Calling all Service Dog Owners!

[LauraVV]

I taught her "ignore!" instead of leave it. Doesn't mean anything different to my dog, but tends to get the point across to idiot people. It's not like my dog was going up to the people, they cornered us.

I realized that the people cornered you and your dog didn't seek attention. But if you reprimand your dog for not following "ignore" command in front of the people who are petting her the offending petters will realize that too.

We were at the hospital the other day, sitting in a waiting room. Someone asked me about petting service dogs. They thought service dogs shouldn't EVER be petted. I told them that when the cape is on the dog is working and we don't want strangers to pet because that will make the dog seek attention from strangers and his attention won't be on my daughter, where it needs to be. When the cape comes off he's a typical dog. (OK, a really good dog most of the time.)

One of the best things about having a service dog for my daughter is the fact that it's allowed her to stick up for herself. She was never able to stand up for herself. She now tells adults NO when they pet her dog. Katie knows she's his mommy and has to take care of her dog.

 

[LauraVV]

I agree that the loud LEAVE IT command sometimes makes people back off.... i have never thought of the treat thing though i have to hand it to the person who posted about that... WAY COOL ... yes how sad it is when kids know more about SDs vs parents.

People are petting our dogs because they love dogs. They're not trying to be mean. So, they tend to stop petting very quickly when you use the dog guilt thing. I always tell the dog he's not going to get his treat in an upbeat manner so he doesn't know I'm essentially saying "bad boy."

The dogs in our family are not guide dogs. Most people know about guide dogs but have not heard about service dogs. I think I've seen one service dog locally in the 2 1/2 years we've had them in our household. People are not trying to be rude but that doesn't mean we have to just take the intrusion if we don't want to either.

 

[denversees4me]

Denver and I went to Disneyland this past week . It is funny how NASTY some people can be when you ask them not to pet your dog . I was waiting for small world when a lady in front of us started petting Denver ....she wasnt just oetting him but she was down on one knee calling him to her I nicely TOLD her " oh im sorry he cant be pet , im blind and he is my seeing eye dog , if you pet him it takes his focus away from me .. if I am not paying attention he could move foreward to seek your petting and i could get hurt . " My friend said she just looked at me and if looks could kill !!!! she said " im just oetting him ."... I couldnt believe it .... im telling this lady im blind and not to call my dog or pet him and is all she says is gee im just oetting him ... did i just say to her blah blah blah apparently so LOL you just have to take it in stride though and laugh that there are people who are still so vcery ignorant even though you are nice..... What other problems seem to be an issue for other SD handlers while out besides petting ???? I find there are not very many places to relieve my dog in disneyland and DCA .... i have found a few spots though

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

I'm a WDW Cast Member ... when I accompany a guest backstage to one of the Service Animal Break Areas, I have a tendancy to chitchat with the guest, and the animal usually comes up. I stick to general questions like "what's your (dog/cat/miniature pony/etc)'s name?" and "how long have you been together?", in addition to the standard questions that I ask pretty much everyone I converse with "where are you visiting from/how long are you here for/favorite thing you've done/etc."

For those of you who use service animals, and have said on this thread that you get tired of the questions about the animals, what would your opinion be of my asking these questions in this situation? (I'm not out to annoy people, and if I get responses indicating that those questions would be annoying, then I'll stop using them)

 

[denversees4me]

hi
it dosent bother me in the least having a CM ask me any quiestions , what bugs me and im sure this is what others mean too is, when your trying to get from A to B and someone comes and stops you and starts asking things. It isnt that we are unsocial and ALL people bother us it is just that some poeple are more bothersome . If i had you take me backstage i would love to chat with you ... something i dont get to do all the time . Chatting with the public is a good way to educate them , sometimes conversations can be great and other times its just the same ol same ol... things that people say or ask that bug me is ignorant thiggs like... wow i wish i could get my dog in disneyland or wow i wish all of our dogs could come on a disney cruise how did you get so lucky.... no i didnt get lucky ... im blind i am disabled it is a price i pay to have my guide ( one i would pay any day though ) The people who tell you stories of their dogs who they have snuck in places or dogs that make them feel better that do nothing but comfort them and they think they have rights like real SD users.... those are the people ithink most of us get annoyed with . I like talking to people ...i like getting the quiestions like how long have you been a team where did you guys train at how long did it take you to train together how old was Denver when you got him , what is he like out of harness .... Those are the things we like to talk about things we relate to .... hope this helps and keep om doin what your doin i personally dont find anything wrong with it !!!!
cari and guide dog Denver

 

[dclfun]

I agree- we only get annoyed when people stop us in our tracks or intrude on our privacy- not a conversation when we are backstage or asking a CM for assistance with our SD's ( getting water, helping find a break area, etc.). By the way, I HOPE no one has tried to pass off a cat as a service animal! As was mentioned above, comfort pets are NOT service animals and should not be allowed in the parks. Since I've seen more and more "comfort animals" in the parks I'm hoping that eventually Disney will follow the law instead of letting people abuse rights that are given to disabled SD handlers and their true service animals.---Kathy

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

By the way, I HOPE no one has tried to pass off a cat as a service animal! As was mentioned above, comfort pets are NOT service animals and should not be allowed in the parks.

The one time I saw a cat, it was actually wearing a harness similar to what a service dog would wear, and the harness proclaimed it to be a seizure alert cat. A little google searching leads me to believe it may be possible for a cat to detect a seizure, even though it's a task more usually reserved for dogs. Might have been legit.

 

[Talking Hands]

My cats all alert me when my blood sugar drops too low at night. They will lick and nudge me to wake me. But I would never bring them to Disney. Too easy to lose them.

 

[SueM in MN]

Our cat doesn't detect seizures, but if DD has one, she does go into the room right away and would 'meow' until someone comes. She usually stays with DD until she is awake/alert.
I know that cats can be trained to do tasks (for example, cats in movies have been trained to do different things on command). Cats are just not typically as 'commandable' as dogs.......

When I did a talk for other hospital Infection Control Specialists about Service Animals in hospitals, I found a cartoon that kind of illustrated that. The cat and dog are looking out the window at their owner who was climbing a tree, knocked the ladder down and is now stuck up the tree. The dog's thought is "Oh, no. I don't know how to get him down from the tree." The cat's thought is "Oh, no. I don't know how to use the can opener."

 

[mechurchlady]

http://www.guidehorse.com/
Yep they have one working right now and are planning to use small ponies as service equines. Someone at the game site hotlinked to that site so I was like , what you talking about.

I have seen monkeys used for the disabled also.

 

[SueM in MN]

http://www.guidehorse.com/
Yep they have one working right now and are planning to use small ponies as service equines. Someone at the game site hotlinked to that site so I was like , what you talking about.

I have seen monkeys used for the disabled also.

Monkeys are not common service animals, but a lot of monkeys are used by people with quadriplegia (paralysis of all 4 limbs). Monkeys are useful because they have so much capability with their hands and they are very smart. But, they can be trouble because of their great strength compared to their size and they can become agressive once they reach adulthood.

 

[denversees4me]

first of all i woud like to say AMEN TO THAT KATHY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it is so sad the ammount of people abusing priveleges. OK second as for the CAT lol yea it may help but lets get real here folks... a cat can be great for home use but in no way should it have acess rights like a service dog . It is being proposed right now that the definition of a service animal be changed and it is mainly focusing on dogs as service animals it is not going to include cats monkeys horses or any other CRITTERS for that matter,,,, the only one i would think about is the horses and the monkeys , but thats bec i think if there are a few good guide ponys out there great BUT NOT FOR ANY OTHER TYPE OF SERVICE WORK ,,,, horses in general have great eyesight and live longer than a guide dog ... i researched getting one before i got Denver, but it is still so experamental and frankly to be way honest i dont really see them working out well ... monkeys they can be GREAT run microwaves feed people do laundry dont laugh they can dp it all , but again the agression can become serious . From an animal lovers point i would say keep the horse and monkey in the bill but as a legit service dog user who experiences the things i do every day i feel service work is only fit for a DOG !!!!!!!!! and that only dogs should have acess .....hopefully when this passes it will fix the issue like what was seen in disney with that cat ,,,, emotional support dogs AGAIN ARE NOT service dogs... It is sad i was on a website simillar to this kind about crusing with service dogs , and the talk of the thread got out and EVERYONE was writing on it about thier hairless dogs who went on cruises with them or their pets who offered emotional support or the people who tried to argue their dogs were indeed service dogs bec they were certified... i think if that happens on this string and it becomes like that i will CRY LOL ... I just want a spot where real SD users can chat real people with real disabilitys ... i know having emotional issues is in a sense a disability but dont go taking your pet dog and sending in money to some hoax of an orginization to certify it ( when theres no such thing ) so you can call it a SD and gain acess .... we have worked HARD and i do mean HARD to get where we are today with our service dogs. Denver and I trained at guide dog school for a month 6 1/2 days a week from 6 am to 10 pm and couldnt leave the campus for that month we stayed in the dorm ,,,, and many CCI dogs and other orginizations train just as hard, People who have good owner train dogs work just as hard too.... a poorly trained dog or an ill behaved dog in public RUINS ti for us who have put our hearts and souls into making our dogs perfect for the public, and these dogs are usually the emotional support dogs or comfort dogs being passed as SDs or even PSDs who have been someones pet and never properly trained....Dogs who bark, sniff while shopping, growl .have food agression or dog agression (even if it is only at home ) , dogs who seek people out in public for attention dogs who have FLEAS are not groomed who have anxiety issues not noticed by the owner who are so stressed out the owner dosent even know it !!!! dogs who pee on things when they are not supposed to .... when will the madness end? i think PSDs are kinda silly but im not in those shoes so i dont know i think dogs for autistic kids and adults are good ... but MAN there is some serious abuse out there and i only hope it dosebt float this way on this board... im having way too much fun chatting here and would hate to leave .....
hope i didnt offend anyone ... just gotta vent sometimes to other SD users
LOL who i know somehow at one time or another must share my fury !!!!
cari and Denver

ps i cant BELIEVE Mickey MOUSE let a CAT in his park LOL LOL LOL ( couldnt resist guys )

 

[mechurchlady]

Hugs Kathy and agrees. I still miss my Katie who was a big lummox and my best friend. She was my baby, my therapy dog and she did things like take stuff to mom in the kitchen, pick stuff up, and protect me. If I get another dog it will be one like her who is not a play mate but a hard worker who picks things up, protects, fetches, and keeps me emotionally stable.

I agree with you about how people are abusing the system. I have seen those sites that say you can get certified. I then ask myself how am I supposed to train the dog. Katie was a trick dog who would do almost anything I asked of her and was very easy to train. I just don't get it, how do I self train a dog. I want someone to teach me the laws and give me a trained dog who was trained by a person who knows how to train dogs.

Of course they have been trying to sneak pets into the parks for half a century. I do not understand why I would bring a pet to the park. I could not have had so much fun in the parks if I had Katie with me as I would worry about her being bored or scared or sick from munching on food she saw on the ground or hurt someone.

Hugs and chocolates KAthy and some of us who do not have service dogs understand your fustration.

 

[denversees4me]

mechurchlady- i am so glad you recognize the IMPORTANCE of having a professional train a dog for you .... owner traning can be a great thing and almost any dog canbe trained to do a task but the true thing that defines a service dog in my opinion is how well they behave ... eating food off the floor at the parks would not acceptable behavior from a true SD nor would being scared ... our dogs are BOMB PROOF !!! and will not scrounge for food... it is nice your dog can help you around the house and you recognized the fact that even though your dog did tasks for you that he or she was not the material it takes for a dog with public acess.... KUDOS TO YOU !!!! I wish everyone who needed a dog as you do could take a little lesson from you. It is my sole opinion ( keep in mind i train service dogs thru an acretited orginization for people in chairs aside from being blind and having a guide from a different school ) and i repeat it is my opinion that people who are not emotionally stable should NOT be traning their own dogs. as a trainer i know how much of the emotion can funnel right down thru the leash to the dog , and it creates a dog who is sometimes as needy as the owner . I hope that one day you could get a replacement dog to assist you in the home again , i know what a great help it can be . When I got Denver the school he came from did not train the retrieve just guide work . I took it upon myself to train this task and now he is so good at it he can hear me drop something in a dead sleep aqnd come running to pick it up for me .... it is nice i dont have to get down on myhands and knees and fish around for it ,,,, arent our dogs great !
cari and Guide dog Denver

 

[mechurchlady]

Mandy was the other dog and a lot of terrier in her. 14 pounds and a great therapy dog but she never learned to play, never chased a ball or fetched, and could not understand how to have fun like Katie. Great dog for me but in public I would never trust her even though her training was great. She was only freaked out by a pony and kids and she seemed to leer at kids, lol.

People do not understand that service dogs must be trained to stop being dogs. No more running after birds, no more drinking from puddles, no more taking scraps from people or finding food on your own, and no more being a silly puppy. I will not get another dog for a year though because I swore I would not get another until the plumbing was fixed, heating was good, the yard was safe and fenced, I could care for the dog, and most important is the training to be a therapy and service dog. Such a dog would help mom out also so no more me running to help mom.

Someday I maybe be back in the parks, doubt it, and would love to meet Denver. Denver is an interesting name. I am in the southland area also but without a scooter no way am I going back.

Remember that the most important thing is to educate people so they can then educate people Feed a man a fish dinner and tomorrow he is hungry. Teach a man to fish and his family is fed for his lifetime. Teach a man how to teach others to fish and the whole world is fed. Vent away here as you need to let out them frustrations so that when you do meet them fake service dogs and people who pounce on your dog and smother it with hugs then you will be calm and teach them the truth about service dogs. Some people just need some educating but for others a rolled newspaper might be better.

 

[denversees4me]

thanks churchlady..,. yes we must all be calm when educationg others otherwise it is pointless.... where r you at in so cal? im in temecula but lived in mission viejo most of my life .
Denver came already named... he was out of a D litter and the only dog out of the litter who made it . He is going to be 7 next month. I got him a little early * he turned 2 while i was in class ) where the rest of my classmates got dogs who were 2 1/2 and most were siblings ..they were from the R litter and were fnatastic as well... many still out in service as we speak . They asked me if i wanted a shepard and I said NO NO NO , my friend elaine wound up getting him his name was fonzie and he was all black VERY COOL DOG ... I first got a black labbie named Smokey , but after 1 week into traning it just wasnt happening... I was much too fast for smokey and was re matched with Denver who is a ROCKET lol .... or shall I say was... he is slowing now in his older age . It is amazing at how my partnership with smokey didnt work out and i would up with what i had orig. asked for which was a male yellow lab.... the trainers said there was only black labs in the string and no yellows .... well after the week with smokey hey said meet Denver he is full of energy but we can just try it and see how it goes... we never skipped a beat and the rest was history . When we left school 3 weeks later the president of the school complimented us and said he knew Denver had it in him and it too just the right person to bring it out ... something the trainers had been trying to do for 6 months and werent getting many results at . It is amazing how these dogs just know what their job is and how some even know that they are waiting for the special person to come along before letting on to ALL they really do know . Smokey was later placed with an older man in his 80's I believe and is still working to this day .
Cari and guide dog Denver

 

[mechurchlady]

I am in Norwalk which is about 70 miles north of you. It is on the Interstate 5 and 605 freeway half way between Los Angeles and Disneyland. I wont go back because of problems there with pin traders and the walking from my car to the rental was murder on my knees. I fell in Disneyland and no longer can get on my knees without intense pain.

I love your story about how you and Denver met. That is another reason for me to wait. I need another lummox dog who is a bit slow in the brain to handle my quirks. Maybe the trainer is color blind and cannot tell black from yellow. They do look sort of alike, lol. Denver was lucky to meet you or he would have ended up someone's pet instead of something useful. I believe all animals have a purpose in life as God has a plan even though I cannot understand why he had to make them fire ants.

Hugs and chocolates from Laurie.
Wow that was an interesting story and very informative about service dogs.

 

[LauraVV]

I'm a WDW Cast Member ... when I accompany a guest backstage to one of the Service Animal Break Areas, I have a tendancy to chitchat with the guest, and the animal usually comes up. I stick to general questions like "what's your (dog/cat/miniature pony/etc)'s name?" and "how long have you been together?", in addition to the standard questions that I ask pretty much everyone I converse with "where are you visiting from/how long are you here for/favorite thing you've done/etc."

For those of you who use service animals, and have said on this thread that you get tired of the questions about the animals, what would your opinion be of my asking these questions in this situation? (I'm not out to annoy people, and if I get responses indicating that those questions would be annoying, then I'll stop using them)

You know, there's a huge difference between asking these questions when you're standing around watching a dog taking a potty break than when you're trying to run to meet up with your hubby or going to buy groceries. If you are standing around and talking anyway it's no big deal to talk about the dog. But when we're busy just being, well, us, it's difficult to have to repeatedly answer questions.

Somehow, taking a potty break together does kind of convey a sort of intimacy not found when grocery shopping.

 

[LauraVV]

http://www.guidehorse.com/
Yep they have one working right now and are planning to use small ponies as service equines. Someone at the game site hotlinked to that site so I was like , what you talking about.

I have seen monkeys used for the disabled also.

Horses are likely to no longer qualify as service animals when the new ADA standards are released. A service animal has to be individually trained to mitigate a disability of a disabled person. I doubt that there are too many cats individually trained.

 

[denversees4me]

yes when the new ADA laws come into effect horses and monkeys will be out along with most other critters .... dogs should really be it !!!!

churchlady - dont get me wrong Denver would have madeit as a guide for me or someone else he just found me before he found someone else.... sometimes a dog lacks things in advanced traning that us trainers KNOW will be made up for when they meet their match ... this is what happened to Denver and I .... Im just glad i got him before someone else who applied for a dog did
cari and D