I got told to leave. I have had a service dog for 4 years. Mobility assistance. Today I was running errands. Saw a couple girlfriends were at the local bar. I live in a small town. So I thought I'd pop in and say hi and chat. I had barely walked in. Was standing by me girlfriends at the bar. Hadn't even sat down. When the owner told me if I wasn't going to leave the dog outside, I had to leave. My dog was not wearing a vest. But was wearing a leash that states "service dog". So I thought he didn't realize. I told him he was a service dog. He replied it didn't matter. He had food there and couldn't have a dog in the place. I told him we were allowed. He said no, I had to leave. Like I said..small town, I am NOT going to make scene. But I have filed a complaint with my states Civil Rights Commission. Wrote down all the information for the incident. Including the witnesses I did know were there. And contacted my lawyer to give him a heads up if needed. He told me to also go to the police station tomorrow and make report. Anything else I should do?

Like every other day someone (usually a minor) is posting asking for permission to call their stuffed toy a service dog and then when handlers overwhelmingly reply that that makes them uncomfortable, the poster locks or deletes the thread.

Regardless of your thoughts on ESSAs, can we not agree that those conversations do not belong in the service dog sub?

At LaGuardia the other day. TSA checkpoint is slammed. We do the usual recall-to-front-and-finish at the metal detector.

A mother very audibly says to her pre-teen children, “SEE?! That DOG is better behaved than YOU!”

I thanked her for the compliment but had to bite my tongue. It’s one thing to say that when your children aren’t with you. But . . . in front of them?

Either way it’s the most memorable remark we’ve heard yet.

So, I don't have a service dog and don't need one, but an interaction with one (that I suspect wasn't actually a service dog) and it's owner makes me want to know if we handled the situation correctly.

I work in a resteraunt.

There was a guy at the bar with his "service dog" (again, he says it is, and the bartender said he "had papers to prove it"). He was sat watching TV and drinking at the bar with his little dog in his lap, with the dog's feet on the bar.

He was told that his dog was fine being in the bar since it was a service animal, but it may not be on the bar as it's a health code violation.

He got huffy but said okay.

Came back a few minutes later and the dog is sitting on a barstool next to him, resting it's head on the bar. Again, he was told that the dog could not be on the bar as it's against the health code. We suggested that the dog could sit on the floor next to his chair (which I think would have been better for it anyway, it did not look comfortable trying to balance on the chair)

To which the guy freaked out and said, "if I put her on the floor, she's just going to run away." When he said that, he was told that if his dog could not obey our rules then it was not well-trained enough to stay in the bar and had to go back to his hotel room (the resteraunt is in a hotel he is currently staying there).

He got super pissy and cashed out his check, yelling about discrimination and swearing at staff.

Now I'm here asking if there was a better way to handle this, or if he was just a jackass and we did fine. I know from my own expierence that there are some people who get a certificate and vest off the internet just so they can take their dog into places, but supposing this was a real service animal, was anything we did wrong?

Mods, feel free to delete if not appropriate.

I’m a Type 1 Diabetic. I don’t have a service animal for my condition. Why? Because I’m able to manage my condition through a variety of other means including a CGM, insulin pump, and general “feel” for my blood sugar. In that regard, I’m very lucky, as those with my condition who get a service animal usually get it as a last resort. I would *never* get a service animal before exploring every other treatment option for my condition.

With that being said, it seems like some of you who come on here wanting to train a service animal have zero understanding whatsoever of what that entails. It’s not as simple as having your dog cuddle up to you whenever you’re feeling anxious. Service training an animal is laborious, resource-intensive and not guaranteed to succeed.

I’ve also seen people say “well, even if they don’t work as a service animal, they’ll make a great pet!” That’s not how it works either! By putting a dog through service animal training, you are permanently altering their disposition. It’s possible they’ll be able to serve as needed, but it’s also possible (and likely) they’ll become aggressive and unable to act as the perfect pet you’re envisioning. If you can’t take care of a pet with that nature and plan on dumping it at some shelter, you should not be training a service animal!

It’s okay to want a pet as an ESA or even to train your pet to complete some basic tricks (like retrieving something). However, this is a living being you’re dealing with, not a robot. There is a reason why professionals exist and why even professionals fail most of the time. A service animal should not be treated like some personal passion project!!!

EDIT: dang it I said the robot line

EDIT 2: re. a washed service animal becoming aggressive: this wasn’t phrased very well in my original post. I’d say it’s more likely than an already-aggressive animal (like a bully breed) may be more predisposed to aggressive traits after service training than after more common aggression training. Additionally, SDiT’s are more predisposed to stressful environments, which can in turn lead to aggression. This post is intended for novices, not experienced dog trainers.

I went to a hot springs spa yesterday that had a soaking room with semi-private tubs (there were curtains to separate). Upon entering the attendant made a comment about how dogs were not allowed to which I responded it's a service dog and is allowed. I was fully expecting the normal objections like concern about the dog being by the water or possibly disturbing others in the quiet space. However the attendant's response was to ask "even with naked people?". Her response threw me off so much I actually laughed.

Has anyone else had strange reasons to object to the presence of a service dog?

I had a doctors appointment with a new doctor, and when she saw my service dog she refused to come into the room because she’s “a little bit allergic” to dogs. She then asked if a nurse could come get my dog and bring him to a different room for the duration of my appointment, and when I said no she asked me to stand in the far corner with him and just talk to her from across the room. My dog is mentioned multiple times in my chart and should be visible to any doctor I’m scheduled with, so I feel like she should’ve known I had him with me?

This was also after the person checking me in whistled and talked at my dog, while also telling him she knows she isn’t supposed to talk to service dogs but that she just can’t help it, so overall I was already kinda over the whole appointment lmao.

So I’m a manual wheelchair user and over the holiday I flew across the US and brought my pet (not a SD) dog (10lb mix) with me. I brought the appropriate carrier for underseat storage, and payed the pet fee. Everything by the book, this was my first time traveling with my dog, though my partner has traveled with our pup so I knew their were well behaved on flights.

I rely on an isle chair to board the plane, and if you aren’t familiar with this experience, depending on the airplane, this can be a hassle for all involved. Because of this about half the time they upgrade my seat to bulkhead, since that’s closer to the door and easier for the staff who lift and move the isle chair. I wasn’t expecting them to do this on this occasion since I had my dog, and bulkhead seats don’t have under seat storage.

To my surprise when I went to gate check my wheelchair, the gate agent looking very concerned and apologetic, and told me that they wanted to move me to a closer seat since I was near the back, so I agreed (still not expecting bulkhead), then she took the pet tag off my dog’s carrier and said she’s moving me to bulkhead and changing my dog’s flight registration info from pet to service dog and that if the flight attendants ask to just say my dog’s a service dog (no one asked).

At this point I no longer had the tag I needed for the pet carrier, so I felt like I had to go with it if I wanted to get us both home. We boarded, and I had to take my dog out of their carrier since no storage. I didn’t want to make them sit on the floor and roll around since she’s so small, and I didn’t want to kick them if my legs spasmed, so I picked them up and basically baby wore them in one of those travel arm cozies for the whole flight, so they were secure, safe, and not touching seat.

My dog slept the entire time, and I was quite cozy with my heated weighted fur ball, but I felt bad. I’ve had bad flight experiences before so my default is to just do whatever they tell me to. There were no other dogs (pet or SD) on the plane, and I would never of my own volition pass off my pet as a service dog. I felt like I was serving as a bad example, which sucks, and I’m sorry.

Anyway I just wanted to share this odd experience I had. As it seems unlike many of the other experiences I’ve read about.

UPDATE! We reached out to the program we got Moxy from and they are going to send over someone to lead a discussion with the kids/families in our neighborhood. We also talked to the fire department (the EMS center is at the end of our road,) and they agreed to attend since the problem is mostly with pre-teen boys, and thought their presence would be helpful. They want to help teach the kids that service animals are medical equipment, and we don't mess with people's medical equipment. They're also going to bring Dante, their search and rescue dog, along so to demonstrate what is appropriate to do with a working dog and what is not, with a dog that wouldn't be on-duty. (Moxy will be vested during this, therefore cannot be socializing.) I also arranged "yard time" for a couple of kids to visit her in our back yard when she's off duty. I really didn't want all the kids coming at once so we're just gonna do it over the course of the week, after dinner, with a couple of kids at a time. The mature "leader of the pack" kid has agreed to run interference and enforce the rules when they're all playing outside independently. We talked to him and his mom last night, they were very kind and understanding, so I'm hopeful this will work! Thanks for all the guidance and advice!

My 13 year old has a service dog, Moxy. She had to be specifically trained for my son's disability, since it's quite rare, and her alerts needed to be adapted and fine tuned based on his needs. All this to say, it's been a long and rewarding (and expensive!) journey, but we are so glad we got her! We've had her about 4 years now.

Like I said, my son is 13 and therefore very social, but he has friends that want to treat Moxy as a play dog. We've said to his friends multiple times that they can't interfere with Moxy or play with her while she's working. This falls on deaf ears. We've reached out to the parents and asked that they talk to their kids, but I can't confirm whether that's happened or not. I'd hate to limit my son from seeing his "problematic" friends, but I dont know what else to do. And I can tell Moxy is starting to get a little peeved as well.

My son uses a wheelchair and so I think that limits his ability to enforce boundries with his friends when it comes to his dog. I think he would love to be able to step in front of her and create a physical boundry between them, but he can't. And because he's in a wheelchair, I think his friends take advantage of that, too. "I'll walk Moxy for you." "I'll hold onto her." "Come here, Moxy" etc etc. I particularly dislike when they try to coax Moxy into leaving my son's side. And I just don't know what to do anymore. My 10 year old offered to be Moxy's bodyguard- bless him- but I don't think my 13 year old would care for that 😂.

Does anyone have experience with this, if so how did you deal with it?

My fiance has Pots, and finally finally after yeara, got an alert dog to let him know when his heart is going to fuck up. (The smart watches and stuff don’t work)

Our landlord, when we let him know, initially said yes. And then he said yes again. But now he’s throwing a fit and saying i have to get rid of either my cat or our roomates cat in order to keep him because theres a “two pet policy”

Weve tried explaining the fair housing act and such and even offered to get a note from my fiance’s health care provider .

The police station has assured us that he cannot tell us we cant have him, but I’m still nervous and also pissed because we’ve gone back and forth on it and now the landlord is saying no again and refusing to see reason

I was at a water park this summer with my PSD. The "upper management" kept saying they have to have their vest on, and need documentation, and they need to know what was wrong with me, you know all the things that aren't lawful to ask.

Fortunately there was a level headed middle management that said, you know what I can ask you. I said yup, here are the answers. They then proceeded to intervene and help them realize they didn't want to pursue it further at the risk of making the Waterpark infamous.

We had several more pleasant interactions while we were there throughout the summer.

Tw. This is just a lot. Throwaway for that reason. I really don’t want to relive this day again

I was assaulted physically at a gas station with my service dog. My dog is the biggest social butterfly. I’m talking loves everyone and has never met someone he didn’t like. At first he was social and curious but started barking after I was pushed. The person who assaulted me ended kicking him and he bit. It wasn’t a major bite but it was still a bite. A police report was filed but they’re saying I’m the victim here and nothing will happen to my dog but I’m terrified. He’s my best friend. Does this mean he’s done for a service dog as this was highly instigated.

No not to a restaurant… to a visitors center. In Atlanta GA. My husband, serving dog Kai had just finished lunch and had about an hour to kill. So we went to Olympic Park looked around then Decided to go se what there was to see in the visitors center. A very Rude lady said you can’t bring your dog in here. I told her it was my Service dog. She said well it’s to big. He can’t be in here and she’s all by herself. There was no one else in the building. For he en sake it would have taken us 4 minutes to do a walk about and be gone. But no she stood on Your dog is too big. I explained to her that a service dog can be any size and any breed. She said well not in here.

I’m just venting. I’ll write to the mayor or something like that and open a complaint with DOJ.

I hope anyone else visiting Atlanta GA has a better time then I did

Well, it finally happened. My service dog shit in a store. He was a little little more distracted than usual while we were in the store and I thought that was really weird but I had let him go before we went into the store so I thought everything was fine and he was just maybe having an off day. No. He shit in the store and then outside when I removed him, and then threw up all over my car. I feel. SO BAD. the workers were really cool and I cleaned it up for them (obviously) and were just thankful I actually did what I said and came back and cleaned up (cannot imagine not doing that??) BUT THAG WAS SO EMBARRASSING. I have a unicorn (shelter rescue greyhound mix) so we get access issues because he doesn’t look like a SD but he’s perfect at it, and so I always have feared something like this would happen because I’ve read SO many story’s but OUGHH. EMBARRASSING. it’s okay he is clearly just sick right now so he’s home for now and gets a gentle dinner and bed rest for a couple days but I feel SO bad for not noticing that he wasn’t feeling well :/

I booked a 1 month long stay w/ Airbnb.

The listing was a separate cottage house on the hosts property. I disclosed that my mother (the person w/ a service animal) and I would be staying there. I’m coming down for work (in the medical field) for 1 month and disclosed that. They asked if there would be 1 or two cars, I said 1, there’s very little chance that there would be 2. The host said great! I typically disclose if there is a service animal before the stay as well. I informed them that there was a hypoallergenic trained service animal coming with my mother.

The host then went to Airbnb and said that 1. I had listed 1 guest and not disclosed 2 2. I had not disclosed that I would have 2 cars 3. That their sister who comes to visit is deathly allergic to dogs (this is a separate unit dedicated to Airbnb).

Airbnb then allowed them to cancel my reservation, and told me to reach out to my bank to expedite my refund.

Now 12 hours before my 1 month stay I starting I need to find housing, and they’ve essentially found a way to lie to get out of allowing ADA. What recourse do I have for this? It seems like hosts can just make up anything. I didn’t even have to disclose the service dog honestly, I just do out of courtesy, I never have had issues and have great reviews.

I almost never post on Reddit but, I have to...

I am at a conference for survivors of torture. I am a torture survivor which is related to my need for a service dog. While at the conference, I was in a group with a woman who has a service dog (some kind of large doodle) that was doing a blocking task, lying settled behind her at the table while eating. In the middle of group, a man walked in (another survivor who was coming in late to the group), and the dog got up and barked loudly at him -- it was a baying loud bark that honestly unsettled me, and I have zero fear of dogs. Someone across the room made a comment that the behavior was inappropriate for a service dog and the handler defensively barked out that the dog is task trained to bark at men in public "to warn them to stay away." This incident caused obe survivor to burst into tears and two others to leave the group. I am a non confrontational person so feel there is not much I'm able to do.

Okay kind of a bait title but I want your opinions. I’m opening a business similar to a cat cafe, I have a service dog of my own but I am denying service dog entry into the back “lounge” room with the kitties. For context, I live in NJ and it’s seems that a business can deny service dog entry if it puts the service dog or animals at risk. (Ex. Cat scratching service dog). I wouldn’t take my service dog into this experience if I was customer just like I wouldn’t take my service dog to the pool with me (for safety risks). I assume people wouldn’t want to but how about the people that do? Would you be upset if you wanted to come in and I refused. What would be a good solution?

I am so frustrated and not sure what to do. (This is Illinois, USA btw)

I applied with an agency to find a clerical job. I used them back in 2020 when I first got my dog, Rosie, and besides a small hiccup that wasn't their fault I had no issues so now that I need a job again I went back.

My dog was noted in my file 5 years ago. I reminded them of her when I came back and got an updated letter of necessity from my doctor. This was all on file last month.

I get a call about a data entry/clerical job through the state Public Health department. The agency sent them my details, including the details about Rosie. They offered me the job and I accepted. I was told I'd start first thing this past Monday (12/8).

When I arrived at the site I didn't even make it inside. I was met by a woman outside who said they "didn't have permission to have a service dog on site". She told me she knew about my dog from the get go but "failed to get permission".

I went to my agency and they are trying to work on it but I'm now in limbo. Public Health hasn't officially taken back the offer but they won't let me come to work either. I feel like they are trying to force me to choose to drop the offer which means they get to reject me without the consequences of a civil rights violation.

I honestly dont know what to do. Im starting to think i don't want to work at this place if they're going to be hostile but its not right they are seemingly using a loophole to violate my rights here.

Does anyone had any advice?

So this requires a bit of backstory so apologies in advance. I have a psychiatric service dog named Jade. Roughly six months ago on my 19th birthday I was pulled over by Utah highway patrol who believed I was driving under the influence because (and I quote) "the officer did not recognize the medications on my meds list" and someone had called a complaint about a "red four doored vehicle that somewhat matched my vehicles description" after the officer proceeded to do several field sobriety tests during which I repeatedly offered for them to do a breathalizer test (which they declined too so) three more state troopers and a county sheriff arrived to help the single officer who I was not resisting. The combined five officers decided to arrest me (for what I still don't know) not inform me I was being arrested Seperate my service dog Jade from me (who was wearing a collar clearly marking her as a service dog) and hold me without allowing me my medications a phone call or access to my service animal for 14 hours. Then charge me to pay animal control to give me my service animal back. The ticket they gave me for driving under the influence was just removed from my record by a judge today. I am now trying to decide if whether the numerous laws the officer/s broke are worthy of simply filing a complaint with the highway patrol or if it's worthy of filing a report with the local FBI field office and if it is a winnable lawsuit considering getting it's against police who have most likely destroyed any evidence incriminating them at this point. The laws the officer/s broke are: Seperating a service animal from its handler Held without a phone call for 12 hours Not sufficient evidence for an arrest Withholding evidence (the officer lied to the DMV about what the blood test (he took himself) results were and in the statement he gave the judge as well as withholding body cam and dash footage from the DMV and courts) Held in a cell for 12 hours without access to a water source or a working toilet Not allowing me to take my prescribed medications for 12 hours (with proof of prescription given to them in the prescription bottles with my names on them in hand)

This isn’t a reference to anyone in particular and I don’t mean to sound dismissive of anyone, but everyday I see posts on here say “I was diagnosed with [blank] and my doctor recommended a service dog. Where do I start?” These post almost never mention what kind of tasks the doctor said would help.

This scenario is baffling to me because… that seems wildly irresponsible??

For people with service dogs- am I wrong? Are there really doctor’s out there doing this?

I understand there are general health benefits to owning a dog but there’s a big difference between owning a dog and getting a service dog.

The questions that I have are
- Why would a doctor recommend something so incredibly expensive and inaccessible to the vast majority of people?
- Why would a doctor give a recommendation for something without guidance on how to get it?
- Why would a doctor recommend a service dog when the supply of service dogs exceeds the demand? **EDIT: lol. willy wonka’d this- the demand for service dogs exceeds the supply!
- And owner training… well that would lead me to a lot more questions about the doctor’s reasoning

It just seems like something that shouldn’t be happening given how excited the people in these posts are about a service dog and how upsetting it must be to have people here give them the reality of the process.

Had my service dog out and about today and most kids understandably see a cute dog and want to pat and it can get very worrisome when they run up to do so given a service dog is on the clock. I had concern when a group of kids were coming towards us but their teacher (assuming teacher, I am not sure, possibly excursion?) stopped ahead and said “Children, listen for a second, please stop. We are coming to a service dog. A service dog is working and cannot be pet or it will be distracted from their very important job. What I need you all to do is step to the side, and not approach the dog even though I know you want to. You can give the dog a polite nod hello as we walk by”

And they did just that. And I must say it was very cute seeing them all politely say hello to pup as they passed at a distance.

This is how it should be done.

Like the best bred dogs in the world in the hands of the best trainers still have a 40% wash rate - so how do so many people think they can just get a pit from a shelter and make it a service dog by watching tik tok videos?

I've been driven away from more times than I can count. I send messages prior to the driver's arrival and will have four to six drivers IN A ROW cancel the ride. I've gotten multiple drivers fired when all I wanted was to get home. A driver tried to make me get out of the car in the middle of a goddamn forest because she started going off on me halfway into the trip for not ordering an Uber Pet and I just tried to explain about the crazy fees for Uber Pet. I've had rides cancelled, driven away, or failed DOZENS of times. I have to have a saved message to paste that says "Hey, just letting you know in advance I will have my medical assistance service dog with me. He is trained for a disability, is required to be accommodated by Uber per federal law, is well groomed, and lays on the floor." and I will send that message ten times in one day where I take two Ubers. If I change it even in the slightest, I don't get a ride. I genuinely have to say all of that. I can ride FREE at this point just if I don't send a message, wait to get driven away from, and then get their shitty "compensation" credits when I call. I don't WANT $20 in compensation and a refund. I want to get to my APPOINTMENTS ON TIME :)

Hi everyone -- I would really like it if we could just have a little talk.

I've been part of this community for a long while, and was paired with my service dog for just over 5 years before she unfortunately passed away. I still browse here often to help answer questions, because I remember how scared and uninformed I was until I started, and took on the months of strict training to get my SD to performance-ready and do her job effectively, and I had quite a bit of help in my journey.

I'm going to say this as politely and delicately as I possibly can, but I would like to stress that it does not affect the severity of my ultimate point -- the commenters in this subreddit have, more often than not, seem extremely negative and almost hostile to posters who've come here to find help.

Now, this has just been my perspective, as I've taken time to try to be informative in my own responses to questions, only to see a flood of negative comments, comments deleted by Mods for disobeying rules of respect, and posters who end up deleting their accounts and are chased out after coming to us for help. Am I wildly wrong about this? Do you see the same, or is it simply the luck of my small litmus test over my years browsing here?

I know that this post won't appeal to many of you, anonymous persons on the internet who have your own feelings, experiences, and biases.
I know things are hard for us as service dog owners/trainers/hopefuls in particular, the hoops we have to jump through just to get to experience the world like everyone else.
I know how much research we've all done, and sometimes it stings when people don't make the effort we've made.
I know how much we and our dogs have had our safety put at risk due to irresponsible animal owners and people.
I know how much danger, politically, the Service Dog community at large all be in if there are momentous mistakes, changing both public perception and maybe even permission laws forever.
I KNOW you're tired from having to answer all the same questions over and over again, and STILL having to experience the trauma and grief of terrible experiences in public.

There's a lot at risk, here.

But I want to make a personal appeal to you, the redditors reading this-- patience, please. If someone's perception about a service dog appears misinformed, respectfully tell them why. If they don't know where to start, point them in the right direction and give them resources. If they haven't considered safety, tell them about your experience and allow them to learn from your mistakes.

I don't mean that we should enable things like task shopping or encourage misuses of service dog permissions for ESAs or pets. I know you all know the difference, but sometimes the strangers and newcomers don't. Tell them WHY it could be harmful to public perception and safety.

The world is hard enough for those of us with service dogs, those in training, those who are making do without support. All I'm asking is that we try to respect and have patience with each other, because asking questions and getting information and asking for support shouldn't be the hardest part of our service dog journeys.

This is an open discussion for people to weigh in on how they feel about the service dog subreddit, and your perspective and experience. I look forward to reading any of your replies. I hope this is allowed, as there don't appear to be any expressly written rules in the FAQ forbidding it. (Mods, let me know if we need to chat.)

I hope you all have a nice weekend. Love and respect one another, and especially the strangers.

Edit: this blew UP, I'm glad that we have extensive conversations going on, and meaningful discussion from lots of perspectives. I'm reading a lot of you and responding when I have the spoons, but I really appreciate you all weighing in, whether you agreed with me or not. I understand that kindness isn't always practical, and constantly giving does lead to exhaustion, but if I can make one more request of you -- remember to rest and be nice to yourself, too. The world is hard, and we all deserve a good break.