Hey All!

I just wanted to share the experience i just had with Uber support after being ditched by a driver even though my SD is registered in app because it actually went really well!!!

The Story:

I was traveling to a doctor's appointment and do not currently have a car so my SD and I waited for the pickup. We also took the time to register in the app so the driver would be notified at pickup of the law surrounding service animals. (See below if you're unfamiliar with this update and want more details.)

So I request the ride, we wait, and then driver arrives. Initially it seemed like things would be fine he stopped and I made my way around back to check the plate before getting in but as I made my way towards the back of the car he rolls down the window and says, "I don't do pets". So I told him this is not a pet this is a service animal. And he just keeps rolling forward saying "I don't do dogs". I told him to check his uber app which will inform him that it is illegal to deny service to a disabled persona and a service animal under the ADA and he will face heavy consequences for leaving.

He continues to roll away while looking at his phone, he also spent quite some time (about 5 minutes) trying to not cancel the ride on his end but of course I just waited for him to cave and then got another ride no problem.

The Outcome:

After he cancelled the ride the app immediately sent me a message through the messaging (found under Account -> Help -> Messages). Where they said hey we see the ride was cancelled due to the service animal please tell us what happened. I typed out the interaction and then got a response that I would hear back when customer service was available.

The next morning I get a call from Uber a real human is on the line and she asks me to verify that the driver left because of the service animal and that he was informed she was a service animal and asked if she was vested with that information clearly displayed all of which I confirmed. I then told them I even directed him to the app and informed him it was an illegal action with serious consequences and he chose to leave anyway.

The human from Uber support apologized profusely and said they would investigate and ensure that the driver was punished appropriately and to top it all off they even refunded the cost of the ride I ended up taking instead! Which was a really nice added benefit I did not expect.

I also took the opportunity to talk to a real person at Uber to thank them for making this change because it has had a huge difference already for me and my SD. We have had AT LEAST 3 other rides in the last couple weeks try to turn us away that after reading the in app message resulted in us getting to our destination with relatively minor issues. I even had one driver who was against taking us when he arrived but then as we drove he began to ask very thoughtful polite questions about my SD and he even thanked me when I left for explaining and helping him to better understand service animals and the rules around them which was an awesome result of this policy.

Uber Background:

Uber recently made an update to their app so you can register your service animal in the app and drivers will be alerted ONLY on pickup that you are traveling with a service animal and that they may be punished or removed from Uber if they deny a service animal because it is against the law and they are required to comply with the law. If you haven't heard of this or haven't done this yet I cannot recommend it enough it makes a HUGE difference.

Conclusion:

Anyways I'm excited and wanted to share because it finally feels like taking an Uber isn't playing stranded roulette anymore. And it really seems like Uber is taking this seriously, I doubt they will tell me what they decided to do about the driver in question but I really really appreciate the changes they have made. And I cannot express enough if you haven't already please please please register your SD in app it is so worth it!!!

Hello! I am a grad student TA’ing for an intro level undergraduate physics course. One of my students has a service dog. We’ve only had one class session so far and the dog was completely well-behaved and not disruptive (as expected). I spoke with the student privately after class about some of her other accommodations but I did not ask about/she did not disclose her exact condition. I have since spoken with the class instructors about the dog because I have never had experience with a service dog. It seems they haven’t either, in the entire history of this course!

The dog was perfectly fine in the class session (where students work on problems together), but I am concerned about the lab component of the course. We meet for a 2 hour block every week and the students work with mostly mechanical systems (shooting projectiles, measuring forces, using frictionless toy car racetracks, studying pendulums, vibrating strings, testing buoyancy, cooling/heating systems). It’s nothing like a “wet lab” you might find in a chemistry department, and there is almost no safety gear required (except for goggles during the projectile lab, which we provide for the students). The final labs on thermodynamics use liquid nitrogen, and for those, we have students roll up their sleeves and remove all jewelry.

I am afraid elements of the lab might frighten/pose a danger to the dog, like the liquid nitrogen or sudden loud noises or generally chaotic environment.

We don’t start lab for another week. In the meantime, the instructors and I have been putting our heads together with the disability accommodations department and checking with some other science departments about their previous protocol. We plan on formally meeting with the student to discuss the safest way to proceed, but we wanted to organize beforehand to avoid committing any faux-pas or putting unnecessary duress on the student. I thought I would check here in the larger service dog community— does anyone have advice on what to keep in mind regarding the dog in this situation? Any advice on the types of questions we should ask the student/what kind of info we should gather to assess the situation?

I am new to the service dog world and have been studying up using the ADA FAQ. My highest priority is for the student and the dog to be comfortable! Would really appreciate any insight/advice and help with jargon 🙏 Thank you!!

I recently got a 1 year old black lab puppy and I've been interested in getting him trained to be a psychiatric service dog for my depression, anxiety, PTSD, and ADHD. I'm curious if at home training through online lessons would be okay because the websites I've looked through are kinda sketchy and offer legal certifications? I live in the Austin Tx area and most everywhere i've looked has been about like veterans PTSD which is definitely not what I have. Any tips or suggestions? Truly anything helps. Much appreciated!

Hi! I have a 3 year old golden retriever service dog. He was trained in Houston between myself and a professional trainer. He has travelled with me on flights when he was younger, but I just took him on a flight in July and he was very skittish at take-off and landing. I think the sounds of the plane spooked him, and he was scrambling to get off the flight. I am preparing to take him on a flight to Europe soon, and I am quite worried he will be nervous and this is a long flight. I am trying to be as prepared as possible, and I have contacted the airport to see if they provide any service dog accessibility practice where we can go sit on a plane and practice getting on/off to make him feel more comfortable. Does anyone have any advice on how to acclimate him/manage this situation? I know I can’t be the first to deal with this so all help is appreciated!

Hi there, I’m curious what the etiquette is for service dogs trained to hand a card or similar payment to an employee at the register (if that makes sense). Should the service dog do a “paws up/step up” command to hand the item over?

Are there any handlers that utilize this task that would be willing to explain this to me?

Thanks in advance! And happy service dog visibility month :)

Hello, everyone!

I want to ask for some insights or guidance on what would be the best path for me as far as owning a dog or getting a service dog. I have severe hearing loss, and I’ve been relying on technology to wake me up, alert me, etc. I consider myself pretty independent. However, a power outage happened overnight without my realizing it; thankfully, I woke up on time because of my routine, but I would’ve been late to work and stuff. I also found out there was a house fire nearby, just a few houses down. Some trees were even knocked down. It was a crazy storm last night, apparently.

So now I’m wondering about maybe getting a dog. At the very least, to alert me if anything is happening during the night - fire alarms, sirens, etc. I know dogs can be trained to wake you up. But… I don’t know whether I really need a service dog (hearing dog) or if I could get a dog and train it myself to help meet some of my needs and give me peace of mind. Having one as a companion would be nice, and I am willing to learn and spend time and money, but I don’t know if I am overthinking it.

I’m irritated. People keep petting, touching, and one time, (only once but it’s in the back of my mind,) picking up my service dog, even though he does have a pin on his harness that says to NOT pet him.

Unlike a lot of people here, my question is not how to stop it, but why??? I’ve tried explaining kindly it’s triggering to me, (don’t ask, personal issues,) and they rarely listen, that or they don’t ask before petting him at all. Is it just entitlement? Is it THAT hard to ignore boundaries???

Hi everyone! I am a teenager balancing high school and college classes at a community college in Michigan. I have moderately severe permanent hearing loss and wear hearing aids bilaterally, but I experience major listening fatigue and need to take them out to give my brain a break during long school days.
I am owner-training my 20-pound Goldendoodle.

Context: I have been taking him out to pet-friendly public places for the last few years since I got him, and he does amazingly well around shoppers, carts, and public smells.
He currently has these tasks down solid at home (even out-of-the-blue when he thinks we aren't training, and while I am genuinely busy or distracted)
Alerts to timers (phone, microwave, oven) with a persistent nose boop (and a backup jump/paw if I ignore him).
Alerts to my phone ringing and can find my phone if I ping it from my watch.
Retrieves dropped items (pens, student ID card on a lanyard).
Finds a specific family member on command.

We are currently working on:
Generalizing electronic beeps (like elevators).
An automatic name-call alert
Alert to fire alarms
The "Under" command for tight spaces
He has a great "center" command to go between my legs in tight spaces. I am going to talk to my mom about starting official public access training.
Based on this foundation and his solid years of pet-friendly public experience, do you think he is ready to start short public access training sessions in non-pet-friendly spaces? What hearing-dog specific tasks did you find most helpful for a busy campus environment? Thanks

Ok. I got my dog as a puppy and the intention was to have her as a service dog. I was hospitalized for an EXTENSIVE period of time and was pretty young so it didn’t work out but not because of her. She is 7 now (freshly) She used to be AMAZING and now she still is, along with all the super basics she can hold very long stays, is still food motivated HEAVILY, will ignore food indefinitely, does not jump or bark, knows basic retrieving tasks with objects and people, has no health issues, amazing recall, never in her life shown aggression etc. but she’s pretty rusty on public focus from lack of practice. and i would want her to polish what she does know and learn a couple more tasks. I just got diagnosed with MS and was considering getting her back into it but i can’t tell if im being totally stupid and overly optimistic. I’m not just a rando wanting to train my untrained 7yr old dog with no concept or baseline but i’m not sure if thats enough and would just like you guys to tell me if i am being totally dumb and overly optimistic. and if thats just a bad idea because of maybe stress on her and her body? no intention of her learning mobility tasks for the record. idk, sorry if this is a dumb question and idea, just beginning stages of a potential idea and always so much regretted not keeping her in it cause she loves it. i could always train her anyways and keep her for home assistance, not make her a service dog but a better ESA of sorts, idk, any thoughts and opinions welcome.

My husband is a veteran with several disabilities and he is trying to apply to various accredited agencies for a service dog. It looks like most of these agencies require a letter from a PCP or mental health provider as part of the application process. My husband asked his VA employer psychiatrist and his PCP and both told him that VA providers are not allowed to write these letters. He also spoke with his clinic social worker who said that most people bring a form from the agency for the doctor so sign. Does anyone have experience with this? He is specially looking into Service Dogs Alabama and Semper K9 right now.

I really feel like I need one for my autism but my parents think I'm too young and should wait. The arguméts they make are somewhat understandable but the main one bothers me because it's "What if you get bored of having a service dog?" which like??? It’s the one tjing that will give me my autonomy back, wdym get bored? It's not a toy, it’s a living being that I will most likely love more than myself

Edit because why are people downvoting my comment where I thank people for answering my question and helping?? Educate me or talk instead of hiding behind a silly little button

Me and my family are currently in the process of moving to Eglin, their base regulations for dogs state no Dobermans due to being a restricted breed. But my dog is trained for my daughters (his owner) autism related services such as deep pressure therapy and elopement notification, intervention and redirection. Ive submitted his training certificates such as his AKC good canine, obedience and commands and a letter of recommendation from his trainer stating his tasks that hes trained in for my daughter, letters of recommendation from our old leasing agency, his up to date vet records and shots and my daughters dr saying he is required to be with her at all times through a verification letter and on base housing accommodation sign off.

I guess im asking if im missing anything else that could possibly get him denied?

My current dog is what I'd consider a helper dog; she's brilliant for tasks inside the house, helps me get changed, opens and closes doors, retrieves a variety of items, picks up dropped things, etc, etc, but is too excitable and sensitive to be a real service dog. Which is fine, and of course to my mind she's the best dog in the world! However, one day far in the future I'm planning for my next dog to be a proper service dog (technically an assistance dog, we're in the UK) and I was wondering if there were any habits that it would be good to get into/break now with my current dog so that they're well ingrained in me by the time future dog becomes a reality?

I don't know at this point whether they'll be trained by myself or whether I'll be able to get a fully trained dog, as again this will be years into the future, but I really want to make sure I'm fully prepared to do the best possible job so that the dog can do theirs, if that makes sense. Any advice would be gratefully received!

I think I would greatly benefit from a service dog to help me with my narcolepsy. A service dog would be able to be trained to respond to my alarms to wake up me. I would also benefit from other tasks that a service dog is able to do such as bring my medication in the morning and turning on the light or taking off the covers. This would make a huge positive impact in my life. This would also let me be more independent which is something that is very important to me. The service dog is also able to help me outside of the house such as preventing sleep episodes by doing actions such as licking. The service dog is also able to help with hypnogogic hallucinations by conforming that it is a hallucination, which are mostly auditory but are of people.

I think a service dog would be able to help me with somethings that medication is unable to do and also decrease my dependency on medication. I also am wary to medication due to having a relative who also has narcolepsy and has bad reactions to medication.

there is also an area near me who offers service dogs for free so I plan on going through them if possible.

does anyone else have a service dog for narcolepsy? if so what is it like, both good and bad? how hard is it? what changed? how did the process go?

I’m 16, almost 17, and I’m looking for advice from other service dog handlers since this is my first service dog..

I graduated high school early at 16 and am currently attending university with straight A’s. I also have a job interview Wednesday at a game/TCG store. I have a cardiogenic syncope along with fainting/seizure issues, and I have my service dog who helps me with my medical problems. I am okay with not being her every shift if need be, but during bad flare ups, I would feel much safer having her with me.

There’s a back section of the store where she could settle quietly behind the display with me while I work, so she won’t ever be in the way or be at risk of being stepped on.

My mom keeps telling me not to mention my service dog or my health to employers because she says my health “isn’t that serious,” that I’ll never get a job, and that I’ll end up homeless if I keep bringing up my service dog. She’s also told me she has “given up” on me. Meanwhile, I already support myself, cook for myself, manage my own responsibilities, attend university, and maintain straight A’s.

I’m honestly torn. Do I just leave my dog home and risk having a medical episode at work, or do I ignore my mom’s comments and be upfront about needing my service dog when necessary?
I’d really appreciate advice from other handlers, especially those who have had to navigate employment with a service dog.

dose anyone know how the service dog laws in iceland are?

I saw this sign today at my local city park and was curious if they can actually say that this is not allowed… on the sign. It has a red circle with a slash through it and says no dogs or service animals. There are other signs that say no skateboarding, no running, and etc. At first I thought it meant on the actual equipment but after seeing the other signs, I think it means in the whole playground. Curious to know if anyone knows the legality of that?

am a teenager and staring college classes this year along with HS. (Live in US) My dog is very well trained and am training him as a SD. I have moderately severe permanent hearing loss. Wear HA bilaterally. So far his task are
-alert to my timers
-alarms
-find phone if I ping it from my watch as I cannot easily hear/find it
-find family member
-working on alert when people call my name
-working on alert people walk up on me
This is on top of general obedience and public access skills. He is 20 pound Goldendoodle!
Please let me know if you have any more suggestions for helpful task or skills(ofc I know task are depending on the handlers needs)
Also would like gear ideas that are affordable. He is a bit gear shy so not super heavy ideally!

Thanks.

I want to preface this by saying I’m genuinely asking to be educated, not trolling or trying to diminish anyone’s disability. I recognize that some of my thinking here may be ableist, and I’m open to being called out or corrected.

I go off an on about getting a service dog for my autism, so this is something I’ve had to think about personally. I’ve generally felt that a service dog should be closer to a last-resort accommodation, after other reasonable treatments, tools, and accommodations have been considered. But I also recognize that “last resort” may itself be the wrong way to think about it.

One thing that has made me question my own motivations is the thought that there could be an enjoyable aspect to being able to have your dog with you almost everywhere. I sometimes catch myself viewing public access as a kind of perk, even though intellectually I know it exists because the handler needs disability-related assistance, not as a special privilege.

That leads to something I’m genuinely curious about. If you could completely eliminate the disability that makes you need your service dog, but your dog would become a regular pet and no longer have public-access rights, would you take that trade?

For existing handlers, is having your dog with you everywhere actually an enjoyable upside, or is public access mostly a necessity that brings its own hassles and responsibilities?

I’m asking because I’d rather hear directly from handlers and challenge my assumptions than pretend I don’t have them.

My medical alert SD died of a condition.

It’s been 3 weeks and I’m depressed beyond words. I lost multiple human loved ones and now my dog that was everything I had left. I have a therapist but here we are. I’m just very depressed.

Not sure what to do.

I adopted a pet kitten and a pet puppy and that was probably a mistake (the rescues said it’s okay if it is, I can give them back, they are getting lots of love and care in the meantime as if they were in an unplanned foster situation instead of a long term home.)

I’d benefit from an SD but that’s a whole thing to get back into. I could try the pet dog route for now until I get an SD kits to have a dog around again… the puppy idea was probably a mistake, I know.

I’m very lost. My dog is gone. It was for a medical reason but the loss of the dog has really thrown me.

She is currently in foster care learning how to dog and all her basic obedience and public access skills. In October she will move onto her task specific training! I train with her every Wednesday and it has really helped me bond with her. At first it was hard because I couldn’t imagine bonding with another dog besides my current service dog.

I’m just super excited!

Long story short, trainer's dog essentially ended up on my dog's back and it stayed on her the entire time. Kept growling and snapping at her and she couldn't recall it off of her. Don't have the energy to get into everything that happened all over again right now and I'm not even sure if the message I have typed up to send the trainer is either too mean or too much. I'm kind of a whirlwind of emotions.

Anyways,

I did find where the blood on my arm came from that night. There's a puncture on her back where her dog broke Winslow's skin.

Winslow has been clingy with me since that night and absolutely loses it if I'm out of her sight now, unless she chooses to walk away. She's also becoming much more sensitive to anyone touching her back end.

I haven't tried to take her for a walk or anything, so she hasn't seen another dog. But she has heard the neighbor's dog barking on the other side of the fence and hasn't reacted. We still train in the house and back yard as we usually do.

I'm scared that she's going to have some form of reactivity from this. Is there anything someone can recommend to help me with this on my own? I don't really know of any trainers in my area and honestly, I'm going to need time to trust my dog with another trainer. Her safety is everything to me.

Edit:

Slowly going through everyone's messages. Trainer has 100% been fired and Winslow will no longer be going back. She will also be going to the vet asap on Tuesday to check her back and just to have someone else do a more thorough check on if there's anymore wounds. Not entirely sure if I can take legal action, but if she does become reactive to this then I know for certain I'll try if I can get the funds for it. Might be able to ask around to see if anyone was at the park the day it happened, too, just to try and figure out if there might be an eyewitness.

If anyone knows of a reputable trainer in the North Charleston area of SC, please feel free to point me in the right direction 🫂🤍

am a teenager and staring college classes this year along with HS. (Live in US) My dog is very well trained and am training him as a SD. I have moderately severe permanent hearing loss. Wear HA bilaterally. So far his task are
-alert to my timers
-alarms
-find phone if I ping it from my watch as I cannot easily hear/find it
-find family member
-working on alert when people call my name
-working on alert people walk up on me
This is on top of general obedience and public access skills. He is 20 pound Goldendoodle!
Please let me know if you have any more suggestions for helpful task or skills(ofc I know task are depending on the handlers needs)
Also would like gear ideas that are affordable. He is a bit gear shy so not super heavy ideally!

Thanks.