A dog is considered a Service Dog (SD) when, according to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the animal can do one or more trained tasks that benefit the person with the disability (PWD).
(Keywords there are TRAINED and BENEFIT. But more on that later.)
Some states have Service-Dog-In-Training (SDIT) laws which offer support for dogs that are still training to be a SD. These laws offer the chance for the trainer/handler to take the dog out into Real World situations to better train the dog. I am lucky to live in a state that has an excellent SDIT law (same access as SDs). This means that I can take Mike anywhere I would take Joella even though he doesn’t know any SD tasks. But there are some common sense things that any SDIT handler/trainer should follow. These include safety reasons, health reasons, and hygiene reasons. This is why Mike does not go places. He’s not house trained yet. Reliable recall, loose leash walking, doing a solid down or stay – that means nothing yet if he can’t do the most basic of manners.
A friend of mine (coughElenacough) reminded me that Mike should not be out yet as a SDIT (meaning wear a cape). She’s right. The only place we have gone with the cape on was Waffle House a few weekends ago. He was only in there for perhaps two minutes tops. In Lorna’s pocket were some paper towels and some Clorox wipes for just in case. I took him in for several reasons. Topmost was to see how he reacted to so many new things at once. I was looking for fear or reluctance. What I got was excitement and a total lack of fear. If he were house trained, he’d be going out on every day I could manage it. He is at the age where he should start learning the basics of public behavior. But until we get him house trained, he won’t be going. Was I wrong to take him out into public wearing a cape? Perhaps, but I won’t lose any sleep over it. I had already spoken to the manager of the restaurant and gotten permission to bring Mike in. Not that I would need permission, but with his lack of bladder control, I thought it best to get it.
Tags: Housetraining, Laws
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There are a number of places you can take Mike. Many untrained pets are in Lowe’s and Home Depot (Lew said they were always cleaning up after dogs when he worked at Lowe’s.). Just don’t dress him — take him as a “normal” pet.
And, by the way, the current regulation reads “tasks,” plural, meaning two or more tasks (but who’s counting?).
— submitted February 10, 2009 @ 8:32 pm
Yes, ma’am.
Tasks, as in plural? Huh, didn’t know that. But I’ve been out of the ADA loop for a while.
— submitted February 10, 2009 @ 9:40 pm