Frequently Asked Questions about Service Dogs
and
Frequently Asked Questions about Me (Kelsie Iris)
Listed in no particular order...
If you don't see your question answered here, please feel free to shoot me an email or ask your question in a comment!
1. How old are you? What breed are you?
I am a 3-year-old Border Collie/Australian Cattle Dog mix, although I probably also have a few other breeds in me since I was born as a street dog. A lot of people think I'm an Australian Shepherd mix, but most likely my blue merle colouring is from the Blue Heeler (ACD) in me.
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2. Can [insert breed] be a Service Dog? What breeds make good Service Dogs?
Any breed of dog, including mixes (like me,) legally can be a Service Dog. Some breeds, however, are more likely to succeed at completing the training process. Most programs use Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, crosses between the two, German Shepherd Dogs, and Poodles. These breeds have the level of intelligence, biddability, and energy level generally suited to the work of a SD. That beings aid, the specific personality of the individual dog itself is what matters the most.
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3. Does my Service Dog need to be registered and/or certified? What makes a dog a Service Dog?
No, at least in the United States. American laws do not recognize any official registration or certification of Service Dogs (any website claiming to "register" your animal is most likely a scam). The laws of other countries may differ. In the USA, a Service Dog is such if:
1) the handler is disabled
2) the dog is individually trained to perform a task or do work (e.g. comfort and emotional support do not count as tasks--tasks must be trained)
3) the dog's tasks help to mitigate the individual handler's disability/disabilities
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4. How do I get a Service Dog?
You should first talk to your doctor to see if you are legally disabled. A disability under the ADA is one that severely limits one or more "major life activities," which can include caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working. If you have a disability as defined under the ADA, you can apply for a Service Dog from a program, or you can acquire a dog and train it yourself (often called owner-training). My girl opted to owner-train me as her Service Dog and created this blog as a way to help other owner-trained teams navigate the process, since the resources were scarce and not terribly helpful when my girl was doing her research.
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5. Can a Service Dog help with [insert disability]? What tasks can help my disability?
Most likely, the answer is yes, although that is for you to decide. Service Dogs can help a wide variety of disabilities, including vision impairment, POTS, PTSD, chronic migraines, autism, diabetes (type 1), Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, narcolepsy, epilepsy, and more. Check out this post of mine to see what a Service Dog might be able to do for you.
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6. I'm getting a Service Dog. What do I need?
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7. When I see a Service Dog in public, what should I do? What if I know the dog personally?
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8. I'm getting a dog for the first time. What do I need?
For general dog owners, I'm in the process of writing a post to answer exactly this question!
For first time service dog owners, click here to read up on my checklist for gear and items that you might need for your service dog. What might help you further in your gear search is my post on my most used service dog gear, too.
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9. How do I train my dog? How do I train [insert command]?
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10. Should I get a Service Dog?/Is a Service Dog right for me?
The decision is ultimately between you and your doctor(s): no one else can make that decision for you. Here is a list of tasks that Service Dogs can do to help you determine if a Service Dog is the right fit for your disability. What can help is writing down the limitations of your disability and then writing down tasks that could help mitigate those limitations. Please note that not all disabilities require a service dog (e.g. a dog can't help with reading, so a Service Dog can't mitigate dyslexia) and that not all disabilities can be helped by a service dog alone.
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11. When did you start training to be a Service Dog? Isn't your handler going to be sad to give you up?
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12. Do Service Dogs ever get to be "regular dogs"? Are they loved?
Of course! All Service Dogs get downtime, just like humans get days off from their jobs. When I'm at home with my girl, I get to relax, snooze, cuddle, and chew up toys just like a pet dog. Although I'm a medical alert dog, which means my job is technically 324/7/365, I still get my off duty time, especially when my girl is having better days, so I don't "burn out" from working too much. I get to play a lot of fetch and even go on walks like a normal dog sometimes (although my job does require quite a bit of walking and stimulation already). And, of course, my girl spoils me to heaven and back with treats, toys, and accessories.
And of course Service Dogs are loved! I'd argue that I'm more loved than the average pet dog. My girl and I have such an incredible bond that runs deeper than just a girl and her dog: we are together 24/7, which means we know each other very, very well. I'm also my girl's independence and lifeline, so she tells people that I'm absolutely invaluable to her because of that: a love like that can't be explained. We have a relationship that's both like sisters/littermates and like a mother and daughter, as well as having a bond that runs as deep as that between the closest of best friends.
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13. How do I begin owner-training a Service Dog? How do you owner-train a Service Dog?
That's why this blog exists! When my girl started researching how to train her own SD, she found limited resources to help her. I highly recommend starting at my "Training Tips" page, as well as my "Service Dog Helpful Hints" page to get you started. What might also be helpful is following my posts labeled with the tag "pupdates" because those will show my owner-training journey since Day One.
I also recommend getting an Instagram account and a Tumblr account to connect with the Service Dog community on the internet. Initially Instagram and later Tumblr have both proved to be incredible resources for me girl, and my girl learned many of the tasks she taught me through other Service Dog handlers that I follow on my personal social media accounts (my girl keeps her own social media accounts separate from mine so that she can have a life "independent" of a Service Dog).
And, of course, feel free to contact me specifically through any platform (comments, email, social media accounts, etc.) for more specific questions and advice!
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14. Why shouldn't you pet a Service Dog?
A Service Dog is focused on his or her job, and so any kind of distraction, including petting, can break that focus and lead to the handler getting injured or even ending up in the hospital. I actually have a post on why people need to ignore Service Dogs, so feel free to go read it!
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15. What was the name of the rescue group that you came from? How does adopting a dog work?
I came from the rescue group For the Dog's Sake, which pulls dogs out of "high-kill" shelters in the South, places them in foster homes, and adopts them out to furever homes in the Northeast. There are many rescue groups like this, in addition to the breed-specific rescues and shelters seen more frequently.
I can only share what my girl knows about the process of adopting a dog from when she adopted me. She looked through dogs on Petfinder.com to see which dog might best suit her lifestyle and her needs, and when she settled on that dog (which surprisingly wasn't me at the time!), she filled out an application to the rescue, who then put her in contact with the foster mom (who recommended me as a dog!) and then arranged to have me transported to the Northeast for my girl to pick me up.
Don't fear: rescues and shelters aren't trying to "decline" your application! This isn't the college application process--rescues and shelters want their animals to be adopted. Their main priority is finding the right home for the right animal, so if their questions seem very detailed, it's because they want to make sure that you find the right fur friend for your lifestyle so that you don't have to place that fur friend back in the shelter due to conflicting personalities. Just be open and honest with them, and they'll help you find your new companion, I guarantee it!
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16. What training method do you use?
Our training methods are based off professional dog trainer Victoria Stilwell's "Positively" training ideology. This kind of training takes the individual dog into mind and is able to accommodate for learning differences since it isn't rigid. It's a humane type of training that focuses on the benefits of positive reinforcement, rather than fear-based or punishment-based training methods. This, however, doesn't not mean that our training is 100% rewards: dogs do receive corrections, but the corrections aren't physical. While prong collars, e-collars, and other training tools can have their place in dog training, those tools don't have a place in my girl's dog training regimen.
Here's a quote from Victoria Stilwell's website on her training methods: "There are many different terms used to describe positive training techniques: positive reinforcement, reward-based, force-free, and more. What proponents of all of these interrelated philosophies have in common is a shared belief that it is much safer, more effective and humane to teach animals using the overarching concept that if you reward a behavior you like, it is more likely that that behavior will be repeated. Similarly, if you ignore or redirect a behavior you do not like, it is more likely that incidences of that behavior will decrease. Combine these concepts with the awareness that dogs are not wolves trying to dominate us to achieve 'top dog' status, and therefore do not need to be controlled using dominance-based punishment techniques, and you have the recipe for positive training."
My girl has a personal philosophy that all dogs should be able to work on a flat collar and that a leash should merely be a formality, in that any dog should be able to work off-leash reliably. She also firmly believes that every dog is an individual, and so one "size" of training won't fit all, which means there's no single or "correct" way to teach a given command or behavior as long as it's humane.
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17. I'm not legally disabled but I don't like going in public alone/I'm not legally disabled but I don't like leaving my dog at home. Can I still have a Service Dog?
No, unless you are legally disabled, you do not qualify for a service dog. Please not that buying any kind of "certification" for your pet online does not legally make your pet a service animal.
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18. My dog naturally reduces my stress. Does this count as a task? What is a Service Dog task under the ADA?
This is the answer from the ADA's FAQ section on Service Dogs: "The dog must be trained to take a specific action when needed to assist the person with a disability. For example...a person who has epilepsy may have a dog that is trained to detect the onset of a seizure and then help the person remain safe during the seizure." The ADA's FAQ section specifically states that "if the dog's mere presence provides comfort, that would not be considered a service animal under the ADA." Comfort and emotional support are not considered tasks under the ADA. For a list of potential tasks that service dogs can learn, please see this post of mine.
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19. What is an Emotional Support Animal? Is it the same thing as a Psychiatric Service Dog? Or is it the same thing as a Therapy Animal?
An Emotional Support Animal is an animal that alleviates comfort through its presence and are prescribed as a treatment, usually for mental health problems. They do not require certification or registration. Emotional Support Animals have not been trained to perform a specific task, so their handlers do not have access rights with them under the ADA. For more information, please see my post on ESAs.
An Emotional Support Animal is not a Psychiatric Service Dog. A Psychiatric Service Dog has been specifically trained to perform a task to mitigate a psychiatric disability, so a handler with a PSD has the same public access rights as the handler of any other Service Dog.
A Therapy Animal is trained to provide affection and comfort to people in hospitals, disaster areas, schools, retirement homes, nursing homes, and other places that invite them, as well as to people with special needs. These dogs are not task trained and do not work to mitigate a single handler's disability, so they are not Service Dogs under the ADA and do not have public access rights with their handlers. Some places do require certification and/or registration of the Therapy Animals that visit them. Note that some Service Dogs can act as Therapy Dogs in their "off duty" time!
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20. You look around all the time when you're working (and sometimes when you're not). Are you nervous or scared?
Actually no, most likely I'm not scared! A lot of people seem to assume I'm nervous just because I'm paying attention to what's going on around me. I actually am just an attentive dog and like to pay attention to changes in my environment. My vigilance actually helps my girl relax because she knows I'm always watching her back (which is actually one of my tasks) and will let her know if I notice any changes. I'm a pretty confident dog by nature, so even if I am nervous, it's usually only when it's the first time I've ever seen or experienced a certain thing, because I overcome any initial nervousness very quickly. Not even my first airport experience phased me, even with all the people and sights and noises!
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