Awww, Paxil looks so dashing in his service gear! I guess not everyone is a dog lover. I had no idea he was going to used for a service dog!

Awesome! And yes he is quite dashing in his uniform, we love a handsome fella in uniform!

I don't understand. I realize that you'd like 2 seats, but wherever you sat, someone would be sitting next to you and your service dog, right? I'd have been confused if you'd said that and I was in the waiting room. You didn't say "would anyone please be willing to move so that my dog and I can have a bit of needed extra space?", right? In reading your description of the interaction, I'd not have understood what you meant had I been there. Seems that you didn't say anything about wanting extra space and it's a great thing that nobody moved, which showed that they were absolutely fine with sitting with you and your service dog. What am I missing?

Suzie, that's what I should have said. It's hard to think fast sometimes and I really didn't know what to say or how to ask and I didn't expect so many people.

Though, I would have thought with my question at least 'someone' would have said, "Sure, come sit next to me, I don't mind". At least that's what I would have done.

Knowing me, I would feel too guilty asking people to move or make way for me.

I know it's an inconvenience & it's hard to choose who I should inconvenience. I thought asking for a volunteer was better and make light of a difficult situation for me.

Though I think next time I'll just sit down where I want. If they don't like it, they can move. Depends on how courteous I'm feeling.

There will be lots of bumps along the way. I like how he is wearing his vest and ID. In my opinion you are almost like an ambassador for the therapy dog program so it is imparative that you always take the high road.

Side story: Coming home from vacation, a poodle/lab mix puppy was waiting with her owners to pick up luggage at the carousel. Curious, I asked how the dog was able to travel on the plane. Oh, she's a service dog. Really? Okay! I know service dogs having volunteered at Guiding Eyes, also having a dog that was certified as a therapy dog and as well as having a nephew who raised three CCI dogs. I remarked, "A service dog!" The owner then said she in training. Fake story if I ever saw one. The dog was adorable and I know many airlines won't transport dogs so they got away with it.

I like the vest and ID and think all service dogs should be required to wear something that lets people know (and weeds out the fakes). The other day there was a woman with her little Maltese walking in front of me into Costco. No one stopped her but it was obvious that she'd just picked it up from the groomer's (It was so fluffy puffy!) and didn't want to leave it in the car. It had it's cute little jeweled collar and was well behaved but really? In Costco? I don't get it.

He is a handsome dog!!

Scott, take a look at these threads. A few people post all the time. Some people post fairly frequently. Many people only post once in a while and some may not post at all, but just lurk.

They are all equally good people, just different. A lot of people don't speak up and it appears you got a roomful of them. They may have really thought Paxil was wonderful, they just didn't say it.

Yah, that's what disturbs me mostly about the service dog program & laws. You do NOT need the vest, ID, registration or doctor note. It's all the "honor" system basically.

Most people get the vest and ID because it's what people have come to expect. And sadly, even dogs WITH ID & vest have been kicked out of McDonald's, Target, Walmart, City Buildings, restaurants etc. Many disturbing news stories about it.

I even carry a doctor note just incase. But that still doesn't guarantee me access. All we can do is call the ADA, DOJ & the local news stations if we're denied entrance to a public facility.

The only time a service dog is allowed to be kicked out of a place of business is if they are behaving badly, then they have every right to leave.

Its difficult though, even my Mom was confused. She thought service dogs were only for the blind or people in wheelchairs. But now many "unseen" disabilities allow for the use of a service dog also.

Technically I qualified for a service dog 3 years ago. But Max & Dief were still alive & I didn't want to bring a new dog into the pack. But now that Max and Dief have passed, it's a good time.

I really wish there was a verification/tag system as you have. In CA, the store owners run into legal issues if they ask for any proof, so everyone just brings their dog into the stores. I see more "service dogs" in Costco than other store, other than big box and pet shops. Last visit, there were two. One wasn't even leash trained.

I couldn't agree more. And the businesses walk a fine line because they cannot ask what your disability is. (Actually nobody should, but they do anyway).

In situations where it is not obvious that the dog is a service animal, staff may ask only two specific questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Staff are not allowed to request any documentation for the dog, require that the dog demonstrate its task, or inquire about the nature of the person's disability.

How did Paxil get a license so fast?

I wonder about how the dogs feel about it as well, it has to freak at least some of them out to be in such a stimulating environment. My dog is very calm at home but get her in a place where there's a lot of activity and she goes bonkers. She wants to say hello, see who's who and basically grab as much attention as possible.

We have this great out door mall here that is dog friendly and the majority of the shops welcome the dogs. It's pretty far from our house, (25-30 miles) but I've started taking her there so she can get used to being in that type of environment, still I wouldn't think of taking her into any store under the guise of a service dog.

When I helped with 4-H Guide Dog puppy raisers, yes, puppies wear "in training" vests and are supposed to be allowed everywhere official dogs are allowed. We never had a situation where someone was flying, but yes, I do expect that a puppy in training would be allowed.

Mama, you just register the dog and order the license online. It's not a legal process. It's not even legally required. It's basically just another line of defense incase someone demands to see documentation. Some people just make their own on a color printer. Sadly it's such a grey area that it's no wonder people are confused.

Luk, that's the MOST difficult part of service dog training. They must be able to ignore all distractions & only focus on their handlers needs. Like a blood sugar drop or oncoming seizure.

Some people say that service dogs is a form of animal abuse. But I must admit that even a working service dog has a better life than a dog in a shelter or at a "bad" breeder.

(Not all breeders are bad, but I have seen some horrendous environments for dogs just kept in little cages, staked from floor to ceiling with dogs).

Also, there are different requirements for a service dog to fly. I'm not sure what they are, but I know you have to notify the airline first & there is a fee. I think they do want vet records & a doctor note. Which makes sense.

I think it's great that Paxil is turning out to be such a good dog!

(it is my understanding though that for the dog to be able to fly with you, it doesn't have to be a "Service" dog per se, the really gray area seems to be a "therapy dog" as in one gets nervous and uncomfortable flying so the dog will accompany them. This and the fact that there really is nothing beyond applying and paying the fee-- is not a good thing. Please understand I am not directing this to you Scott- it's to the abusers all around that make it hard for people who really need the service of a service dog.

:)

Some people can't go anywhere without their dogs - I have a friend who has a little fluff who gets carried around everywhere she goes in a large "purse" where she sticks her head out. If you don't want her dog, she doesn't want you.

Beautiful dog, but wrong approach by you. Reading what you said, it comes across to me as you offering to do a favor to someone by sitting next to them, and no one took you up on it. I would have!

But I know there are many people who are afraid of dogs, afraid of dogs that look even remotely like a pit bull, or afraid of getting dog hair on their pants.

I totally agree gray. Some people were dressed for work so I understand the dog hair thing.

Hopefully people just didn't understand. Me and anyone in my family would love to have a dog sit near us. Personally, I don't mind a well behaved, or well controlled, dog in most any store, either. But that is problematic to enforce.

I'm with you 110% moonie. I'm sure someday it will & should be, but currently the government has their hands full of Donald Trump work.

And I'm not getting political - only to say the government is so busy and service dogs are the least of their worries today.

Let me be honest,: I am a bit fearful of large dogs that are not familiar to me. Thanks for dressing your dog in the appropriate uniform gear. In your situation, if I was not comfortable, I was free to remove myself. The airlines are another matter. You can proclaim you need an "anxiety" dog and bring them aboard. Seat mates have to deal with it. And what about those with allergies? Unacceptable.

rather, I'm not sure someone with an allergy gets to oust a dog. If they're that allergic, they surely must carry antihistamines. I know I do. I also have an epipen and inhalers. Surely, they can cope and must, even without service animals present, on planes and other public situations. I know I have to cope. I'll let it go, but I don't think we, who are allergic, get to call service animals unacceptable. Just one opinion. I can't control mold, dust, etc., so why an animal should be controlled, I don't agree.

Just to be clear there is a difference between a service dog and a therapy dog.

Scott, I would have said yes, sit with me and I would have had a nice chat with you and Paxil. There are many many people who would have but none in that room. It wasn't you that was the problem, it was them.

I was bitten by a 'service dog in training'. The dog was a 100 pound mastif with a gentle leader/ small muzzle on. I was working at Home Depot loading bags of gravel into the customer's car and didn't notice the dog's agitation. I believe that the sound made by the large bags of gravel as I tossed them into the back of the car upset the dog since it bit me right after I had tossed another bag in. I stepped back away from her car with blood streaming from my hand and the customer asked what happened. I told her that her dog had bitten me and she flatly denied that her precious could bite with the muzzle on. I honestly don't know how it was possible either, but it happened in a flash. I sure didn't bite myself! She was talking to me and the dog was on the other side of me on his long leash. I tried really hard to get store management to deny her entrance with this dog in our store, but they couldn't or wouldn't.

I had 7 stitches from that bite and permanent scarring. I just think that service dogs need to be under their owners/handlers control at all times.

yes, they should be under control by their owners/handlers at all times.

Doesn't the ADA oversee service dogs? I mean don't people have to register their service dogs in some way..I'm not talking about a license.

I have a service dog and have trained many. I believe it is crucial and our responsibility to be ambassadors and also to educate the public, often one person at a time. Haha, in your situation I may have taken advantage of the situation to find a better place to wait. That said, my dog is for PTSD, so sadly sometimes I am just rude. While you were only dealing with simple rudeness and ambivalence, here is some general advice. A good knowledge of the ADA is good to have on the tip of your tongue. You must know and defend your own rights. The public simply is not always educated in regards to service animals. Also while traveling I have relevant pages bookmarked on my phone. I also have legitimate paperwork for my dog just because it impresses people and smooths things over. Though I know I don't need paperwork, anybody could have made up said paperwork, and I can even have trained my own service animal - well, I did albeit as a professional. The real world standard is if I can go in so can my service animal, if my dog is well behaved I am golden, and if my dog misbehaves we are out no matter how qualified, trained, and legal the dog is. Any business that disagrees should call the police to get me out, and next their their lawyer lol if I am having a bad day. All of that said, 99% of the time the public and businesses have treated me more than fairly.

I worked @ an Albertsons grocery store for awhile....something to do in my spare time...before I figured out what to do with my retired life. This guy would bring in his HUGE over weight, never bathed Bernese Mtn Dog. It was the same height as the meat counter and fruits and vegetables.....ya know. He "said" it was a service dog, but it was NOT cared for...loved...but stinky, matted fur. Five years later the store was closed.....problem solved. I think THEY should be bathed & combed to be a service dog. lol :0)

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Paxil is just gorgeous and I love his vest. Your doing everything right Scott.

Service dogs serve a great need and I don't have any problem with them. A couple of years ago I was on a flight to Europe and there were 4 seeing eye dogs aboard. They did not make a peep the entire 7 hours. This is not who we are talking about. Unfortunately, I know of a few people who are abusing the "therapy" type dogs when it comes to the airlines. They are bringing their dogs on board because they don't want to leave them at home nor put them in the cargo hold. Do the airlines have any regulations? My friend was recently on a flight where there was an unruly large size dog (pulling the owner, not laying down etc). The dog owner, who obviously had her own issues, was vocally asking other passengers for assistance with her luggage because she had to hang onto the dog. The airline ended up seating a pilot (dead heading to another city) next to her. What if I was sitting next to her?? The airline probably would have offered to send me on the next flight.

No Mama. ADA just writes the rules. No such "legal" registration exists or is required, thus far.

Also, the leash that attaches to his service dog vest is VERY short. He cannot get more than 4 inches away from me. It's definitely NOT a normal "walking" leash as we're not on a walk.

PK, I'm sorry that happened to you. I'm not allowing Paxil to get close to anyone. Nor should he.

Randy, that's awesome. Back at ya! I do the same thing by being prepared beforehand.

Its funny, people comment and say, "Oh, you must be so lucky to have your doggie with you all the time".

But it can be extra work. Almost like having an infant with me at all times. I have to make sure he's pottied before we go somewhere.

Depending on the length of our trip, I have to carry poop bags, paper towels, water bowl, bottle of water & dog treats, just incase anything were to happen. Then plan on extra time if I'm questioned & make sure he behaves so we don't get kicked out.

It's so much different than a trip to the dog park. But it's worth it to me.

Here's the length of his service leash.

Not long at all, keeps him close to me at all times.

I have thought of a service dog. Not to lead me, but to pick up items for me from the floor. I mean, I have dogs that do that NOW, but they are more likely to eat the item than Hand it to me. Ha! Dances.

I think THEY should be bathed & combed to be a service dog

A lot depends on the disability of the owner. Not everyone can afford to send their dog to the beauty shop all the time, and if the owner has some disability that would make it difficult to bathe his/her dog, perhaps it would be a kind act to volunteer to help with grooming, if you know the person.

It may be a bit off topic but there is an older gentleman I see around town that is confined to a motorized wheel chair. He goes everywhere - and I mean everywhere - with a small dachshund that rides in his lap. I have seen him at the library, at the grocery store and even in local restaurants. I have no idea if this is a service dog or not - no uniform or vesting, not even a leash! I suspect it is just a companion animal :-) Regardless, this is a very dog-oriented community and to my knowledge no one has ever made an issue about this little dog accompanying his master into various business establishments. In fact, he is quite well known and recognized in the area and both he and his little dog - extremely well behaved - widely welcomed. I like that!!

Can we get laws passed to have some people train their kids too then? haha Sorry but I've seen more unruly kids than service/therapy dogs. I work in a hospital and we have therapy dogs come in from time to time and it's always the highlight of my day. Dogs are awesome. I love them very much but I also respect them and their owner if they are working dogs. If the vest says they're working then I don't pet them or even ask to pet them. If it's a therapy dog I still ask first before petting them :)

Scott if I was in that room I would have said you could sit next to me. Then I would have said if you needed to go do anything I will sit with Paxil and then I would have taken him home haha kidding. It's a running joke. My family and friends always say I'm going to end up taking someone's pet home or if I saw a wild animal somewhere I'd be the one person that could go up to it and would end up taking it home too. :D

Edited to add: Paxil is very handsome! You both will do fine. :) Also, to look at me I don't look disabled. So I did have one person call me out and she was just a customer in a grocery store. Basically she wanted to know how she could bring her "very well behaved dog who just got his Canine Good Citizen's certification" in the grocery store. She told me I wasn't disabled because she couldn't see my disability. Ha! Seriously, just like a poster above, I took the high road and just said that you can't always see disabilities and then extricated myself form the conversation. That was the only confrontation I had like that.

Now onto my original post....

My Boxer was a service dog for me. You don't often see Boxers as service dogs so people could have had issue but only one store ever did and we went everywhere together. Grocery stores, restaurants, etc. The only store we had a problem with was Sears and it was because someone had been in with an unruly "service dog". I had heard about this other person before from other vendors but never ran into them. Once I explained to the people at Sears that Champ was, indeed, my service dog, the person asked her manager who was fine with him being there. Quite honestly, I probably wouldn't have left if they asked me to. Champ was his usual stoic, very well behaved, self and I knew the law was on my side.

Champ was my dog before I needed a service dog and he was trained specifically for my disability when he was three years old. He was privately trained and I sent away for his service dog certification and card. I know some people abuse what is available online but some people do not.

When I first started going out with Champ, I was self conscious of how he would be accepted or if we would be in people's way, etc. But before long, I was used to him and he was like glue by my side. The only issue I had with people out was them wanting to pet and or touch him. I would often talk to people who asked about him but they weren't allowed to pet Champ because he was working. He knew the difference. Every now and then I would run into an old friend and give Champ his "off duty" command and he would start bouncing around like Boxers do to say hi to my friend. Then it would be back to work when I called him to it. I did enjoy talking with people though, especially if they had had Boxers before. If there were kids present, I would sometimes put him through his paces so they could see what he did for me. If there were kids who were afraid of dogs (which we ran into often), I would have him lay down and let them come pet him because he would stay stock still for them.

I guess my whole point is that the more you are out, the more comfortable you will be in the presence of others and the different establishments. People like service dogs. But most people know that they are not to interfere with the person and their dog and they respect that. That might have been part of the non-response you got from the people in the waiting room.

I'm feeling melancholy reminiscing. Champ got cancer when he was was a few months short of seven years old and we lost him two months after that, just shy of seven years old. I have not replaced him.

Here he is with my Grandson. The second picture is Champ at Target when he was first being trained by the trainer.

I wouldn't even have asked. The public need to just accept service dogs as a part of life for some people. If they don't like dogs, they can move.

Not all people have visible disabilities and many have service dogs for anxiety issues, etc. and so the public needs to learn that service dogs are a fact of life for all. The person requiring one would probably prefer to be "normal" and so not need one but that isn't the issue.

It was kind of you to ask but next time don't. And next time don't leave because you are showing those jerks that you and your dog really don't belong in public when in fact you do. Take charge of your situation and own it, if nothing else your dog deserves that you do so that he can do his job.

Scott what service are you training Paxil to do?

I'm trying to get Siri to recognize his bark so he can tell her call 911 for me if needed. LOL. That would be cool, but I jest....

I have a few personal medical conditions he's working with me on. Oddly, even at his young age & he's been stuck to me like glue since I adopted him. He's able to notice physical & mental things that happen to me, almost before they happen.

My latest and main concern now is my abdominal aortic aneurysm. It's at 4.7 centimeters. They're going to operate once it hits 5 centimeters before it bursts. I have to keep my blood pressure down, nerves & stress down, along with taking it sort of easy. (Another reason I had to quit smoking).

When he senses that I'm elivating, he climbs right in my lap. Then I know I have to take a breather and chill out fast.

There are a couple more medical issues we're going to train him to observe in the near future. It's so easy to overlook or ignore the warning signs of our bodies. At least I do. 2016 was a mentally & physically challenging year for Scott.

Since I live alone, nobody would know if I died in the night. So I have a strict rule I follow everyday. Religiously I text my 2 best friends & mom first thing in the morning. They all know to contact each other if they don't hear from me. My neighbor & 2 best friends all have my house keys incase of emergencies.

One day I forgot, and my neighbor was at my door by 8am, as everyone knows I get up at 1am everyday... sleeping in for me is 230am.

My biggest fear is dying and leaving the dogs alone for God knows how long & they have to eat my carcus to survive. But wouldn't have water and would die soon.

Personally I'm not afraid to die at all. Just so it's not too painful or drawn out like my dads cancer. I just want the dogs tended to once I'm gone & provisions are made.

Hey, you're not going anywhere anytime soon!

Bifenton, it's all very well to say "the public just has to learn to accept service dogs", and I agree that the public does need to learn to accept genuine service dogs, but there is apparently no proper accreditation process for such animals. As a result anyone can claim any animal is a service or therapy animal and raise Cain if this is disputed. Like handicapped parking permits, there should be a process where a qualified medical professional has to certify that the animal is genuinely needed by the person in charge of it.

Seriously, therapy ducks on a plane? Give me a break.

I talked to the ADA again yesterday to clairify more information about service dogs.

They are NOT allowed to touch or even sniff a person. Regardless if that person is 1 inch away from where the dog is sitting. So she recommended to always look for a little extra space so that doesn't happen.

Also, service dogs are NOT allowed on the business's furniture, however they are definitely allowed to sit in a lap depending on their size.

Paxil & I went to my doctor visit yesterday and he was fabulous. Luckily there wasn't anyone in the waiting room but about 25 people walked by. So he's getting used to ignoring them.

Also impressive, the doctor sees children and has a huge box, full of different candies for the kiddos. Paxil NEVER went near the candy box!

He's responding well to voice commands but our next step is hand commands so I don't have to speak when we're in a public setting. Cause nobody wants to hear that.

If you do get Siri to recognize his bark you have to make a video lol