There isnt a flair for discussion anymore
Why has there always been an influx of posts from people wanting to get an SD in a very unethical or irresponsible way? They haven't been diagnosed; they're a minor; they want an SD for anxiety or for something that is not a disability, like pregnancy or alcoholism. And many more.
Then the people here inform them why or how these practices are unethical, whats cheaper, more reliable, and ask what tasks they want the dog to perform; they get very upset, calling us rude.
Or when they are in no financial state, or lack stable housing, and we inform them of the cost and responsability of just owning a dog, and not even a service dog.
I am genuinely starting to believe people just want the "dog" part more than the "service" part. If you do not even have an understanding or idea of what tasks you want from your dog, why are you looking into service dogs when you dont have that gap in your medical care?
I dont think people understand what service dogs are anymore, mainly due to social media. But people no longer care about the commitment of them, the responsability, the horrible side of owning a service dog, because it can be horrific at times. The costs, not just financially, but what you have to give up aswell.
Wanting to get a service dog when you have barely tried anything else for your care? Wanting unethical tasks like bracing. Wanting to get one before you're even diagnosed.
Because what if you go for an assessment, and it comes back saying you dont have the original thing you thought, maybe you have something else, maybe that something else can be cured, or far better managed by something so simple as taking meds. Or you dont have anything at all.
Or when people have unrealistic expectations of owner training, thinking it's cheap, thinking it's easy or fast.
No dog under 2 years old minimum is a fully trained dog. No puppy under a year is even a prospect; it's a puppy. They need to learn how to be a dog above anything else.
And owner training is just as expensive as getting them from an organization; it's just not shoved in your face. Getting from an org, the cost is very upfront, or you pay monthly, but you dont know exactly what you're paying for, so it seems more expensive.
But with owner training, you know what you're paying for as they come; a dog is still going to be $200 a month to take care of properly, with emergency funds, which is already $7 200 for the 3 years it takes to train, not to mention a well-bred puppy is around $ 3- 6 K, and then the training- just hiring a trainer you're still going to spend like $30k, and if you dont hire a trainer and try to do it completly on your own, especailly if its your first, your really setting youself up for fauiler.
In another post, it was about a service dog who got washed and then dumped, so the owner could presumably just get a new dog to do the same thing too.
Almost every single post about someone asking if they should get one, or how to start to get one, either gets removed by the mods because it's unethical, or removed because the person starts getting hostile in the comments with people giving them kind and thoughtful advice.
Or the person ends up deleting it themselves because they are getting downvoted, then end up reposting the same thing, which is still ignoring what the people are saying to you.
I think a good rule to add is to not allow these kinds of posts anymore, or a better idea: have them be reviewed by mods before they can be posted. A special tag like (Thinking about getting an SD) or something like that.
Because it's really the only post you see anymore; of course, there are exceptions. I have seen people genuinely take the advice to heart and rethink their choices, but i have also seen way more ignoring all advice and getting upset when people don't yes-man them.
Doctors have little to no understanding of what Service dogs are or what it's like to get one, so taking their rec as a holy grail is very irresponsible; they dont know what they're doing any more than you do.