[KFC911]

Originally Posted by piscator

Thanks! This is all correct and I'm happy to see it. I've trained and worked with 'therapy dogs' for years and hate to see dog owners abuse the reputations of legitimate working dogs. I saw this coming ten years ago and it makes me sick. What used to be a pretty simple situation will now undergo massive legislative change -- yuck!

Unless something has changed recently, in Connecticut, a service animal is an animal that performs a service for someone with a disability. The statute specifically states that this DOES NOT include 'emotional support.' That's the full extent of the written law.

The only additional mention of service animals in the statutory law, clarifies that it's perfectly legal to train your own service dog.

So the issue of certification gets rather muddy. You can 'certify' the dog yourself or get certifications from a private organizations, some of which do a fine job and others that are just scam operations. Since it's (rightfully) illegal to question someone's disability, it's nearly impossible to identify the scam dog owner -- "my service dog scratches my big toe; but you can't ask me about it."

The therapy dogs I work with are certified by a reputable, national, non-profit, organization. Their training program is quite extensive, but they have no greater legal standing because of that.

I don't know how all this 'emotional support animal' stuff came about, but half dozen years ago I started meeting owners at dog exercise areas who claimed their canines were 'emotional support dogs.' One woman in particular out-rightly stated that she wanted to get her dog a free seat on airlines.

Anyway, it totally disgusts me that people are abusing this situation. More and more, I meet people who claim their animal is a 'service dog' when that's patently untrue. One woman in the post office introduced me to her 'service bull-dog!' Let's get real!

While theoretically any dog can be a service dog, responsible trainers choose breeds that are best suited to the task. The enormous amount of training time invested demands it. Labs and Shepards are often favored because of their temperment and aptitude.

A service dog performs a service and usually they are not to be petted. 'Seeing eye' guide dogs are not overtly friendly because they have a critical task to perform and shouldn't be distracted. 'Therapy dog' is not a legal definition, but is a dog with extensive socialization and obedience training. One of their primary tasks is to BE PETTED! -- in schools, hospitals, nursing homes.

I've volunteered bringing highly trained therapy dogs into all these places. These dogs have been wonderful in giving emotional support to the sick. And a superb learning experience to young people in schools and alternative juvenile incarceration centers.

A dog well trained for this work would NEVER randomly attack anyone.

Oddly, none of the half dozen or so 'emotional support dogs' introduced to me, were qualified to go into a nursing home. None of them qualified as having basic obedience skills. And frankly, the owners didn't qualify either! (My apologies to emo dog owners who don't fit this category).

End of rant, I'm sorry.

Robert

^^^^^ only thing wrong was the "I'm sorry" part imo...spot on. I am occasionally around a GSD seeing eye dog....when she's NOT working...so I DO get to pet her...we're buddies .


What you do is so cool....