I had a dachshund when I became disabled years ago. We trained him for some tasks, and when he got older I retire him and got a large dog. I paid do have him trained and it worked out but he’s 9 now and my needs are also slightly different. While I could save money by going through a trainer I know who does train SD’s, I’m also feeling like it might be easier to go through a program. I know the waitlists are quite long, and I’m not sure where to start.

My current dog is trained to get things I drop, apply pressure to my lower body, and also has some added training for PTSD work. I’m epileptic but my current dog doesn’t do a thing with that as he’s not able to alert like my prior dog could. He does stay close and wait for me to awaken.

Does anyone have any good ideas for me? Is going through an agency even doable? I’m a wheelchair user outside of the home, and I’m tube fed. I have issues with heat, and have seizures. Ideally I need a dog who can retrieve things for me, lay across my legs or let me lay my legs on them, and just the general basics. I would love a seizure alert dog but I do get auras so it isn’t necessary per se. It was just nice as my prior dog was trained to go get help.

Any agency recommendations if that’s allowed? The PTSD work would be amazing but just being a dog helps with that.

Thanks!

Throwaway because they could be in this sub and they have a large social media following but I need to vent. Friend is disabled and has service dogs. When I met them they had an SDIT, they had told me they'd already washed and rehomed several dogs. Obviously it's difficult to train up a service dog. We bonded over our love of dogs to begin with and I never had a problem with them rehoming washed dogs.

Since I've known them, they have washed two dogs. Bought two more dogs to replace them. Washed another. One of these washed dogs is now mine and I spent the better part of a year undoing some really weird fearful behaviors that they insisted were not there before I got them. And now the one they're currently using seems to be following the pattern of these others and is on the way to washing out. As I said before, I initially thought it was just that training a service dog is hard. But after watching them train and how they interact with these dogs, it's clear that's not the whole story. This person is incredibly heavy handed with these dogs. The dogs are constantly offering appeasement signals when my friend makes eye contact with them or speaks to them. My friend will shove the dogs into positions if they don't cooperate when asked to do something. These dogs are almost not allowed to blink or breathe without this person saying it's okay. The first dog they had when we met and the one rehomed to me were both nervous wrecks.

I've distanced myself as much as I can despite us working in the same place and having to keep up appearances because of how nauseated this makes me. The real cherry on top is they're getting ANOTHER puppy as a back up to this current dog. I'm almost positive it's because they know this dog is going to wash too. I don't want to be around this person outside of work anymore. But I'm worried about the fallout of distancing myself and what I say if confronted. They tend to create a lot of drama in their life and while I've flown under the radar thus far, I'm nervous to put up boundaries with them.

TLDR: "Friend" is burning out dogs faster than an out of control forest fire and I can't handle it ethically.

Background: I had an at-home service dog, who I just tragically lost. I am now realizing how completely reliant on him I was and also without his support during this stress, my medical issues have flared so badly I am concerned I may need different tasks.

I got a LOT of attention even taking him dog friendly places (Home Depot, Petsmart, Bass Pro) as part of regular training. I even got a ton of attention walking him in the park. And perhaps because I never put a service dog vest on him (I think I may have just answered my own question). But I am truly surprised at how many people have never seen a trained or handler focused dog that wasn’t distracted by his environment. For example Wait in line, step forward and sit beside you. Or fall into a heel when passing others on a path, regularly look up at me for direction. They often couldn’t recognize it as a trained or basic obedience behavior (“oh my god, he knows how lines work!” “What is he doing? Why is he walking like that?” “He must love you, he’s looking at you ALL the time” “He looks so happy to be with you!”) I definitely don’t want to do PA unless I need to. But since my needs are progressing, I am considering it for selecting my next dog and as a training goal in case I need it down the road. Anyways, my question is…for those of you that have ever done both…is the general public much worse in dog friendly environments? Or is this level of attention what I should expect if I were to take a dog into a regular store? And how do the attentions differ? I currently live in a suburban environment in Kansas. I wasn’t showing my dog off to get attention or obviously training him in store, I kind of avoid people, tbh. We get in, get an item, get out. I was sometimes wearing a training a belt that I kept my dog stuff in.

My 7mo SDiT is doing fantastic in her training, and with her age we are starting to learn some more advanced behaviors for certain situations (in pet friendly areas of course). However, with certain things we’re hitting a wall trying to learn about them, without bringing her somewhere non pet friendly. SDiT’s are allowed public access in my state, but A, she’s not ready for that, and B, I don’t know if it’s necessarily appropriate to train situational behaviors in non pet friendly spaces? Even if it was appropriate to do some training, she learns best with about 20 minutes of repetition.

The things I’m trying to figure out are:

• Knowing to keep distance from products in a grocery store. We’re working on this in tractor supply on the treat isle, but I feel like the environment is too different from the butcher section in a grocery store.
• Navigating overwhelming areas where there are people really close to us, like crowded restaurants.
• TSA and other places that have security procedures.
• Public transport (busses and planes)

Does your dog suffer from separation anxiety? I've noticed since I've moved into an apartment with my fiance and out of my parents' house (where he was born), my boy has separation anxiety of I go somewhere without him. It's a little better if our roommates stay with him, but if he is is our room he whines and howls. I've tried meds when I have to leave him, but it doesn't really work. He seems to despise being alone, and hate not being near me. I will be getting a trainer, but if anyone has advice for me on what I can work on right now, I'd appreciate it.

Edit: My fiance's friends with a dog gave me the name of a great trainer. I'm calling later today.

I've noticed people 35+ distract my dog way more but kid/teens are the most respectful. I work at an elementary school (age 4-12) and they just respect the don't touch/talk rules. But the other teachers don't as much (especially subs who hasn't met sd)

Even when I'm out in public, teens never approach me to touch him, and kids atleast ask before doing so so I can explain no, and why....but older people? Not a chance.

35+ is where it starts but I've found that anyone like 60 and above does it way worse, I was wondering if it was the same for everyone and why you think that is? Here's my theory :

Kids are taught to ask for everything, always. Even in school, ask for water, ask to potty, everything....boomers are way more entitled to things they want or think they "deserve" so they just do it

Anyone else have any theory or observations?

Long story short, I’ve only seen a lady working at corporate with a service dog at Southwest Airlines. I don’t have a dog yet but I work customer service/GA for another airline.

Do you think this is manageable? Or should I not get my dog?

I've been having serious physical health issues. I feel so close to a diagnosis. But it could still be months. But I'm hoping once I do i can get a doctors note and apply to cgc. But I'm worried about how long that could take. During covid I had heard it was around 3 years wait time. But I'm hoping to be able to get one sooner then that. My current service dog will be 10 August 8th she has slowed a tiny bit but mostly the signs of is she is more grumpy. I'm worried it will be time for her to retire which will likely be her choice unless I get a fully trained dog sooner than that I think she probably could still work for a year maybe a year and half but I don't know. And their isn't really a way to predict that other than what has happened with other dogs of her breed. Star is my grandpa's dog. She is now 12. And around 11 years old she very suddenly over night became old. (I mean finally acting old. She suddenly showed arthritis that caused her pain. And very quickly she has lost most of her hearing and is mostly blind if not completely blind over the last 6ish months. It can be possible for the breed to live up to 13 and I have even heard of two dogs dying at 17 years old. But both 13 and especially any older than that is fairly uncommon. So if I can qualify for one I'm wondering what is the current time line to get one of their dogs. And if they allow me to train other tasks for my mental health. (I understand they do not train any mental health tasks themselves) depending on that I may decide it would be better to get a puppy and work with a dog trainer and just train this dog myself. Also does anyone know if they make exceptions to their allowed dogs for people to possibly geg bigger dogs? I'm thinking above 100 lbs. But if not i would make do with a lab. I know this is not exactly a common practice amongst service dog organization. But is their any chance they would let me choose the gender of my dog. I currently have 5 female dogs of my mom (I live with) and my dogs. We have allowance for up to 6 dogs. But we just have two many females and it can sometimes cause problems.

Also it i can get multiple recommendation letters. Can this affect how soon I get a dog or if it affects anythingn

i can’t drive due to seizures. i have almost no way to go into town without a planned out day. a paid program is not possible for us, nor are any “subscription classes” or $50 courses. he is fully self-trained by me.

the one area of training i know my SD needs is public access training. we’ve done some, but it’s near impossible to do so regularly. i’ve only taken him to pet-friendly stores because my local laws do not protect SDs in training. i have been staying on the safe side, as being removed or heckled anywhere would cause extreme symptoms from my disability. i don’t want this to be the reason my dog has little public access training.

i worry that my time to train is running out, he turns 3 in november. i’m very satisfied with him considering my situation buti’m extremely self conscious about all this. he works while my husband is away and knows when he’s home he’s off work (but will often task anyway).

when we get the rare chance to train in public he first goes potty and i let him take in our surroundings since almost everything is new. it takes much too long for him to calm down when we first arrive anywhere. thankfully, when people are ignoring him as they should, he has very little reactivity and showed me he does have great potential with it. i also first take him to the doors of the store and have him sit-stay in a heel while people walk past before we actually go in. then we do the same thing in the store, as well as other things.

i am very divided on if he needs more training or if it’s not our fault for people distracting him. he’s great at giving his attention back to me after the distraction has walked away. obviously, i’ll always train for better behavior, but at some point you have to give in and start setting people straight to exist peacefully, right? i’ve stepped in many times already and usually when faced with a distraction i position him facing away and reward each time he looks back at me while increasing duration. this doesn’t do much when people are essentially shoving past us within a foot and groups of people are gawking making annoying noises, he is marked in public so this drives me nuts.

any help with my situation is super appreciated.. i can only have my husband help by being a distraction so much. i take as many opportunities as possible to use my friend’s and family as training opportunities but obviously i also like spending time with them.

also really hoping i didn’t reach out for help just for people to absolutely rage about him being self-trained or “too old” to be in training still.

I know it can be hotly debated how much we need our dogs, and how much we utilize them. Many people have a hard time going more than a few days without them. They're our companions, our family, our medical equipment. We care deeply about them.

But are we making sure we have enough alternative methods to manage our disabilities, so that if we're without our service dogs for more than a few days, we won't end up in a hospital?

That's why I'm posting this. I want all of us to really think about what "tools" we have in our "disability toolbelt" besides our dogs. If we were to suddenly not have our dog be able to work for a month, what would be do?

Be it medical alert, guide, psych, multipurpose, or any other service, what alternatives do you have already?

My doctors posed this question to me months ago. I thought about it, but never really absorbed it until my Labrador SD semi-retired suddenly. I wasn't quite ready for him to suddenly not join me on outings, but I did have alternative means to manage my disabilities.

All of us could suddenly be without a SD very suddenly. Make sure you have alternatives to manage your disabilities. I know many members here say not to rely on your SD too much. It's one of the best bits of advice. Don't become too dependent on your dog. That's all. Stay safe everyone.

This happened to the man sitting beside us, but I am familiar with what is okay because my brother has a service dog.

An older man beside us at Chalice Cafe in the CLT airport in terminal C just got asked to leave because his service dog was sitting at his feet and not laying down. Per the server, service dogs have to lay down in restaurants. (I know that is not the case.) This dog was a small Pomeranian looking dog and seemed very well behaved. Literally was just sitting at the man’s feet. I wanted to pipe up and tell her she was wrong, but chickened out. The man got his beer to go and left. For things like this in the future, how would you handle it? WOULD you chime in? I’m mad I didn’t say anything. Worth it for me to email to complain?

Hello community. I am flying a friend from France to California, USA and have some service dog questions. Her French Service Dog is a Staffordshire Terrier, will that be a problem in the US because of the breed? And do you have to get special paperwork when bringing over a foreign service dog? Thank you.

I have a three year old service dog who has been going to school with me since 8th grade, and i’m now in 10th. My dog is a 37lbs Border Collie mix. There’s another service dog at my school, a Golden Retriever. Neither us as handlers nor our dogs have ever had an issue with each other. However, my dog tends to get very excited when we pass the other dog in the hallways and such, she doesn’t lunge or make any noise but she stares the other team down to a point that i’m not comfortable with. My dog is very friendly but doesn’t meet other dogs very often, especially not service dogs. I don’t know how I can practice with her being around dogs in public because we don’t know any other teams besides the one at our school. Her behavior doesn’t seem to be bothering anyone except me, so it’s not an urgent issue, but one I would like to work on.

Hi, I'm going to talk to my therapist about getting a psd due to having BPD and servre cptsd involving men. It's honestly debilitating. If I'm out in public I have to have some sort of stimulate to distract me and disassociate or I start freaking out. But I was wondering what breed I should consider since I want the comfort of having a breed that is amazing at tasks and grounding techniques but the flip side of the comfort of protection. I've thought about a rottweiler because I love them and people would probably be less likely to walk up to them in my area but I've seen that they also have some issues with over protecting.

I hope this isn't a strange question but I'm wondering if there's any particular etiquette to attending a funeral with a service dog? I'll be attending a funeral and wake for my partner's uncle soon and while I've been to a funeral with my SD as a member of the grieving immediate family, I feel a little uncomfortable about showing up with a dog (albeit a service dog) as a guest whose very distant from the immediate grievers. I've met them maybe twice in my entire life.

I'm worried that they may not want a dog there for whatever reason. It feels very inappropriate to reach out to grieving people who I barely know to ask, "Hey, is it alright if I bring my service dog to the service?" because that's so not something they need to be concerned with right now. At the same time, though, I'm worried about just showing up with my SD and potentially making someone uncomfortable.

To clarify, I'm not concerned about my SD being disruptive in any way during the service; he's a fully-trained, very experienced service dog who'd handle it fine. I'm worried that someone who is much closer to the deceased than me may find the presence of even a well-behaved dog disruptive or upsetting for some reason--fear of dogs, allergies, them thinking it distracts others from the services, personal preference, whatever. I'm not interested in legal rights to attend with my SD because even if I did have the full legal ability, I would respect the wishes of the deceased's loved ones first. I'm interested in if there's any typical etiquette for a situation like this as a service dog handler.

Going without my SD is an option but I'm worried it will make my partner, who's my primary person I'm trying to support, more stressed during the already stressful day, as he not only feels less comfortable about my safety when I'm in public without my SD's medical alerts but he also stresses about leaving my SD alone in our apartment because he worries he'll bark and upset our neighbors (not an unfounded fear as we're currently working on my SD's separation anxiety with me). I don't know if that might just be a better option overall, though.

I live in the US and have a SD who mostly tasks in home because…that’s where I am and need help most of the time. We used to do public access, but I can’t go out that much anymore, so she’s not in top form for that atm. For now she’s an in home SD.

Anyway I have a few family members and friends who have questioned if she’s really still an SD without public access, or if she doesn’t act like a marine on a dog walk anymore. Sometimes she pulls, or she’ll try to greet people. But that doesn’t impact her tasking for me at home.

Is there a good short resource I can point people to about in home service dogs, to shut them up?

Everything I’ve found is either about how SDs should act doing public access or about just the base criteria of SDs, and doesn’t address what SDs don’t have to do when not in public.

I (15) love animals. My family currently has 2 dogs, miniature salt-and-pepper Snaushers. They are amazing but at the end of their life, one being 12 and the other 10. My sister never takes care of the younger on wich is her dog so I am the one taking them for walks and bathing them. I love them dearly but I know their to go soon since their both sick.

My parents don’t want more dogs since my sister ignored the first one wich led to him being very miss behaved and messy. I re want another dog, preferably a big one wich i can go jogging with (my current dog refuses to go more than 1k before I have to carry her). I often play with large dogs and I adore them.

So currently the reasons my parents don’t want another dog is because of the work due to it being a puppy, me going to collage at 18 and the pain of training them. I recently learned that you can addopt retired working dogs, like search and rescue dogs or guide dogs. I recommend that to my parents and they said it sounded like a good idee, since their already trained and older.

Im currently looking up about this and im not that sure on the prosses. I know about the anxiety and depression some dogs have but how badly does it affect the dog? Am I equipped to take care of such a dog? Can anyone that is more educated on this please give me some insight?

This is a repost since I put it under the wrong community

I’ve (21F) been trying to find a job that is compatible with my health needs, is something I enjoy, and is also accommodating to my Service dog.

Maybe I’m just looking in the wrong areas, but I can’t do a desk job or a call center, been there, done that, hated it. I need to be somewhere with people and somewhere that keeps me moving and thinking.

The places I’ve looked have been Residential Treatment Centers, which is a field I would love to go into.

I’m just feeling hopeless at this point and am desperate for some advice.

To start off, I have read every article I could find on eligibility for service dogs, yet I still second guessing if I could be eligible. Before bringing it up with my doctor and getting a hard no, I figured I'd get an opinion from someone else. I also know what is said on here might be the opposite of what my doctor believes, just need this last opinion before asking.

I am a 23 year old diagnosed with ADHD and Anxiety Since about 1st-3rd grade. I don't get bad attacks anymore, medicine helps with that. I tend to zone out and pick my lip until it bleeds or break my hair. I tend to hyperfixate on projects after procrastinating until the day of. I'm working at a job at a school where I pull small groups for extra help. I tend to zone out in some of them, and even with alarms only come back to with actual contact from something. Some kids are good with this, others not so much which causes me to have to rush getting the next group. Even so, I feel that they shouldn't need to, I just haven't found a way around this. I will sometimes zone out while driving or walking, and go by muscle memory. Not safe, I know.

I have not seen my doctor since starting this job, but have an appointment set up next month with her next month. I haven't told her about the symptoms since they seem everyday normal things to me.

I also have an ESA, from my last doctor haven't needed a note since but my current doctor said she would provide one if needed. I tend to try and bring her with me when I can, I shop pickup so she's in my car with me, or pet friendly stores that she would be allowed in.

Like I said, I just need another opinion, not expecting a professional answer that I consider to be exactly what my doctor will say. I have also considered the cons of having a service dog before anyone asks, but many people have told me I do better when she's with me mood wise (More the ESA comfort side of that.) I'm worried she may say she wants to increase my meds more than what they are and dismiss me completely. Thank you for any advice.

Okay, hear me out! I’ve got a Standard Poodle puppy that is my service prospect. I’m also a dog groomer and he will be my model. I’m owner training, and he’s already doing really well, but I’m also going through group training sessions through a reputable training company in my area. Right now I’m planning on the puppy classes, and just regular obedience classes. I was also eyeing their conformation classes. He won’t be a show dog, but I feel that it would benefit him a lot. Getting him used to handling, standing nicely for grooming, focusing on me in busy environments, heeling, etc.

Have any other handlers done this? Is this a crazy idea?

Hi! We are traveling from Canada to the US to get our sons new service dog. For our return to Canada with the service dog, I will send the DOT form and have proof of vaccination. Is there anything else we need to fly into Pearson? Thanks!

I’ve been doing research and confused if I should have a emotional support dog or a service dog.

I currently have a dog and have been training her basic commons and some tasks (like circling around me to is if I get panicked around too many people).

I am autistic, I can mostly hold a job (because I work from home) I can’t maintain relationships. I say my life is pretty okay when I’m alone at home with my dog. I avoid most social outings as I get a lot of anxiety from crowds, chaos, loud noise, multiple conversations/sounds at once. I don’t do malls and don’t like grocery stores. I don’t like echos. I don’t take elevators or stairwells as they give my great stress (which I think a dog could really help me with). I have a lot of sensory overload issues and tend to stay home because of them. I can physically do just about anything but will mentally breakdown if overloaded or sensory overload.

I cut her hair because it was completely tangled. How do I regain her trust?

My partner and I both have service dogs. His is a German shepherd and we get the comment of “military dog” quite frequently (we are in an area with a lot of military) my SD is a mutt and I get more people trying to approach us bc he looks friendly. I heavily disassociate in public (especially in places where i’m overstimulated) and I don’t register when people talk to me and i’ve been called some not so nice names for not responding. We have patches all over both of them as a recommendation from our trainer but I feel as if there’s too many and people just don’t bother to read them. 90 percent of the time we are out as a team of 4 and somehow our experiences with the public are vastly different. What works better in your experience 3-4 patches or covering the vest in patches ?

I believe we have some members here who travel internationally quite a bit. Hopefully this finds them.

I've found the USDA page and the requirements for different countries (did not compare to see how different they might be). I don't know where my entry country will be and it's not clear if the documentation is restricted to that entry country. I will be going to other countries while there.

I found mentions of an "EU Canine Passport" available for EU residents (I live in the US but have an EU passport as well), but could not find details on how or where do obtain one - perhaps ahead of time.

Thank you in advance.

Hi everyone, I've been reading about service dogs recently, and I'm considering getting one to support me with my PTSD and mental health. I believe having a service dog could be really helpful, especially now, as I'm going through a difficult time dealing with the separation from my husband over the past month. I feel like I could really benefit from emotional support during this period. I'm living in the UK and have been here for about two years, so I don't have much information on how the process works in this country. Could anyone guide me on how to apply for a service dog, how long the process typically takes, and any other important details I should know? I'd really appreciate any advice or experiences you can share. Many thanks!

I’m in the U.S. and new to the SD community. I have PTSD with hypervigilance, dissociation, and agoraphobia as my primary symptoms.

I thought I had gone through the entire process properly. I got a one-year-old shelter rescue last August after meeting many of them. She was very focused, bright, and food-motivated. I had her as a foster-to-adopt at first and had her temperament tested by a SD trainer in that time. The trainer felt she was a good fit for the job so we moved forward with training in September.

It’s been three months since we started formal training (four months since starting with bonding and obedience, though she has basic obedience mastered already) and she has been trained for hours every day. She consistently tasks. She alerts to hyperventilation, does DPT in response to hyperventilation or on command, blocks on command, and closes doors for me at night. Her public access manners aren’t totally flawless yet (she still occasionally stands up from a down-stay and wags her tail if of someone talks to her) but she does great most of the time. She passed her CGC test last week perfectly.

After she passed her CGC, I joined a group for service dog owners and told people that she’s officially a service dog now and that I’m taking the “in training” part off her job description. I posted a photo of her with her certificate of completion from our trainer.

I got completely dogpiled by people saying that a shelter mutt can’t trained as a service dog in three months and that service dog training takes two years minimum. People said I shouldn’t take my dog into public access because shelter rescues are unpredictable and she can’t be PA trained yet.

I’m feeling gaslit and confused and I don’t know if I just inadvertently stumbled into a very toxic group or if I’ve fallen for some kind of elaborate fraud by my trainer. I know my dog really is tasking and I’ve never had a behavior issue from her at all. Should I really not be taking her in public? Does it really take two years? Is she really unpredictable or dangerous because she came from a shelter?

Please be kind. I do want the truth but please don’t be mean about it. I tried to do everything exactly the way I was supposed to.

My SDit is a 1 year old 23lbs very cute little black dog. We went to Farm & Fleet today to get a soda and everyone stopped and went oh a puppy. I heard one person comment how mean I was for hold my puppy to such high standards, another was upset she couldn't pet her, and the cashier was upset I didn't want her to give my dog a treat. All these comments made me upset. How do you handle these comments and grow a thicker skin? I'm already a socially awkward person and I just don't know what to do other than ignore them.

Hey all! I’m on the waitlist for my service dog and I’m trying to decide what treat bag to use.

I am an ambulatory wheelchair user, so if I have a bag that can swap between both that would be nice, but not necessary. I have a clip on silicone one that I like on my chair well enough, but I work about it not being secure enough clipped onto a leash or a pocket while standing. However, obviously hip bags are more bulky.

I’m also plus-size, so a hip bag would have to sit basically on my waist rather than my hip, which aesthetically can look a bit strange!

Thoughts, feelings, vibes? Interested in opinions with the functionality, ease of use/carrying around, and looks!

The title kind of says it all, I am, and have been owner training my girl Luna since last April, and I'm sorry for the vent post mostly. She's your typical puppy in SOME aspects when she isn't working but, she knows that when her gear is on, and we're not home that she's expected to act differently. -Easily excited. -Willing to learn. -Wants to play. -Desperate for love. But according to the trainer I met with, shes got what it takes to make it as a service dog. She's has the temperament for it, sweet, smart, she wants to learn. She has a list of tasks that she has down to a T. -DPT -Alerts to my Migraines without fail. -"Guards" me during dizzy spells when I can't get up and I may be in danger. -Alerts to panic attacks. And there's more that we're working on. But I'm frustrated that when we're doing PA work, and people see Luna, even though she's well-behaved, doesn't bark, or lunge, and stays tucked, everyone thinks that because she's a "Bluey dog 🤬🤬" that she cannot be a service dog. Yes. She is an Australian Cattle Dog. But her being an ACD doesn't take away from her huge leaps and pounds in scentwork, or any of her other many, magnificent qualities.