I read the post, How to Select & Train your own Emotional Support Dog (ESD).... Nice post......

Hello my name is Sherry i ahve a support dog and never have i been refused entry till yesterday in court for my son it is a very bad case the judge said my dog had to go because he never went to school i do not have to spend tons of money for a emonitinal suport dog i have paper work from my Doctor in the State of Alaska my dog enters wal- mart starbucks and flys on airplanes and just sits on my lap he minds and is a poodle i would like to know where do i go and how do i get my rights to enter the court room the judge keept on asking me what was my propleb medicaly i know i dont have to say but i have a med. condition he was very rude . I have went in to a court room in Palmer Alaska for the first part of the trial and had no problems at all nor was my dog out of order he just sat on my lap and when i would break down he turns around and gets in my face and i hold him tight i would like to know where i could go in order to get help with this thank you so very much Sherry

Hi Sherry, I know you're urgently seeking answers. I'm sorry that you've had no advice so far. I just wanted to say that I did a quick search for Emotional Support Dog in this forum last night. I wish I had the time to post all the relevant links to old posts for you tonight but that might be difficult.

Just wanted to let you know that there's a Search Feature here. You probably found that already, but above all the links on the main page where it says "Threads in Forum:Service & Support Animals", it says Forum Tools and Search this Forum.

Click on Search this Forum.

Click on "Show Posts"

Type in your search words. I used "Emotional Support Dog" as search criteria.

Click on Go

That will bring up all the older posts about the same subject. Some of them are written by people who don't visit here often.

Dear Sherry ......

If you have to appear in this judge's court room again, try sending a polite letter to the judge's clerk before hand with a copy of your doctor's letter and a promise to have your dog crated in a secure carrier when you next appear. Explain frankly just what could/would happen if you didn't have your dog with you the next time you are there...

WalMart has very inexpensive "over the shoulder", mesh on 3 sides, soft-sided carriers. I have a black dog and I bought a black carrier - unless she has her red harness & leash on, no one even recognizes it as a pet carrier unless she changes position or turns around. It looks like a regular large tote bag.

You can buy various sizes of carriers and all I've seen has one end with a "half-door" that can be unzipped. Your dog could still be seated on your lap, still have that close face to face orientation, and if you start to unglue, just unzip so she can give you love.

Most people who get feisty with me claim dog allergies (tho pet owners can walk in with more pet dander on them than some dogs). I wash my dog with an antibacterial-deodorant dog shampoo with a generous addition of the antifungal (dandruff) shampoo Seldane.

A dog has causes allergic reactions not to his skin cells, but because of the bacteria and fungus GROWING in the dander. If you control the growth of bacteria and fungus on the dog, then your dog will remain sweet-smelling for up to a month to 5 weeks. It is the bacteria and fungi that makes a dog smell like a dog. A dog has no doggy odor if you control the bacterial and fungi.

The other reason I get opposition is people who think that the dog willl be running around, tripping people, tangling them in his leash, peeing on the furniture and pooping when the mood moves him. If the dog is in a carrier, it is "out of sight, never imagined"...

Hope things go better for you....'
Theresa
OneMoreTime

Thanks for all your kind writtings....
I suppose a S.Husky is too big a support dog?
I've had two in my life, and I miss them both.
So loving, and lovable.
But, kind of big.
Oh well..
Maybe just for home...

Thanks again!

Pete
ASB

[QUOTE=OneMoreTime;56061]I will do a later thread about just how many right federal law gives the owners of Emotional Support Dogs. While there is a FEW places you can't legally go, if you have a Well-Trained dog that Behaves like a Service Dog in pubic places and around people, and your dog wears an identifying vest while working in public, you will have a great deal assistance.

I believe you are very confused. Emotional Support Dogs do NOT have public access. Emotional Support Dogs are dogs who help those with mental health disabilities simply by being there. They are not specially trained. Emotional Support Dogs are allowed in no pet housing and on airlines with proper documentation, but that is it!

Psychiatric Service Dogs, however, are service dogs with whom you do have public access. PSDs are individually trained to DO SOMETHING to help the person with a psychiatric disability by mitigating the disability. Just being there does not count. The dog has to DO something that the person can not do for themselves. For example, many PSDs alert to a panic attack, ground, lead to an exit, keep the person from dissociating.

This is a very important and legal distinction. If you take a ESA into public guised as a SD, you are breaking state and federal law!

Emotional Support Dogs do NOT have public access and are not allowed in public places. I believe you are confused with service dogs. A letter from your doctor does not make your dog a service dog or grant you legal permission to have your dog with you in public. An ESA can be in no pet housing and on planes with proper documentation, but that is it.

A PSD (Psy Service Dog) is a dog that is individually trained to do something to mitigate the disability of the disabled handler! Just being there and making the handler feel better by their presence does not count. A PSD is allowed in all public places.

If you take a ESA into public guised as a PSD, you are breaking federal and state laws!

Kudos to LilFarfa for calling it by the book.

*edit* An ESA at this time does not have any public access rights, nor can be "passed off" as a PSD or a PSDiT. I am a PWD (MI) and the handler of a PSD. As a PSD handler, it is hard enough to go grocery shopping as a LEGIT team with access challenges because the public still carries a stigma and disbelief of MI and how disabling it truly can be. Encouraging people to "train" (whatever that is supposed to me) their ESA's to be well behaved in public is not only a federal offense, but it makes access just that much more difficult for the true PSD teams. There is no formal certification and what you are suggesting is the equivalent of sneaking in your pocket pooch just because he or she is small enough to fit in your purse.
*edit*

There are no size limits or breed on an SD of any kind. It always boils down to the what the owner thinks he or she needs and can care for and can the dog be properly trained to qualify as a service dog. I know a gal that has Mastiffs as SDs. that's a big dog.

FYI My dogs weigh in at 52lbs and 60lbs respectively.

I moved some of the general SD discussion posts to a thread of their own on the main forum.
here-
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread115392.html

This sticky thread info topic - How to Select & Train your own Emotional Support Dog (ESD)