The ADA does not require professional training and, or, an ID for very good reasons. Not only would the cost unfairly limit the number of people who could afford to have a Service Dog, but there is usually a long waiting list for acquiring one from a training facility, even for those with plenty of money. Besides, each dog still has to be taught to work with the individual that s/he is paired with, and that person must learn to continue the dog’s training enough to keep the Service Dog sharp on all of his Tasks. On some level, all Service Dogs end up being “owner trained”, even if the original training occurred elsewhere. Just as it would be ridiculous to try to regulate and register every wheelchair and diabetes blood sugar monitor that is in use, disabled people may get Canine Assistance where they can find it. The only requirement is that the dog be trained to do Tasks that mitigate a disability that the person has, which is reasonable, since that is the whole point of having a Service Dog in the first place, right?
Training a dog does require an understanding of dog nature and behavior, as well as knowledge of basic techniques for teaching dogs to interact and communicate with us. It’s a lot like raising children. Many people these days turn their children over to “professional child trainers” otherwise known as school teachers, and lots of people hire professional dog trainers, but both children and dogs can be taught at home! 🙂
Just like children, dogs need to be educated. If children didn’t go to school and their parents raised them with no more instruction than many dog owners give to their dogs, the behavior and abilities of the children would be a lot like that of the untrained dogs that we see.
You can’t ask a young child to go and mix up a cake without showing him how, and you can’t expect a dog to sit or lie down when you say so (let alone to tell you when your blood sugar is dropping or going too high) unless you first teach him those things!
Continuing with that analogy, I’ve seen 3 year olds who could mix up a cake from scratch and others who acted like they had no idea what their parents were talking about when asked to sit down on a chair…
My point is simply that dog owners are perfectly capable of training their own dogs, and it’s a good thing for the disabled that the ADA recognizes this. It’s my belief that most anyone (disabled or not) can learn to teach their own dogs to become not only polite members of the family and society, but intelligent, interactive and useful companions who help out around the house (in the case of a pet) or do more serious care taking when their person is disabled.
That is why I have dedicated the rest of my life to the purpose of helping people to train their own Service Dogs (and to providing pre-trained dogs to those who cannot train their own).
Back to the point of this post – I’d much rather spend time teaching people to train their Service Dogs to be the best helpers and companions that they can be, leaving the issue of WHERE they perform those Tasks and duties to the owner. Getting into the legal hows, whys, and wherefores is not my cup of tea.
However…
One of my clients has some VERY serious disabilities, some of them are unseen, but others certainly are not. It is highly unlikely that anyone would mistake her for a non-disabled person, thereby even eliminating most of the need to ask the questions that are allowable by the ADA. (“Is the dog a Service Animal required because of a disability?” and “What Work or Task has the dog been trained to perform?”) Business owners can still ask, of course, but they rarely do when the disability is obvious and the dog is wearing something that labels it as a service dog.
In spite of all of that, this person’s previous trainer talked her into believing that it was required that she buy an ID for her Service Dog. The trainer not only gave her that erroneous information, but then steered her to one of the more expensive ID vendors that also put an expiration date on their ID and imply to their customers that yearly renewal is necessary. Why would a trainer do that? Did he really think what he said was true? (That is of course a rhetorical question, since we will probably never know…)
It’s been a long time since I’ve been asked to produce paperwork or ID to “prove” that my dog is a Service Dog.
Please be aware, the only thing necessary at this time in the USA is your word that the dog is trained to mitigate your disability. Also, PLEASE, make sure that s/he is fully capable of doing so before you say that s/he is. People must take us at our word, and in this, as in any other area of our lives, we should be trustworthy.
It helps with peace of mind to keep the ADA phone number handy to call, (800-514-0301)
I also have business cards which say, “If you are being given this card, you have probably violated federal ADA law” and it gives the ADA Hotline phone number and encourages them to call immediately.
So if you live in the USA, don’t let anyone tell you that you “must” have documentation to show.
I carry a letter from my doctor when I travel by air because airlines have their own regulations about it, but at this time that’s all you need. That $40 renewable ID which the woman mentioned above gave a good portion of her grocery money to obtain, means nothing at the airport, because they know that it is not required.
Click on the link below to download a publication by the ADA about the rights and regulations concerning Service Animals:
ADA Laws PDF
