Comments | fabricdragon: Handicapped assistance animals

fabricdragon

Handicapped assistance animals

Mar 12, 2009 14:39

an online friend has a blog for her assistance dog....HERE.. which is sort of like the LJ user bboa who is also an assistance dog. (and well worth reading i might add)

but one of the posts on Meet Luigi had a great idea that i passed on to my father (who has a hearing ear dog)
Her dog has his own postcards and business cards!

since my dad is deaf, and ( Read more... )

disabilities, handicaps, assistance animals, neat ideas

Comments 43

cvirtue March 12 2009, 19:29:27 UTC

Maybe you know the answer to this, but I've wondered: do assistance dogs need to be the larger, brainier, working-dog type? I've wondered about this ever since I saw a dog on a ferry with an assistance dog sweater, and it was a chihuahua. (Assistance dogs traveled for free on the ferry, out to an island, but regular dogs were not allowed at all.)

wendyzski March 12 2009, 19:33:19 UTC

I know a woman who has two very small chihuahua type assistance dogs. One is trained for her seizures/fugue states and the other for her diabetes. They are each taught to recognize specific changes in her scent and/or appearance and alert her or her husband if she is unresponsive. The seizure dog will also "point" to her medic-alert bracelet if she's not responding.

They aren't the most generally smart critters, but within their specialty they are quite cabable.

ladyfox7oaks March 12 2009, 19:33:43 UTC

I don't think so, I saw someone who was carrying around a Pomeranian in a bag slung over his shoulder that was blazoned with the "Assistance dog" patches and such,- It was his hearing dog.

fabricdragon March 12 2009, 19:42:30 UTC

often the itty dogs make good hearing ear dogs. they are often very "sound oriented"

Thread 10

wendyzski March 12 2009, 19:30:02 UTC

I can see both sides of it - on the one hand you want to know how special and clever the animal is. On the other, I can see the person feeling like you're asking a personal question about their medical condition - especially if it's a psychological issue.

I'm sure the business cards and postcards help a lot - I'm sure that people get tired of answering the same questions over and over again.

fabricdragon March 12 2009, 19:41:58 UTC

oh yes! i can see that...
also getting questions all the time can slow you donw...

(The comment has been removed)

dogs are not for everyone fabricdragon March 12 2009, 23:34:47 UTC

i wish more people understood that a guide dog isnt for everyone.
they are GREAT creatures... but...
its one more "person" to care for, and get to the vet, and feed, and house, and etc. its *expensive* to care for a larger dog... and even if they are allowed on planes and buses they take up SPACE
they need to be let out, and walked, and fed on a strict schedule so they dont have to go potty in the middle of your work.

its NOT a good idea for everyone to have one.

and to be honest, not everyone needs what they can do. if you dont need the dog, and its going to be more of a burden than an asset, do not get one!

although anyone with a visible handicap is always the object of curiosity when they go out. dog or no dog.

Thread 6

calandria March 12 2009, 20:25:31 UTC

It's possible that the really rude ones don't actually have a service animal, but are just faking it. This is the case with my mother who somehow managed to convince her doctor to sign a paper so that her dog is considered a service animal, but it has not been trained for anything, nor does she need it. In fact, when she does answer people what it is for, I've heard her give different answers. Sometimes it is for her "epilepsy" which she doesn't have, other times it's to prevent her from having panic attacks, which she doesn't have either *sigh*.

She just wants an excuse to take her "purse dog" into places that don't allow it. She tends to get belligerent when asked about it most of the time. I'm still trying to figure out how in the world I could possibly be related to this woman.

fabricdragon March 12 2009, 20:35:19 UTC

oh lord....
THOSE people, the ones who just claim their dog is a service animal. are the reason my dad has to carry around Buffy's certification papers.
gah
i wouldnt mind it so much if they had a well trained dog that was just not certified, but invariably they have the worst untrained nuisance animals on the planet.

and no, i cant picture it. are you SURE you are related?

calandria March 12 2009, 20:48:34 UTC

Sadly, she did manage to get paperwork from the state saying that it is a service dog. But she, and I, know that it really isn't one. At least it is well-behaved. She's had it for 3 years now, and I still have yet to even hear it bark (and for a chihuahua, that's quite an accomplishment!)

Unless my mother adopted me as an 18 year old single hippie, I have to conclude that yes, unfortunately, we are related. I can only assume I managed to get recessive genes or got them from my dad.

ETA: I still have yet to see the papers, but she says she has them.

fabricdragon March 12 2009, 21:11:37 UTC

sounds like a sitcom idea...
woman with single hippie mom tried to track down real dad.... based on her personality profile and her moms...

"mom.. i just finished all the paperwork and i have concluded my dad must have been a straight laced engineer with a near obsession on organization... so.. what did you drug him with?"

Thread 5

raventhourne March 12 2009, 20:41:37 UTC

Having almost kicked someone off site for a dog who was 1) not wearing a harness and 2) or wearing any "service dog" regalia until I was shown credentials as an autocrat I understand. The dog in question was for anxiety and I'd only seen here at camping events and knowing the person I know how the dog works but if you are bringing your working dog to an event where only service animals are allowed then they should have their harness at least. The next time she came to an indoor event the dog had harness and the little coat with Service animal ( ... )

calandria March 12 2009, 20:50:20 UTC

I love seeeing the ones that are in training - there are a couple of people at my school that have dogs that wear vests that say "service animal in training"

raventhourne March 12 2009, 21:04:00 UTC

we met one at a museum once with my step mom and they were intrigued by her dog. The "puppy" was good but it was hard for him to maintain composure when he saw someone doing what he does. They got introduced and then he behaved marvelously.

The trainer said it was a really, really good test.

fabricdragon March 12 2009, 21:08:12 UTC

in training dogs need to get exposed to as much as possible, so they get "used to it"

one of the reasons one of my friends loves taking her "in training" seeing eye dogs to the sheep and wool festivals.
smelly animals, crowds, kids, food, and lots of noise....
its a difficult environment, and more challenging than most seeing eye dogs will ever have to face.

Buffy (dad's dog) had a trial run in the airport before they had a real plane trip... and they were glad she did.. she didnt like the noises the scanners made. (hearing ear dogs are selected for their reaction to sound.. so the drawback is that they tend to react to sounds.. a lot)

apocalypticbob March 12 2009, 21:48:08 UTC

There was an assistance dog at the wedding I attended last weekend, and when his handler came up to talk to me (I was seated), he nosed his head under my hand. It was so hard not to immediately pet him...that's instinct. I removed my hand, though, and asked her if it was okay to pet him so she could have him "sit for pets" because I didn't want to encourage bad habits. Then, of course, everyone saw the service dog getting pets and had to come make a fuss over him. He was eating it up! You could tell he had been waiting for that part of the evening!

I never even thought that asking what the dog is trained for could be rude, though. I didn't ask, because I knew she wasn't blind and had mobility issues, and figured I didn't need to know more than that, but I have asked in the past, not even thinking!