Had a couple of PMs asking about us.

[desertranger]

Seems my messenger box was full as well so I may not have received your message if you sent one.

 

We are still here however I've been pretty sick for the last several weeks. Bronchitis and a major flare-up of my disability have made it difficult to get out and work with Jin at all and I've had to rely on others to see that he at least gets a walk some days. I'm still recovering but I am able to resume working with Jin.

 

Jin's training as a Service Dog progresses slowly. Partly due to my being unable to work with him over the past several weeks. However he has learned to fetch and carry objects and now brings my immediate care meds when told to do so. He has also learned to privide me with alerts (air-bark) and fetches someone for assistance if I need help. He can now close the doors he has opened. Funny, he gives me my meds and other fetch-it items as soon as he brings them but has still not learned to give me the damned ball and still plays games with it. Unfortunately he is still somewhat reactive toward other dogs when on a lead but that's getting better. His distance work is improving as well. I can now place a ball anywhere in the park without him seeing where it is and send him to it even of it's in a fenced area and he has to find a gate. His directional control is very good and getting better. All I need is sheep.

 

One major setback. The other night we went out to dinner at a regular place we visit. I was sitting in my usual corner with friends. Jin was under the table his face poking out. We were approached by 2 guys who wanted to pet Jin without even asking. They just came up loudly and quickly and reached for Jin who was under the table relaxed or asleep. Startled Jin reacted and started barking at them. I tried to warned them off when I saw them coming but they didn't stop. I told them never approach a service dog that way and asked them to leave us alone. They wouldn't. They just stood there looking stupid and muttering inanities. One of them started going on about how can blind person see them walking up much less to tell them to leave. I was very upset as they would not leave us alone but they kept on going on about my being blind and what kind of dog, etc. I finally screamed at them, "Idiots I'm not blind, I'm disabled. Go away". I then took Jin out to the car and had to listen to them complain to the manager about my pretending I was blind to bring a dog into the restaurant. By now I'm angry, my dinner ruined so I cornered them at their table with the manager (whom I know) and let them now that not all disabilities are visible or obvious and that they were both something not suitable for publication on this forum. The manager then asked them to leave for creating a disturbance.

 

I know people are curious about SDs. However if you see one on the street, in a restaurant or anywhere else; Stay away! Do not pet or ask to pet our dogs, don't bark at our dogs (people do that a lot), do not feed our dogs and for Gods sake don't ask, "What's your problem?" whan asking abotu a persons disability. That's rude and insensitive. The SDs are working and have to remain focused and that can be a difficult job for them sometimes. You want to play with Jin? Come to the greensward or park.

[martySQ]

Good to see ya Ranger, glad you are on the mend...

You know... the current Milk Bone commercial doesn't help the perceptions for service dogs...

Others pet it.. he treats it...yes, it shows the dog opening a door for him...but when the fella in the W/C joins a study group sitting in the grass outside ...others pet it while it has a vest on. Seems to me if they are sponsoring service dogs... they would be a little more careful about how they are portrayed.

 

I don't have anything against Milk Bone... in fact... used to eat them when I was a kid! LOL!

[in2adventure]

Good to see you back and on the mend! Sorry you've been sick for long

 

As for the SD ignorant guys...you can't cure stupid. I don't blame Jin for barking. Guys like that scare me too

[Guest echoica]

when you are using jin as a service dog in public he should have a vest on saying so - in training or otherwise (assuming you don't do this already). i'm not saying that what these guys did was ok by any stretch...but for future outings so there is no confusion as to if one is allowed to touch the dog or not. particularly if the disability is not a visible one...then you can't blaim people for not being mind readers

[desertranger]

I saw the current milk bone commercial and then wrote to Milk Bone about it.

 

FYI I know there are a few disabled people here with SDs so here's some current info.

 

The state of Calif now requires all SDs and SDiTs to be registered at the county level. This gives SDiTs the same privileges as a full SD.

 

There is a new Service Dog forum at www.service-dogs.com. A lot of people from Dogster have left Dogster and are now there. I have deleted my Dogster account because I do not believe Dogster is a clean and wholesome environment as they portray it to be.

 

As for Jin, someone came up and asked if he was an agility dog yesterday. I answered, "No he's just an ordinary Service Dog pretending to be an agility dog."

 

Tonight we are going to a dog fanciers dinner. Most of them have never seen an SD and wanted to learn about them so I get a free meal in exchange for a short talk on SDs.

[bc4ever]

Good to see you this morning! I'm sorry you haven't been feeling so great. Hope this passes soon. You're so lucky to have Jin! And I wouldn't call that incident with Jin at the restaurant "a set back"; more like a "GET BACK!" which those guys chose to ignore. You can't fix stupid!

 

Feel better soon. And drop in now and then. We've missed you!

[Lewie'sMom]

Hi DR, sorry that you've been feelin' so poorly; bronchitis sucks.

 

I was in Petco Saturday helping out with an Adopt-A-Day event as puppy-wrangler. Actually, it was more like working crowd control, but I digress.

 

Of course the store was full of people with their dogs and somewhere through the day I looked up and saw an obvious Service Dog with his, what I assumed to be, autistic boy. It just sort of popped out of my (big) mouth, "Oh, a service dog!", as I made eye contact the boy's mom. I have such admiration for, and am in such awe of the animals who act as service animals and the people who train them that I uttered a "Good boy", as they walked past. Gawd, I hope that wasn't rude or insensitive. While I certainly know not to disturb a working dog sometimes my mouth has a mind of its own.

 

And I ALWAYS ask permission before approaching or petting a strange dog.

[eclare]

Hi DR, sorry that you've been feelin' so poorly; bronchitis sucks.

 

I was in Petco Saturday helping out with an Adopt-A-Day event as puppy-wrangler. Actually, it was more like working crowd control, but I digress.

 

Of course the store was full of people with their dogs and somewhere through the day I looked up and saw an obvious Service Dog with his, what I assumed to be, autistic boy. It just sort of popped out of my (big) mouth, "Oh, a service dog!", as I made eye contact the boy's mom. I have such admiration for, and am in such awe of the animals who act as service animals and the people who train them that I uttered a "Good boy", as they walked past. Gawd, I hope that wasn't rude or insensitive. While I certainly know not to disturb a working dog sometimes my mouth has a mind of its own.

 

And I ALWAYS ask permission before approaching or petting a strange dog.

 

 

I'm totally the same way with all working dogs. I melt into a puddle at the sight of police dogs and bomb sniffing dogs at the airport. Coming back from Germany a few weeks ago I couldn't help myself and muttered a "Good dog" to the Customs beagle that was sniffing for contraband meat and produce. Fortunately I know enough to admire such dogs from a distance even though I long to run up to them and tell them and their handlers how terrific I think they are.

 

I also just do not understand the impulse to approach or pet a strange dog. Or rather, I understand the impulse, but don't understand why more people don't have the competing impulse to avoid antagonizing an animal that may not want anything to do with you. Would you go up to a strange person and give them a big hug and kiss? Of course not - the chances of getting punched in the face are pretty high if you do. So why would you think it's OK to do that to an animal with large teeth?

 

Anyway, ranger, I'm sorry these guys were such jerks. In the future I will continue to curb my impulse to stare adoringly at service dogs from across the room (although it's especially hard when a dog is as beautiful as Jin).

[desertranger]

It seems that service dogs have there own brand of groupies and paparazzi. Kind of makes me gld I had the foresight to get Jin a dark Green vest rather than a brightly coloured one. However more and more people are becoming aware of SDs since a local TV did an article on an autistic kid who had a service dog. Lot of camera time. Not surprised, people would rather look at at a cute little girl and her

SD rather than an old guy and his pair of dogs wandering around the greensward.

 

I learned somethin important yesterday about SDs yesterday and that is a .ot pf SD owners gve there dogs 2 names. One for off duty and one for while they're working o in a vest. It seems to make sense and I'm going to try it with Jin. Hes second name will wither be Usul who is a character from a book or Bas which was the name of my last BC. I like both and am not sure which to use.

 

Jin also has a new tag. He is an officially registered service dog in the state of California. It's state law. I don't know why they do this since it has brought the problems of faker SDs to a new level.

 

Here's why. It seems the state has required all SD and SDiTs to be registered. This gives the dogs in training the same protection as a full working SD. However to get the tag all you need to do is fill out a form under penalty of perjury that says you need an SD. Under federal law the only thing the state can do is ask you the 3 challenge questions: Are you disabled, is that a Service Dog and What tasks does your dog perform to aid you disability and nothing else. No requirement to show a need for an SD, no doctors note and certainly they cannot ask for proof of your being disabled. People have been finding out about this and registering untrained and uncontrolled dogs as SDs just by claiming the need an SD. This is a huge disservice to the disabled and makes access with a legitimate dog very difficult. It makes me very angry because it has caused me a personally a lot of problems every time I get challenged over Jin's being an SD. BTW statiscally there has been a jump pf 60% registration since the worked went out with 80% most of them being small breeds that show fear and reactivity.

[diane allen]

When I worked for a Federal agency, we (me & staff) were told that not only can we not ask WHAT the disability is, but that IF the dog is wearing a vest saying "service dog" OR we see the handicapped sticker in a vehicle (note, not exclusive to either one), we couldn't ask anything! This, in a place, where dogs - other than service dogs - were not allowed on trails. I was in uniform on a trail once, when a visitor without a dog asked if dogs were allowed; no. He said, well, there's one down the trail. Since this was a common problem and we rarely "caught" the person, I hurried along. When I saw the dog and person - it was 2 middle-aged women. One had the dog in harness, no vest; but it was a greyhound, and had NUMEROUS (like five!) tags on the collar; the woman was obviously having some difficulty walking. I said a pleasant hello, how're ya doing, and went on my way. DUH! Now, there is a chance that this dog was not a certified/registered or even trained service dog. But was I going to question it? Nope.

 

However, if it had been three college aged folks, with a lab off leash, or even on leash.....you betcha!

 

Curiously, the regs I believe said that only dogs could be service animals. Other species were believed to have a potential negative impact on wildlife - though of course dogs MIGHT as well. But given the thousands of people on the trails, a dog KEPT on the trail would pose little problem.

 

I think the word is getting out to the general public that not everyone with a service dog is blind, but it is definitely an uphill battle.

 

How about this next time the idiots approach Jin (cuz you know they will....): "Watch out! He bites!" OK, that probably won't work...just a thought!

 

diane

[Lewie'sMom]

When I worked for a Federal agency, we (me & staff) were told that not only can we not ask WHAT the disability is, but that IF the dog is wearing a vest saying "service dog" OR we see the handicapped sticker in a vehicle (note, not exclusive to either one), we couldn't ask anything! This, in a place, where dogs - other than service dogs - were not allowed on trails. I was in uniform on a trail once, when a visitor without a dog asked if dogs were allowed; no. He said, well, there's one down the trail. Since this was a common problem and we rarely "caught" the person, I hurried along. When I saw the dog and person - it was 2 middle-aged women. One had the dog in harness, no vest; but it was a greyhound, and had NUMEROUS (like five!) tags on the collar; the woman was obviously having some difficulty walking. I said a pleasant hello, how're ya doing, and went on my way. DUH! Now, there is a chance that this dog was not a certified/registered or even trained service dog. But was I going to question it? Nope.

 

However, if it had been three college aged folks, with a lab off leash, or even on leash.....you betcha!

 

Curiously, the regs I believe said that only dogs could be service animals. Other species were believed to have a potential negative impact on wildlife - though of course dogs MIGHT as well. But given the thousands of people on the trails, a dog KEPT on the trail would pose little problem.

 

I think the word is getting out to the general public that not everyone with a service dog is blind, but it is definitely an uphill battle.

 

How about this next time the idiots approach Jin (cuz you know they will....): "Watch out! He bites!" OK, that probably won't work...just a thought!

diane

 

Maybe saying loud enough the ding-dongs can hear, " Cujo, sic!" Ah, maybe not.