You have seen people in stores or maybe even at restaurants with a dog. Maybe the dog is barking, jumping, and generally not behaving very well but it has a vest on. Chances are it’s not a real service dog. The truth of it is that the laws regarding service dogs are vague and unclear so it’s pretty easy for someone to fake having one. Throw a vest (that’s easily purchased online) on the dog and BAM!, you have yourself a service dog, right? Wrong! While there is no exact certification for real service dogs, there are steps that have to be taken, including a doctor justifying your need for said service dog.
Journey is a 6-year-old golden retriever and he is my husband, Mark’s, service dog. Mark has had Journey since he was one year old. Originally, Mark got Journey to help with PTSD after returning home from the Marines. Mark had severe night terrors and, among many other things, Journey was trained to wake Mark when he was having one of these dreams. Journey was also trained to get Mark’s attention when an anxiety attack was coming on and has since taken on many more responsibilities to assist Mark.
I met Mark and Journey in 2015 when Journey was 2 years old and Mark had had him for one year. Journey goes everywhere with Mark so he chaperoned us on all of our first dates. Journey was so well behaved and if he had his service vest on, Journey knew he was working. Journey did not like to be distracted and his focus was always only on Mark. Don’t worry – when the vest comes off at home, Journey knows its play time and he gets to behave mostly like any other dog.
It didn’t take long for me to see how having a service dog brought with it a whole new series of stresses though. Not only do people constantly try to distract Journey while he is working, but we also have to deal with uneducated people who don’t know the laws regarding service animals.
“No dogs allowed.”
“What is the service dog for?”
“Let me see the certificate.”
This is the standard line of questioning we get when entering a business.
We have heard this questioning HUNDREDS of times and while sometimes we are approached politely, with discretion and respect, many, many other times we get yelled at from across a room or crowd of people. The only things that people can legally ask are, “Is that a service dog,” and “What task is the animal trained to do?” to which Mark answers, “Yes. He is a medical alert animal.”
While that is all that can be asked, the conversation rarely ends there. Once Mark was chased through a store getting harassed and badgered by a worker who was yelling “No dogs allowed!” at him. The worker refused to let Mark purchase his items. The police were called. A report was filed. And of course the policeman wrote the report in Mark’s favor.
When we lived in Illinois, it was basically a daily battle. At grocery stores, many times the greeters would try to deny us entrance into the store. Sometimes it was a lack of proper education and training, but other times it was obvious discrimination. Restaurants are always hit or miss. The majority of restaurants happily welcome us into their establishment and only ask, “Is that a service dog?” However, when a hostess, waiter, or manager gives us a hard time, it is not only embarrassing, but it ruins our evening. There is nothing quite like trying to have a rare night out only to be harassed and ridiculed before dinner. Mark and I don’t go out much to begin with, but it really sucks when we do and something like that happens.
And just to clarify, Journey lays under the table and often goes unnoticed until we get up to leave the restaurant. He doesn’t beg for food or cause a scene. We always have to deal with people whispering (or pretending to whisper but actually talking loudly) about how there is a dog in the restaurant. It can be annoying to hear constant chatter about you while you are trying to relax but I guess that comes with the territory. It just bothers me when Mark steps away and I am approached by people, customers, asking me about Journey. Sometimes I just want to scream at them to mind their own business, but I try really hard to be polite and informative.
The thing is, you never know when a simple night out or errand to the store will turn into a huge ordeal.
One time, in Illinois, we took our baby son to the hospital for stomach pains and we were actually denied timely care. I was solely focused on getting my son seen and I convinced Mark not to call the police in the moment, but we did seek legal action after the fact. We were plainly told by the nurse that because we had “the dog” we couldn’t be taken to the hallway where patients were being seen. She said it would be a safety violation. She did not offer to take my son and I back without Mark and Journey. This is discrimination. Journey is allowed in hospitals. When Michael was born, he came to all of my prenatal check-ups and ultrasounds and, yes, he even came to the hospital with us when I was getting induced. The only time Journey had to go was when we decided I would need a c-section because service dogs are not allowed in surgical rooms. Mark’s brother picked Journey up from the hospital and brought him back the next morning. That is the longest time that Mark and Journey have been separated, ever.
Service dogs are allowed practically everywhere with very few, reasonable, exceptions. Surgical rooms and places that have to remain completely sterile are obvious places a service dog cannot be permitted. Unfortunately, this means that during all of Mark’s surgeries, Journey cannot be with him. But when Mark worked as a truck driver, Journey went everywhere. Journey traveled with Mark and accompanied him at all Mark’s stops at factories, businesses, and warehouses.
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I feel bad talking about all the awful experiences that we have had, but sadly it’s a reality. So many people are uneducated and misinformed about service animals and so many people try to bring their pets everywhere claiming it’s a service animal which contributes to the hesitation that businesses have when a real service dog enters their establishment. So many laws are unclear and need to be rewritten for better clarity and understanding for everyone. And, sorry to say, there needs to be harsher punishment for faking a service dog. Idaho is one of 23 states that has established laws against faking a service dog. Yes, I just looked that up here.
Most importantly, I would urge people not to distract Journey while he is working. Don’t sneak a pet while we are walking by… we see you! Don’t try to get his attention. Don’t feed him snacks. Don’t throw things at him. Don’t make eye contact with him. He is working and doing a job. If he is distracted with what other people are doing to him, he can’t fully focus on Mark.
I can’t think of anything in my life that has attracted such blatant disrespect from so many people.
Illinois was awful in regards to this but even here in Idaho, we have been asked to leave an establishment in a very public manner because we had Journey with us. After we left said establishment, the police urged us to get the owner of the business to deal with us directly which didn’t work because the owner refused to call us back.
Just be respectful and let the service animals serve their owners. I am far from an expert on the laws and regulations and am only speaking based off of my experiences. Mark has the ADA in his contacts list to consult them with questions when something doesn’t seem right and always makes sure he has the proper information before challenging anyone on an issue. For further reading, I highly recommend reading up on the ADA website.
And also check out Molly Burke’s audiobook, “It’s Not What it Looks Like.” I listened to it a couple months ago and her story is such a good testimony to what its like having a service dog and she communicates her story a lot more eloquently than I ever could.
