Yes, service dogs CAN be cute little toy Poodles--it's the law

• There are no size or breed requirements for a service dog. However, a service animal must be a dog-- not a goat, snake, or lizard as the law previously allowed. Miniature horses may be approved in some circumstances.
• It is against the law to ban a service dog from public areas.
• There are penalties for denying them entrance or harassing a person with a service dog.
• The human does not have to have a visible disability.
• The dog does not have to wear a vest although it is better for everyone if they are identified as service dogs.
• Businesses may ask if an animal is a service animal, or ask what tasks the animal has been trained to perform.
• They cannot ask the nature or degree of disability or ask for certification of the animal.
• No proof that the animal has been trained or can perform any service is required.

Unfortunately there are people who don’t understand the law.

Army veteran and current San Antonio graduate student, CarrieAnn Partch, suffers from PTSD. But twice she has been harassed for having her Poodle service dog with her on campus.

Train a Dog – Save a Warrior is a non-profit organization that trains dogs for veterans. Allen Hanauer, a trainer for the organization, said this type of discrimination is happening all over the city because there’s a common misconception that service dogs can’t look like Bella and the owner has to show a physical disability instead of PTSD.

“When they get approached in public and people pretty much harass us for going out there with these dogs it puts more stress and burden on our warriors and these are people who fight for our country and come back with invisible injuries,” Hanauer said.   From KENS-TV

People with service dogs do not want to be confrontational.
They want to be understood.

Comments

[Jen]

I wish more people would educate themselves regarding service dogs. The preconceptions and prejudices that exist regarding them just blow my mind.

[Linda]

Why not!? WHY NOTTTTT!!!!

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

[the 5Bs]

we want Buddy to be a service dog for our human cuz she's crazy.

[jackie]

I think Dexter is a service cat. he makes everyone feel better.

[Karen Friesecke]

If a dog has a vest on, I think that no questions are required. Asking a person if they are disabled, if they have visible disabilities or not, is just plain rude.

[geogia little pea]

I've seen all types of service dogs here but not a poodle (yet)!

Some years back, my hubby had a very bad neck and back (from his IT work) and was bedridden for some months. He saw all sorts of specialists, did a lot of rehab and was on a cocktail of drugs. After he got better, he could walk and drive and looked normal. But he couldn't carry anything like a bag of groceries or push a supermarket trolley without pain.

We toyed with the idea of getting a disability sticker for the car so he could park and walk less to wherever but since his problem wasn't visual, we decided not to. There would have been too many disapproving looks and head shaking to deal with.

[Pamela]

One of my clients has a standard poodle as an emotional service dog. I've seen such a change in her with her new dog at her side.

I know, however, that she gets all kinds of questions because she doesn't appear disabled. Besides plain old illegal denying access to a service dog, some people expect substantial education. And I'm sure most people just want to go on with their lives without educating the entire world.

[Anji]

Why are people so narrow minded? I hope that the television appearance helped people to understand.

[Sherry in MT]

People need to back off BUT that said, there are so many out there abusing the service dog laws (I know have seen them) that the best thing we can do is EDUCATE EDUCATE EDUCATE!

[cube]

I saw a large chihuahua mix serving as a service dog at one of my local malls. I don't know why people don't just mind their own business. Live and let live, people. It's not hard.

[Cooke Osborn]

First let me say I am a service dog owner, and use him to help me with task made difficult by MS. While I understand the frustration of people who have a service animal and use it properly, you must also understand that more and more in our culture people want to bring their dogs with them everywhere they go. Some of these people abuse the generic ADA law to do this. This makes it very hard for business owners to know who rally needs the dog with them, and who just can't leave their pet home alone. I for one would be for a National Certification program to make this much easier for everyone!

[Allen-The Dog-Trainer]

If anyone has question please let me know.. I am The senior dog trainer for TADSAW!!

[Kourtney]

"Businesses and institutions are allowed to ask only two questions: Are you disabled? Is this a service animal?"

This is not correct. A business can ask the following two questions: Is this a service animal? (A business usually stops at this question). What service does the animal provide? NOT: Are you disabled!!

[Jan]

Thanks for the correction. I have made the change.

[Pm511]

That is not good. However, there are always 2 sides to the story. There are many people out there who abuse the service dog privilege by misrepresenting themselves as disabled and bring in their personal pets into said venues. Most cases, any person or business is skeptical of others because we live in a dishonest world. Honesty is the best policy, but it is not practiced as it should be in life.