Interesting. I note that service animals aren’t mentioned, however, in the list of mitigating measures to be considered. I presume they’d be covered, given that “learned behavioral adaptations” is covered. This, on its surface, seems like a ridiculous amendment. What purpose does it serve?
I know someone who is looking into getting an anxiety dog. She is diagnosed, and has prescription meds, but still has episodes. The biggest problem is that past a certain level of anxiety, she has difficulty processing information properly or noticing social cues, which interferes with her work in a major way. Also, she does not notice when she’s slipping into anxiety (she’s just always been anxious - mild anxiety is background noise to her), and if she’s fretting over her work, she forgets to take her meds during the day.
The program she’s looking into trains appropriate* small dogs to distract her by raising up and pawing her leg above her knee when she is beginning to get overwrought. She’s supposed to be trained, by the same program, to take the dog’s cues. The dog will also be trained to notify her that it’s time to take her pills. She’s a little unhappy that her current dog does not have an appropriate temperment for the program, which, with her other circumstances, means that she’d have to find a home for him before she could get the anxiety dog.
I can’t vouch for the program. When she first mentioned it my reaction was :dubious:. But she’s doing everything she can to hold onto her job and apparently the agency she works for views the dog as one more thing she’s doing to get things under control. She’s saving up for the program. If it works as advertized, I’d consider the dog to be a service animal.
*the dog must be calm and mellow (as opposed to the bundle of energy she currently owns), willing to lay still for long periods, able to tolerate other people but really only interested in its owner, perceptive, and confident.
If the lady in the OP of this thread had a dog like this I don’t see how anyone could disagree it’s a service animal.
This might be better as “If the dog in the OP had a lady like this …”
Exactly. Well put.
Thank you!!!
Not that this adds to the discussion but some folks are misusing the term Seeing Eye Dog.
It actually adds a lot to the discussion. Because “Seeing Eye Dogs” are a brand with a reputation - that’s the sort of company you would want to have behind a certified service animal. As opposed to buying your Puggle puppy from Petland, taking it to Petsmart for six lessons of puppy kindergarten, training him enough so he usually doesn’t poop in the house, snaps only at children and only barks at strangers, strange dogs, squirrels, and movement on the TV and calling it your anxiety dog - then accusing anyone who finds it inconvenient that you and your ill behaved little cur insist on appearing in public together with discrimination.
Not that there shouldn’t be such a thing a depression dogs, just that there should be a certification process for such things. I love my dog, he’s a great dog. He’s pretty well trained for a non-competitive companion animal. But he isn’t nearly disciplined enough to lie under my chair on a cruise ship or poop on command in a kiddie pool set up on the balcony of said cruise ship for that purpose.
Unadulterated crock of shit:
The point of service animals is to perform tasks that a disabled person cannot effectively do on their own because of their disability. How a dog will magically fix her depression where medication cannot would be a very hard sell IMHO to any oversight to whoever set this mess up…
Is this person considered disbled by their depression?
Did they have the dog before their diagnosis?
Is this some kind of test program (I can let that slide if she is involved in some kind of documented testing program to better define if this is workable)?
Would a “depression hamster” or “depression cat” work too?
To be a service animal, there should be a demonstrable tangible service the animal provides. “It makes me feel better” is pretty thin. You would have an easier time convincing me you need a service dog who alerts to smells like smoke or decay for someone who has no sense of smell than this application.
Some people also wear watches and have phones/PDA’s with alarms and appointment keepers that can be used to remind someone to take their meds. Less intrusive to everyone including employers, probably also alot cheaper, definitely more accurate than a dogs sense of time.
Along the same lines, allowing her a few decor items that tend to cheer her up might be helpful as well.
Heh… mine comes with me everywhere too. Only we don’t just go to the mall; we’ve been all over Europe. They’re eminently portable animals; just perch them on your shoulder, or drop them in your pocket, and you’re off.
Apparently some people do use them as service animals. I think it might have been here on the SDMB (probably in the Pit) that I first heard about a student who complained that her university wouldn’t let her take her “anxiety ferret” to class.
Sooo…whatever happened with this case? It article mentions that the Justice Dept. was reviewing the case. Any precedent set here?
I’m guessing it could be possible for someone with extreme anxiety to have a service animal, in case of anxiety attacks (I’m talking extreme, debilitating ones). There are, for example, guide dogs for those with seizure disorders, IIRC.
I HAVE heard of a therapy technique where a person keeps a small stuffed animal with him or her, to help cope with anxiety attacks. Sounds kind of stupid, but then if you think about it, a lot of stuffed animals can fit in purses or brief cases. You really can’t do that with a dog.
(And yes, I remember the “anxiety ferret”. I wonder whatever happened to her – the student, that is.)
I wonder if there were any Yorkshire Terrier service dogs before it became cool to have one as arm-candy? Pretty much every service dog I’ve seen has been a black lab. Once you get over them eating everything the first two years, they turn in to fantastic dogs.
Yorkies? Egads. Small dogs generally do not have the temperament required to meet what I consider are the qualifications of a service dog. I am certain there are exceptions, so don’t bother going there. However, I see a service dog as a dog that provides tangible services. Existing does not fall in that category.
I’m all for flouting stupid rules. I do wish we were less hostile to animals in public, but thanks to asshole pet owners, I doubt it will change much.
What I am vehemently against, is using laws created to make those less able have fuller lives. Handicapped stalls, parking, guide dogs? Sacred baby. I wrote off someone as a potential friend when I found out she had a handicapped hang tag that belonged to her father, in her car that she used indiscriminately.
Special little snowflakes are going to ruin service animals for folks that actually NEED them.
I had a dog that was exceptionally well mannered. She would not eat unless I was home. The ONE time I put her in a kennel was on my 4 day honeymoon. She lost 5 lbs. It would have benefited HER greatly to be constantly around me, which is why I trained her so well and in fact, she did go to college with me as well as a billion other places. It never occurred to me to have her labeled a service dog, except due to her temperament, I thought she would otherwise* excel at it.
*Otherwise being the fact that all you humans suck, and I was the only one on the planet worth a damn.
Animals can be an excellent source of moral support. Much better in some cases then inanimate objects and people because an animal can provide a nonjudgmental source of affection and some feel love. Owners do love their pets which is another mood boost. Medicine works okay, if the right combination is found, but also has a lot of nasty side effects. If a dog works better then use the dog. It’s not her fault her brain is the way it is.
The only real concern I have with that setup, assuming it’s the op’s, is she will outlive the dog and being that emotionally involved, well it’s a dangerous thing.
Problem is with the OP’s scenario is the person is demanding we all make an exception for her “disability” that makes it so difficult to enjoy her cruise without her dog. I’d bet my next paycheck the OP’s case is more like one of these people who sees her dog as her literal child and the need for the dog is a sign of the problem, not the solution.
Losing a guide dog would I am sure be upsetting to someone who uses one, however another dog will fill in nicely.
Ahoy,
I’d like to take a cruise, but I’m clinically delusional and whenever I am aboard a ship I sincerely believe myself to be Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson. The lady in the OP has set a wonderful precedent for putting the responsibility on the cruise line to not only give me the same services everyone else gets, but also to reasonably accommodate my personal disability, no matter how strange or minor.
Therefore, I have informed the cruise line that on my upcoming cruise I will be dressed as an 18th-century flag officer of the Royal Navy and will expect the ship’s crew to refer to me as Sir and to pretend to consult with me on major navigational questions. I will also be bringing along a Hindoo footman (with his own ticket, of course) who will sleep on a plank in the engine room and eat kippers. First-class passengers must refer to me as Your Lordship and lower-class passengers must neither address me nor meet my gaze. If this is not done, I will become agitated and can only be calmed down with an ample dram of Scotch whisky. This accommodation will cost the cruise line nothing, but if not made, I will file a complaint with the Department of Transportation and the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division.
Yours etc.,
Nelson
If she had a seeing eye dog would this objection still be valid?
It’s the role of the dog. The dog’s role is solely to stabilize her emotions. Remove that stability and what happens next? Maybe you’re right and another dog could put the stability back, but I’m not convinced.
If she had a seeing eye dog, she would have a certified, legally recognized service animal. Whether she has a particular bond with the animal would be immaterial.
Maybe some people just don’t get to take cruises. Especially folks whose mental stability is so fragile. Where do you draw the line? If I am unstable unless everyone treats me as **Hyperlastic **described above, should that demand be met whenever I leave my house?