Hi there! My name is Wynter, I’m 18, and I have a service dog! My current dog mainly performs psychiatric and alert tasks. If you’re wondering about my disabilities, I have both physical and mental ones. My service dog is the sole reason I can attend university, go out on my own, and live life as independently as possible. *Note: this was originally posted on another blog of mine, but I have since moved it here!
Today, I am going to teach you what not to do and what TO do around service dogs!
First things first - what exactly is a service dog? Well, according to the Americans with Disabilities Act, “A service animal means any dog (sometimes mini horse) that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. “. So, basically, a service dog MUST be task trained to mitigate a disability. ESAs and Therapy dogs are NOT service animals, please see the below info-graphic.
PSA: To those “registering” their animals as service dogs/ESAs online, you’re getting scammed. There is NO registry for service animals (you only need a diagnosis) and for ESAs you only need a doctor’s note. NO SERVICE DOG / ESA REGISTRY WEBSITE IS LEGIT IN AMERICA! Please stop taking your untrained dogs in public, thank you.
Now that you know what a service dog is, let me tell you what NOT to do:
Do not make eye contact with the dog.
Do not talk, make noises at, or otherwise vocalise to the dog.
Do not scream “AW PUPPY” at us, please.
Please don’t even ask to pet our dogs, SD handlers really just want to grocery shop.
Do not ask us about our medical history.
Do not distract our dogs, this can be LIFE THREATENING!
Do not bring your pet/ESA into no-dog spaces, this is also life threatening to both me and my dog. Also, it is illegal to say your dog is a service animal when it is not.
No touch, interaction/talk, or eye contact.
Leave us be! Let us shop, pee, and eat in peace. If our dogs are off-duty and in a dog friendly area, feel free to ask! But please just let us work otherwise, especially if they are wearing gear.
Contrary to popular belief, most SD handlers don’t want to have to rely on our dogs to leave our houses, we do not want to have to deal with answering questions constantly every time we leave our houses.
Businesses: please learn the ADA laws, we would really appreciate it. You are only allowed to ask us two questions! “Is this a service dog?” and “What tasks is the dog trained to perform?”. That is IT! Also, service animals are not legally required to wear vests, have ID, papers, etc.
Do not interact with, touch, or talk to service dogs.
(and let me buy my milk, for heavens sake)
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