service dog. This, however, is not a legal certification! Just a doctor’s note that can be written by a doctor, mental health professional, etc.!

How do I get a service dog? Can they be any breed?

A service dog can be trained by the owner, an organization, or a trainer that isn’t part of an organization!

Owner training is the route I went because it’s more accessible in my opinion and less expensive. BUT, it can take longer (depends on the dog), and if you’re not willing to be patient or learn how to train a dog, then it can be draining for you.

Getting a dog from an organization can be good; however, a service dog can cost up to possibly $ 50k depending on the location. Placement with a service dog can also potentially take a few years.

A trainer training a dog you already have could also be good, as it’s cheaper than getting a dog from an organization but still more expensive than overtraining.

At the end of the day, though, it’s whatever you can afford! A service dog can also be any breed and size; there are no limits! It’s only if you need mobility tasks or possible guide tasks that a small dog is NOT recommended for.

Resources + Last minute notes

Service dogs by Xenix is a slide show made by me! Feel free to use it as much as you like! Questions and concerns can be commented or DM’d to me! However, please do not seek medical advice from me as I can’t give you any! Only things on service dogs!

Thank you for reading!