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Junior Member
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 8
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Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Justice
My Psychiatrist just agreed to fill out any forms necessary to have my little Nico deemed as a Psychiatric service dog,so if I ever travel anywhere he will be allowed on aircrafts, trains, cruiseships, but I wouldn't subject him to a crowded bus! He just told me when I'm ready to travel somewhere,let him know, and hell get the proper forms off the internet for when and where,and what form of travel I'm traveling and fill them out. He said each airline has it's own forms,and each cruiseship also has it's own forms,and you have to get them filled out at the time you are traveling,and where,all the specifics. He said there isn't just a basic form you fill out and carry around in your wallet or pocket,for travel anytime,anywhere! He pulled it up on the internet while I was in his office.
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 WHOA wait a minute!... getting a letter from your psychiatrist does not make your untrained dog a service animal. Is your psychiatrist a dog trainer that can state your dog is trained to mitigate your disability and safe to be in public? A letter doesn't make a service dog, training makes the service dog. If you are bringing a dog into public that doesn't do tasks to mitigate your disability then you are impersonation a service dog and your dr wrote a fruadulent letter. You doctor can say that you need or use one but cannot say that the dog is a service dog without a certain amount of liability.
If you intend to train your dog to reach full service dog status then you should be refering to the dog as a service dog in training (SDIT). In public never refer to a service dog in training as an emotional support dog (ESA). This misleads the public to believe they can bring their pets everywhere just cause they love their pets and feel guilty leaving them home. Emotional support dogs stay home, service dogs go into public places. Also if you refer to your dog as an ESA, public accomodations can deny you access and it is legal to do so (call the DOJ ADA hotline). You can gets an ESA letter for a SDIT if you live in no pet housing as they don't fall under the ADA until fully trained. Many states have laws covering SDIT access, some do not, in those states you must leave if asked to. You can tell them it is a service dog in training but not agrue with them or refuse to leave. If your dog isn't trained and you are refering to them as a service dog and you go to court (yes it sometime happens) then you will likely lose on those grounds in that you can't show them proof that your dog mitigates your disability.
<quote>How did I know if my dog is ready to graduate from SDIT to full service dog status?</quote>
Every service dog should have passed a public access test. The psychiatric service dog society has a great public access test form that you can use. Any dog trainer can administer the test for you.
NEVER NEVER NEVER show any drs letter or ID when in public places with a SD. You are not required and not everyone carries them. Plus they are useless peices of paper as anyone can get their dr to sign a letter for a SD or buy and ID online. They are not proof. The law only allows business to ask 3 questions... are you disabled? is this your service dog? what tasks does your service dog do to mitigate your disability? They CANNOT require ID or documentation. Generally if the police need to be called because of a public access issue then I'd be more inclined to present it to the officer but never to the store employee or manager. Carry law cards instead that state the laws and present those. I generally do not carry an ID and if you make people think they have a right to require it I might have a hard time gaining access especially since I refuse to show it.
Back in Oct I flew with my SDIT but under SD status as she's pretty close to finishing training on SW. They have been nothing but great to me. I've flown with them 3 times and never had issues. They have always required I present IDs but that is the only unreasonable request I've ever had with them as her harness and behavior should have been good enough. They even saved me a bulkhead when they had already preboarded before I got to the gate. My dog was great and just layed there and slept the whole time just like she's supposed to. Never reacted to anything.
Be aware of new ACAA regulations that come into effect in March. From now on psychiatric service dogs require the same documentation as ESA. The reason is some people who couldn't get drs notes for ESA would buy IDs and pass off their pets as service dogs, show dog people were especially notorious for doing this. So now in order to fly with a PSD or ESA you must, give 48 hours notice before you fly and have a doctors note written by a psychiatrist. This regulation caused by fakers has hurt the whole PSD community as we are being singled out. They have also put more restrictions on what kinds of ESA can fly in the cabin. I do not refer to my dog as a PSD and therefore will not be effected by this regulation as I have an non-psychiatric hidden disability (not visible) which my dog helps with.
If your dog cannot handle a crowded bus then maybe you should rethink training them as a service dog. Not every dog has what it takes. I have washed out 3 dogs and retired one early in the past 1.5 yr. All went to really nice homes except the retired one. After 4 yrs of loyal service I'm not going to part with her. She is just a pet now.
Back in Oct I went to DC and my dog did great. There were lots or crowds nearly everywhere you went but she handled it like a champ. Crowds are a normal event when in public and your dog should be unaffected by them or if anything pay even closer attention to you. As a group of other teams we all went to a dog park and gave our dogs some off time. It was pretty obvious which dogs were SD as they would periodically go check in with their handler.
So the letter doesn't make the service dog, the training does. If you do not meet the definition of disabled, "having one or more life activity substantially limitted" or the dog doesn't, "individually trained to mitigate the disability" then the dog doesn't belong in public unless they don't meet the definition and are in training. It doesn't matter if your dog's presence makes you able to leave your house, if they are not task trained, they are not a service dog. It is so easy to fix that if that is the case. Simply think of what your dog could physically do to help you managed better when out of the house that you can't do and train them to do those things. It generally doesn't count as an official task if you can do it yourself.
Now access challenges... Many time access challenges are affected by the breed you have and how you carry yourself. If you walk in hessitant and act nervous about having your dog with you then you will likely be challenged. If you walk in confident like every other person as if the dog is not with you, you are likely to have less challenges. German shepherds, golden retrievers, labs, and sometimes std poodles generally don't get as many challenges as they are common breeds used as service dogs, other breeds especially small ones. Small dogs generally get more challenges that larger dogs. If your dog has an accident (should only happen if they are sick), you must clean it up yourself and not expect to leave it for the store to clean. If they damage any merchandise, you must pay for it. They should never beg or grab food off the floor or tables and be glued to your side for the most part when in public.
Pretty soon the ADA definition of a service animal will be changed to exclude dogs used for personal protection and dogs who's sole purpose is to provide emotional support. So better start training those dogs tasks so they qualify when it passes. There was also meantion that it may exclude all other types of animals except dogs and guide horses from being allowed to be service animals.
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