It’s been taken up in the UK too, notably by talentless, badger-faced ex Spice Girl Geri Halliwell. At least the dog had the good grace to piss on Tony Blair’s floor.
Yeah, this has the entire Service Dog community in an uproar. Trust me, it’s getting ugly. Some of us are pushing for certification across the board because of it.
It’s getting out of hand, and starting to cause problems to legitimate Service Dog users. It’s a serious insult to the disabled community.
Just because you don’t want to leave little Mufty home doesn’t mean you can just walk into a restaurant, claim “Oh, he’s a service dog” and you’re all clear.
BTW - HUGE LEGAL DIFFERENCE between a therapy dog and a service dog. We’re having issues right now with people claiming Emotional Assistance Animals (EAD/EAAs) as SERVICE animals while they are not. Service dogs are task-trained to assist their owners in order to mitigate their disability.
In order to qualify for the use of a service dog, you HAVE to be considered DISABLED under the ADA. While some anxiety-conditions CAN be considered disabling, FEW ACTUALLY ARE (in the eyes of the law).
Once shopkeeps understand their rights, and they refuse access, there will be enough jurisprudence to actually start making clearer rules, and allow legitimate service dog teams to actually go about their business without having to deal with untrained little mop-dogs-in-arms.
Me too, except that I’d just dip the rat-dog in gravy.
Yep, and they are coming to us Service Dog trainers asking if we can “certify their dogs” as service dogs so they can take them anywhere. I have yet to see one of them even coming CLOSE to qualifying.
Pisses us off beyond all words.
We had to fight like MAD to get SDs accepted as guide dogs were, for public access. Sorry, but having a case of anxiety or agoraphobia does NOT necessarily make you “disabled” in the eyes of the law. Being a teenager doesn’t, either. “But I want to be able to take her everywhere with me!” doesn’t cut it, Bub.
Now - I’m a strong supporter for psychiatric service dogs. We’ve seen wonders with folks with varying degrees of autism, schizophrenia, and SEVERE and DISABLING anxiety/PTSD. I commend those who are pioneering the training of such animals to help. Unfortunately, some people have taken this as a “Hey, I get anxious too, and pop some Xanax when I’m panicky… I should get a dog!” get out of jail free card.
A friend of mine went to his aunt’s house and plopped down in the recliner. There was a pillow on the recliner and auntie’s Little Accessory Dog was nestled behind it.
He killed it.
“He’s my seeing eye dog.”
“You have a seeing eye-Pomeranian?”
“THEY GAVE ME A POMERANIAN?!?!”
I have an 80lb neurotic hound dog. I wonder if I can get her a therapy dog?
I can see it now, a blind dude walks in with a trail of dogs. First one is his guide dog, second is his guide dogs therapy dog, third one is his therapy dogs seeing eye dog, etc…
Oh, these twits are carrying around a dog by choice? Screw 'em, they can carry around my 20lb baby for a few days, wrestle with car seats, shopping baskets while juggling a diaper bag.
Now, my 20lb daughter? I feel like I’m HER fashion accessory, and I do a horrible job at it,but she is definitely the feature attraction wherever we go. Happy smiling babies seem to be welcome everywhere. Cranky, disheveled, sleepy, caffiene-charged Moms? Not so much. 
Elenfair, I was under the impression that business owners faced legal restrictions against challenging service animal status. I’m not making an assertion – it’s just something I read on the boards somewhere. Can you clarify what the business owner’s rights are? If I understand correctly, service dog users are not required to have service animal certification documents with them.
It would take a fireman’s carry to lug me about, so she would do better with Fido.
I don’t understand the hostility. The little dogs aren’t hurting you in any way. It doesn’t inconvenience you at all. They’re not asking you to care for their dog. So what’s the big deal?
And as for the macho, asshole posturing about feeding the toy breeds to “real” dogs, why don’t you see what happens when your “real” dog meets a real cat, like say a Siberian tiger. Guess what, macho-man, your big dog doesn’t make your balls grow.
Oh YES they inconvenience me in a very important way.
So far, reported to one training group:
-2 guide dogs ATTACKED by UNTRAINED, NON-CERTIFIED, “service dogs”
-a growing number of accidents in stores, restaurants and shops, where these dogs piss or shit all over the place (we’ve had 3 such incidents reported this month)
-countless legitimate service dog teams having to deal with YAPPING dogs in bags (“but he’s my service dog!” distracting their legitimate dog)
-an increasing number of people who walk up to us and say, “hey, how can I get to bring my dog everywhere with me?”
-a significant increase in access problems: all it is going to take is for one such pseudo-service-dog to cause significant problems to patrons in a shop or restaurant to have a complete overhaul of the system (which, to me, wouldn’t be such a bad thing).
Untrained dogs who do NOTHING but sit around in bags, being cuddly are NOT SERVICE ANIMALS. There is NO SUCH THING AS AN ALERT FOR ANXIETY - response, yes, alert? No.
A service animal is to be considered like a piece of medical equipment. If you take it away, the disabled person he or she serves could NOT FUNCTION ON HIS OR HER OWN, or would do so with difficulty (i.e. guiding the blind, alerting for the deaf, helping wheelchair-user open doors, providing mobility assistance, preventing a person with a brain injury from walking into things, getting disoriented, and all that fun stuff).
The disabled community does NOT consider having a service or guide animal a perk. In many cases, it’s a necessity. It ain’t cute n’ fluffy n’ there along for the ride. Legitimate service dogs perform very specific tasks, on a perpetual basis, that another human being would have to provide if the dog wasn’t there.
Now - regarding a shop owner’s rights? Most don’t fight it, because they don’t want to face the fines.
Truth is, an owner COULD challenge access for someone, meet them in court, and have the fine overturned if the person is found to be using a service/guide dog without the need (THEY could be fined instead) and if the animal is found to be untrained, according to IAADP standards.
In many venues, they’re stupid but no worse than any other fashion trend. However, there are certain venues where non-Service dogs do not belong. Restaurants. Subways. Movie theaters.
Service dogs are not only trained to perform certain tasks, they’re trained not to behave certain ways. Like not to snap at waiters in restaurants. Not to escape from their little purses and run all over hell and gone growling at people and snapping at ankles while their owner flutters her hands and says “Oh little Fee Fee won’t hurt anyone, just pry her teeth out of your ankle!” Not to get out of their little purse and take a shit in the middle of a subway car. Not to spend 50 mintues of a 90 minute movie barking at the screen. Nor do I ever want to see again a lady in a deli take some napkins, reach into her purse, pull out her dog’s pile of shit and then leave the napkin wrapped shit on the counter while she looks for cash to pay for her food.
Frankly, the kind of person who has an “accessory pet” is also more-likely-than-average (in my experience) to be the kind of pet owner who doesn’t feel it necessary to train or discipline their dog. Of course, some people with purse dogs have fabulously behaved animals who would never cause a public nuisance. But the teenage fashionistas who just want their precious baby to come with them everywhere ain’t that person.
I’m not really talking about the folks who claim their dogs are assistive, therapy dogs. Your issues are separate from the OP’s compliant about people who have their dogs with them in public. I’m talking about people taking their dogs with them just because they damned well want to. Do you harp about dogs in the park? Are you put out by people walking their dogs down the street? As long as owners are responsible, clean up after their pets and keep them socialized and well-behaved, then it is absurd for folks to bitch and moan about them carrying their pets through the mall, if it’s allowed by the mall.
I’d agree with you except for the signs that say “no dogs allowed”. I don’t want an accessory dog sniffing it’s nose out in front of me at the salad bar.
The thing that bothers me the most about this new trend is the self righteousness of it all. These people don’t feel like the “no dogs allowed” signs apply to them because their little mutt isn’t a dog,. it’s jewelry. I always report these people to restaurant managers and they always complain about “their dog not hurting anyone”.
…and I’m going to feed your tiger to my rhino. (whoooh. My nuts just got bigger)
I’m no Dog Whisperer but that doesn’t songs like “socializing” to me. It sounds like you turned her into another timid accessory dog. A “socialized” dog is comfortable walking around on the floor.
I don’t have a dog. I have a parakeet. His name is Volleyball and he crushes Siberian tigers in talons before gulping them head first. As for my balls, i wouldn’t want anything to make them grow. I already have to prop them on a stump every time I take a piss, lest they tear free under their own weight.
Little rat-dogs are annoying, yaping, shaking, pissing, nippy vermin. I’d be just as happy to feed one to a crocodile or a shark, if that would make you feel better about the whole enterprise.
Yep, that’s the problem right there. People are taking these little things everywhere they go, whether animals are appropriate or not. Hence the bitching about the little ones and the joke about feeding them to a real dog.
It may happen sometimes, but I don’t see people trying to take their 80 pd golden retriever (like I used to have) into the mall or a theater etc unless it was a legitimate assistance animal.
One of these days I’ll learn not to post this early in the morning, that sentence didn’t come out quite right. I think I meant, unless it IS a legitimate assistance animal.
She spent the first five weeks of her life in a cage, isolated from humans and other dogs. She was terrified of everything. Once I earned her trust, I started introducing her to the world in a way that she felt safe and secure. Once she became more comfortable, I started walking her around with a leash. She’s still very skittish, but she’s much better than I had expected, considering all of the crucial puppy development stages that she missed.
I’m not a professional dog trainer by any means, but I did the best I could to make the world a less frightening place for her. She was not a “normal” dog and thus could not be socialized in a normal fashion. I have three dogs, and they’re all “problem dogs”. If I’ve learned anything from the experience, it’s that you adapt to the dog’s needs. Some dogs will be very happy romping around on the floor and exploring the world with confidence. Others will need more gentle introduction.
Taking her out in public in her “safe bag” wasn’t the only thing I did. I also took her to Puppy Day Care so she could learn to play with other dogs and took her to other people’s houses where she could explore when she felt brave enough to leave my lap. I didn’t push her. I let her decide when she was ready to walk around on her own, but she always had a safe place to retreat if she got scared.
Yes, I enjoyed having her with me, but my primary concern was the dog and getting her comfortable around strange noises and smells. I firmly believe that it was beneficial to her, and somewhat resent the implication that I turned my dog into a nervous “accessory” through ignorance or selfishness. I care deeply about my dogs and have put a lot of effort into making them as well-adjusted as possible.