Depression Dogs

[Freudian_Slit]

@Voyager

At GDB, the labs seem to be evenly split between yellow and chocolate ones, and there are also Golden Retrievers, but not as many as they want, which is why our little breeder is so valuable to them. That’s based on seeing all the puppies in the kennel (more cuteness than many can stand) and the dogs who come back for fun day.

There’s a fun day? This sounds too adorable to be true! Do you have lots of puppy pictures on hand?

[Auntbeast]

ONE litter of yellow lab puppies exceeds the recommended daily allowance for cute. I’m thinking that a fun day of puppies would necessitate a fleet of ambulances and cardiac defibrillators.

Toss in a few golden pups, well, Armageddon.

[SciFiSam]

@Smokinjbc

I work for a vet and we’ve had two calls in the last week from people who want us to “certify” their dog or ask us how to go about it. One had an rx script from her personal physician that she needed the dog with her for anxiety, the other flatly admitted that she wanted the dog (a cute but entirely untrained Silky Terrier) certified so she could avoid the dog flying in cargo during a portion of her airline flight.

Another person I know competes in agility with her dogs and since her father is a physician, he wrote her a letter that she carries with her. That, along with a service vest easily obtained online has never been questioned. In fact, she says that so many people who compete do it that when she travels to a national competition, the airline employees often comment on how many service dogs they have fly recently. She just tells them it’s a “service dog convention”.

I don’t think it is fair or reasonable that this person can do this. Her dogs are well behaved and not hurting anyone, but obviously more people are realizing how easy it is to declare their animal a “service” animal when they are not.

That’s particularly shit for anyone on the plane who’s allergic to dogs and can’t get away from the dog, because, well, they’re on a plane. Yes, they’ll have to cope with the knowledge that an assistance dog for someone with sight or hearing problems might be on the plane, but that’s a very small number of dogs, so it’s a worthwhile risk; on the dog-owner’s part, it’s true they might know that their dog could make some people ill, but the dog owner genuinely does win in the game of disability top trumps there.

If dog-owners like the ones you mention do become more common, then the end result will be more severe restrictions and proofs imposed on those who really do need their dogs with them for the journey.

Of course, a lot of people do genuinely get terrified when flying, so their dog might help them a lot then, so it’s a tricky area. But you have to draw the line somewhere.

Dogs are allowed to travel on most public transport in the UK, including the tube, but not planes. I really, really love dogs, but also have asthma, so if a dog’s in a carriage with me on a hot day when we’re delayed in a deep tunnel, I’m stuck between loving the cute mutt and wishing I weren’t itching so much. Still, that particular situation doesn’t happen often (I can only think of about four occasions, all years ago when my asthma was worse) - usually you can move carriages at the next stop. You can’t move planes mid flight.

I think there is some regulation of service dogs in the UK. Hopefully the internet will confirm or deny this for me - am looking now.