When I published that post about the Ann Taylor store telling Becky Andrews she couldn’t come in with her guide dog, a lot of you commented and wondered how a business could be so ignorant. Donna Sword, a volunteer puppy raiser for Canine Companions for Independence, left a response that suggested sometimes it’s negative experiences with fake service dogs that make business owners more wary. I asked her to expand that thought into a guest blog, and she graciously said yes.
Masquerading as an assistance dog
by Donna Sword
The Americans with Disabilities Act protects the rights of a person with a disability to bring their service animal with them in public, and it defines a service animal as “any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability.” I do not have a disability, so I rely on the good faith of businesses to welcome my pup-in-training in their stores to support our socialization efforts.
Donna Sword with her current Canine Companions for Independence pup-in-training, Yaxley (Photo courtesy of Donna Sword).
On the rare occasions when we’re met with resistance by a business, we sometimes find it’s because of a past negative experience with a fake service dog. These folk that bring their beloved, but ill mannered, pets into stores perhaps don’t realize the barriers they’re creating for those who rely on guide dogs or assistance dogs for independence. And we’ve seen these pets on our own outings.
The dog under a restaurant table that first growled, then stood and barked aggressively, as the pup and I walked past. The small dog in the front seat of a grocery cart, standing to alert with a tense mouth when children approached too closely. A Chihuahua in a handbag at a concert, invisible except when barking. And the large dog at the mall that took two hands to control as he lunged to sniff passersby.
Each one of these dogs was wearing a vest that identified them as a type of assistance dog. But were they assistance dogs — or instead pets masquerading as such? To a business owner, there’s not a big difference. Whether it’s due to inadequate training or a personality not suited for service dog work, it’s the same. These dogs are seen as potential liabilities. Will these dogs cause customer complaints, a loss of business? Will they have a toileting accident in the restaurant? And rather worrisome, will these particular dogs inflict damage, personal or otherwise?
I find it interesting, and more than a bit distressing, that an assistance dog cape can be purchased online, complete with certification documents. A Google search will net you several companies that require only a credit card and a dog; no proof of training required. And rather ironically, the ADA does not require working dogs to display any identification nor is an individual required to have their dog certified as an assistance animal. This opens the door to abuse of the law, it seems. Unless challenged, anyone may claim their pet as an assistance dog.
This is wrong.
And so of course, businesses are cautious. And maybe just a bit confused. While the ADA laws are clearly written on the access rights of individuals, some businesses just aren’t educating themselves or their employees. They don’t know that an ill-behaved dog (whether it is a service dog or not)) can be asked to leave their place of business. Or that there are some questions they can legally ask, such as “is the service dog required because of a disability?” or even “what task has the dog been trained to perform?” One question businesses can not ask an individual is “what is your disability?”
A highly trained assistance dog or guide dog is not a pet. They are constant companions and loved by their handlers, that’s for sure, but these dogs are also necessary, a sort of “assistive technology” allowing a higher level of independence.
I’m afraid we’ve allowed the bad behavior of a few to build these barriers for those who rely on these dogs. I agree that many businesses have a need for more education on ADA, but there is also a need to crack down on these fake service dogs. And on the companies out there selling service dog capes and certifications making it too easy to allow public access to pets.
HI, Beth! My husband Mark alerted me to your blog, and I have just read a month’s worth. You inspire me to write more! I spotted you and Whitney last week but too far away to say hello!
I recently encountered a St. Bernard in our local Weis grocery store. When I observed the dog stick its nose in the meat cooler and later let a big bark, I decided to ask whether he was a service dog and why she needed the dog. The reply, “I have muscular dystrophy and he helps me keep my balance. I trained him myself.” The dog nor the person had any ID.
We’re so very fortunate that our local Kroger grocery has been supportive of our puppy socialization. And has in fact, defended me when customers complain at the service desk about a dog in the grocery. (They provide many jobs for people with disabilities as well).
Would we consider the St. Bernard perhaps an undertrained service dog? A step backwards from our two steps forward in the public’s acceptance of service dogs in groceries?
Not only are service dog vests, capes, and “fake” I.D.’s available online, I found a website that sells guide dog harnesses. Until there is some type of standardization in the training, testing and credentialing of service dogs, abuses will continue.
The stinker of all, Kim, is that there is indeed standardization. Many assistance dog organizations are accredited through Assistance Dogs International. However, it comes down to the ADA, or any other prevailing laws, not requiring certification that allows the abuses.
Until Washington (or our individual states) take this problem seriously, it’ll continue unchecked. Thanks for the information. Beth’s blog has opened my eyes to lots of issues I’d never thought about.
I do so agree with Donna. I am a puppy raiser too. I really appreciate establishments that allow me to bring my trainees in so that they can get the valuable training on how to behave in these places. Like her I have encountered some skepticism on account of people bringing their pets in and claiming them as service dogs. Once in a big box store, I saw a man with a large great dane attached to him by a rope around his waist. The dog wore some sort of “therapy dog” cape. As this pair roaming the ailes it was obvious that the dog was untrained. It jumped up on people and knocked items off shelves and barked aggressivly at anyone who came close. Concerned I told the store manager that he had the right to refuse access to unruly animals to his store by he replied that he’d like to, but that ADA laws did not even allow him to even ask about the dog.
People need to understand the negative impression this sort of action creates in the minds of the public towards genuine service dogs. And managers of public establishments need to understand ADA laws.
Exactly! Being a dog lover, I do forget sometimes that there are folk out there that don’t like dogs or have a deep seated fear of them. And them I’m reminded when I take a pup-in-training into a store. Having a child shriek at the sight of a well-behaved golden retriever (which is *not* a oxymoron, btw) is sobering. To have a lunging giant breed dog in a place of business is a whole nuther thing. If the dog is a threat, the business is permitted to ask the dog be removed. The “more education” thing.
Don’t get me started on this one! I’ve been raising pups for TSE for 10 years now and these “pseudo service dogs” are becoming more and more of a problem! I’ve had my pups barked at, lunged at and even bitten by dogs who have NO right to be in public. SO upsetting!
Yep, and what is inconceivable to me is that this happens to working dogs and their handlers as well. I’ve been hearing some uplifting news lately lately about certain states making it a felony to harm or otherwise interfere with a guide dog or assistance dog. A good start, but we’ve got a ways to go, I think.
Hi Beth,
I’m not sure if you remember me, but I was the volunteer greeter durring your most recent class at The Seeing Eye. I’ve been following your blog since we met, and enjoy all your stories and insights! This post has struck deep with me because I too am well aware of the growing number of these “so-called” service dogs, and the impression they may be giving. It breaks my heart to see people abusing the law just to bring their dog to the store with them. 83 years ago when Morris Frank brought Buddy (the magnificent, wonderful, and flawless first SE dog!) back to America, they had to fight and prove and pave the way for service dogs! They were an amazing team, and if they had not been so perfect we would have never seen the large and incredible service dog industry that this country currently has. When I hear about people taking advantage of the incredible effort put forth by Morris and Buddy, I can’t help but to become angry and upset. Do these people know the true value of a guide dog, a service dog? The real independence they provide? They must be uninformed, and the businesses that provide the IDs and vests must not be aware of Buddy’s amazing feats and how access was EARNED by service dogs. If they knew this, they might not have made a mockery of service dogs. They may have respected them.
I puppy raise for CCI, too. In North Carolina, trainers but not raisers have rights of access. That means I enter businesses at the good will of the owners and managers. I have never been asked to leave a business, but it wouldn’t be a big deal to me if I was, because I only take him to places that I can easily leave. Essentially I think about this every time I go out, and if leaving would be inconvenient, he stays home.
I’ve been asked about him lots but it’s always been very friendly and inquisitive. I have also run into people who don’t really understand the ADA but want their dogs to come out in public with them. I have probably spent more time educating friendly yet ignorant people that they can’t just buy a cape for their pet dog to get them in the restaurant than I’ve spent talking to restaurant owners.
So far, every interaction has been very pleasant maybe because as a puppy raiser, I go into it knowing that I don’t have a legal guarantee to be there, so I want to make sure that the next person who goes in with that legal guarantee has a great experience.
Greetings to a fellow CCI puppy raiser! Is this just the greatest volunteer gig ever or what? I totally agree that as PR’s we are ambassadors for CCI and sometimes the first contact a business has with assistance dogs. Keeping things positive keeps the doors open for others, I think. I’m with ya on that one.
We need to be educating businesses about the rights that they DO have, the 2 questions that they can ask, AND the fact that they are legally allowed to ask for a disruptive or dangerous acting dog to be removed, SD or not. That I think is the key issue. If more people with fake or poorly trained service dogs were asked to remove their dog from the property, it would soon make them not want to go to the trouble of bringing them out in the first place.
As an owner trainer of now my second service dog I can say that not all owner trainers are fakers or train to minimum standards. I train my service dogs to meet and exceed the recommended standards put forth by ADI and IAADP. I don’t think more legal intervention is necessary. I think that educating businesses on their rights AND the fact that they absolutely can ask a dog behaving dangerously or out of control to leave is what will help the situation. More laws will make things more difficult for the disabled to get and use service dogs… Education is the key. Educating business owners about their rights and educating people with poorly trained service dogs about how their dog puts others at risk and makes things more difficult for us all…
Here in Ohio we voted in a No Smoking law, which was likely written in good faith, but has suffered the “designed by a committee” result when put in place. What sounds good on paper doesn’t always work as intended in real life. Even as a non-smoker, I gotta say that it’s pretty messed up.
I’m using this as an example to support what you’re saying about more robust laws on the certification of assistance dogs. There’s a need for a change – many of us agree on this single point. But how to go about this? Government involvement can help to ensure compliance, but at what cost to the people who need these dogs? An individual’s right to use an assistance dog should not be challenged any more than the right to use any other assistive technology.
And then we come back full circle to the education piece. And now we shoulder the responsibility on the businesses to know that they need to educate their staff.
And you know, perhaps we can find a balance between bumping up the law and providing education. Businesses are expected to comply with all federal laws by training their management for understanding and follow-through. How could we get the ADA regulations, all of them, included in training programs?
I really enjoyed your blog post today. As a Puppy Raiser for CCI, and previously guide dogs, I’ve seen my share of problem dogs in public, too. Florida State legislature attempted to address fake service dog issue in the last session, but ran out of time on the bill. The author of the bill has assured me that the bill will be passed in the next session. It will allow for penalties for fakers and also give legal (equal to trainers and working dogs) public access to Puppy Raisers associated with ADI accredited programs. I’m looking forward to it, but education of business owners and the public is key, in any case.
Hi Leigh Ann and fellow puppy raiser! Kudos to Florida for considering this bill. Certainly sounds like a positive step forward. I’ll be curious to see how this works out for Florida and if other states would take a look at such changes. Thanks for the info!
As the owner of THERAPY dogs, not Service dogs, I have to say it makes me furious to see untrained “service dogs” in stores. Even though my dogs are wonderful therapy dogs, I have never attempted to take them into stores that do not normally allow all dogs. When I do hospital visits, I call ahead of time, to get permission to visit(our local hospital isn’t quite sure what to do with therapy dogs).
I honor and respect those with true Service dogs, or pups in training. It is horrible that those without morals take advantage of the laws allowing these dogs in public places. These people are hurting those who truly need their dogs, for whatever disablity.
Thanks for your pet therapy work, Pam! Talk about much appreciated volunteer work. Bless you for doing this with your dogs. And thanks for sharing your thoughts.
great blog. I am a dog lover (well, my dog anyway). Yesterday at the doctor office there was a woman with her little Yorkie in her handbag, showing him off to everyone. Different circumstance, as she made no pretense that he was a service dog, but it made me laugh thinking about the reaction if I were to walk in with MY dog, a 90 lb shepherd.
I may be naive about the importance of service dogs in their ever expanding roles, but as a diabetic I do not agree that they should have increasingly diverse use. Save the training for the visually impaired where there are not other alternatives.
Pam, as someone who’s quality of life is GREATLY improved by my mobility service dog, I think that your idea of minimizing the use of service dogs to the visually impaired is incredibly naive. My service dog assists me in ways that no person or piece of equipment could ever do. Why should I have less quality and functionality of life just because technology can’t help me? Also, as a service dog user, I would NOT choose to take my pet dog with me. It’s way more trouble than it’s worth. But my service dog helps me to function and be able to leave my home safely.
Are you volunteering to take the place of the service dog? Its obvious you are unaware of just how much these dogs do for people with disabilities. They provide them the independence to go and do things ON THEIR OWN with out constantly having to rely on a human being. Just like you and I.
But you would selfishly be willing to take that freedom away from them?
If I sound shocked an appalled I am.
Please take the time to educate yourself about the tasks service dogs perform, take some time to educate yourself about disabilities, before making statements like that again.
Ladies, I’m thinking about the education comments here. Isn’t this what we’ve been saying – there’s a need to tell our story so more folk understand?
Words are powerful and can be used as weapons or tools. Let’s go build something.
I think another problem is that there are now groups popping up to train service dogs where the trainers are people with little or no training backround. Now they are training others while lacking in the knowledge and/or ability to train a dog let alone a service dog.
When we chose to puppy raise for Canine Companions for Independence over any other assisance dog organization, it was because their standards are so high with the dogs they place (less than 50% of the pups will graduate) and that these highly trained and skilled dogs are provided at no cost to the recipient. The downside to this is of course the long waiting list to get an assistance dog.
So I do understand the desire for someone to want to train their own dog or to hire a trainer. The ADA doesn’t require the dogs to be registered or tested by ADI or similar. And sometimes the result is an undertrained assistance dog, which could cause problems in public. But really, what’s even worse in my thoughts, is that the dog does not perform the tasks needed for their partner. Time and dollars wasted and the hope for a higher level of independence remains unfilled. Like you, I’m frustrated with this.
I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it again! We need a national certification program for service animals! As a service dog owner myself I would have no problem with the small inconvenience tit would require to go and get my dog certified and receive an official certificate that I could provide if questioned. It would make life easier for us, for the general public, and for business owners. It would put these scammers out of business as well!
Who will oversee the testing? Who will train the testers? Where will it be located at? How convenient will it be for EVERY SD user in the ENTIRE country to get to the testing? What about those who don’t drive? What about those who live in remote areas or small towns? How much will it cost? Will all the disabled be able to afford it?
Why should I have to show paperwork to a doorkeeper to use my SD when I wouldn’t have to do so for a cane or wheelchair, which I use my SD in place of? What if I forgot my paperwork? What if it was lost or stolen? What would I do in the meantime until I could get my paperwork replaced? How long would that replacement take? How difficult would it be to “fake” the paperwork? What would stop people from faking the paperwork?
National certification isn’t the answer. More legislation isn’t the answer. Businesses standing up for their rights and kicking out poorly behaved and aggressive dogs IS the answer.
Renee, again on this one I’m mostly with you, but a little bit not. An individual should absolutely have the right to use an assistance dog without being challenged by a place of business. And it’s this very right that’s bringing out the fake service dogs – because these folk are not being challenged enough.
We can ask the businesses to police this by asking the ADA approved questions (does the dog provide a service . . .). But I’m still stuck on how we make it less confrontational for those with an assistance dog.
And you know what else I’m thinking about? The online businesses (like Skymall) selling the capes, badges and certifications. These people won’t stop as long as the credit card numbers keep showing up on their websites. This makes my stomach churn.
As a self-trainer, you need a resource for these materials, right? An identification cape is not required by the ADA, but if you use one with your dog, do you find that it cuts down on the challenges and questions in public? So the dilemma I can’t work out in my head is how to make this available to the trainers, such as yourself, but we edge out the fakers.
Thank you so much for this posting.
As a puppy raiser for Summit Assistance Dogs (mobility assistance, hearing assistance & professional therapy), I have encountered so many pseudo-service dogs…and I am always proud when ‘my’ pup demonstrated proper behavior during the encounter.
I have seen so many good examples of service dogs, but the wider community needs to be educated that neither a doctor’s not nor a vest makes a service dog. It is the hundreds of hours of training and expertise to meet the requirements of the ADA.
There are so many essential functions that service dogs can perform it is unreasonable to exclude the other types of service dogs.
I appreciate your comment, Deborah. I totally agree, it is a proud moment when the pup in training behaves well in public. An affirmation that, as puppy raisers, we’re on the right track in our socialization and training. But yeah, some businesses are erring on the side of caution by not asking badly behaved dogs to be removed from their shops. And others are over compensating by questioning all working dog handlers.
Somehow we’ve got to shame these pseudo-service dog handlers into doing the right thing by either putting in the hours of training or leaving the dogs at home. And the tricky part is to do this without compromising the rights of folk that have well-trained assistance dogs.
What a sensational conversation this is – many, many thanks to Donna Sword for writing this guest post and then keeping up with all the great comments. Beth and Lauren, I hope you got the emails I sent you personally, wanted to keep the conversation posted here between Donna and her readers.
Oh, and all of you who commented here need to know that Donna has her own blog , too –it’s called “Raising a Super Dog” and follows her puppy-raising adventures. The address of her blog is http://www.donnasword.com/
THANK YOU, Donna!
Beth, it was my pleasure. Truly. And my honor to have been asked to share my thoughts on this topic. This was a step outside the norm for me. My puppy raising blog is rather sunshine and rainbows. That is, I don’t write about anything more serious than what to do when the pup-in-training rolls in something stinky right before a big meeting at work. (Spoiler alert: You panic.)
I absolutely enjoyed sharing an exchange with others as passionate as I am on this issue affecting those who use assistance and guide dogs.
ffauk.com
And now, a word from a puppy raiser | Safe & Sound blog
Leave a Response