Service Dog Central

It depends on the age of the dog and where the dog is in training. If he has the fundamentals down and is working on proofing (performing learned behaviors in spite of distraction) then an active place like a busy shopping center might be a good place to find those distractions to practice ignoring.

If it's a pup being socialized and he's confident and outgoing, a busy shopping center gives ample opportunity to meet new people.

The key is to do it at the right points in the dog's development or training. Overfacing a dog by putting them into a situation too stressful or too distracting for them to process will only slow or damage socialization or training.

Remember that a vest doesn't make a dog a service dog. Claiming a dog is a service dog when you are not disabled, or when the dog is not individually trained to perform tasks that mitigate your disability is a criminal offense that can result in fines and or jail time.

Most legitimate teams get their vests from the programs that train their dogs. Those who are qualified to train dogs for themselves (ie have the experience and skill), generally know where to get the gear.

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires zoos to modify their policies regarding outside animals to permit the use of a service animal. However, the zoo is permitted to restrict service animals from open air exhibits, such as aviaries visitors can enter and interact with the exhibits.

Legally there's no requirement that they must be permitted or that they cannot be permitted. Some local health codes may not permit it and some grocery stores may object to having them in the child seat just as some restaurants would object to having them on the table.

Remember that public access laws are about access for the person with a disability. Whether or not the animal is permitted in the cart does not affect the person's access to goods and services. It therefore becomes an issue of reasonableness. The person with the service animal must have some way to manage their dog when in a public accommodation that does not offer shopping carts. (Some examples of accommodations that do not offer shopping carts include restaurants, offices, hospitals, movie theaters, and hotels.) Therefore there must be some reasonable alternative to putting the dog in the shopping cart if the store objects.

They can't really perform any tasks from the child seat and aren't safe there, so there's not much point in putting them in a cart anyway.

Don't choose aisle seating. People crawl over you to get down the row or trip over your dog in the aisle because they aren't looking where they are going or can't see the dog because the lights are down. Choose putting him on the floor under your feet even if it is a squeeze over putting him in an aisle.

Center of the row is generally best because fewer people will try to squeeze past to seats on the other side of you. If there is a seat available next to an empty wheelchair slot, that's ideal because you can put your dog out of foot traffic in the wheel chair slot. Take a light colored towel or rug for him to lie on. They're hard to see in the dark and the light colored mat makes them a bit more visible. It also keeps them from getting sticky from sodas spilled on the floor.

Oh, and if any performers will be going out into the audience, give the director a heads up a dog will be there. Mr. Mephisto from Cats would have gotten quite a shock whizzing around a wall to stare at us with glowing eyes if he hadn't been warned in advance that he'd come face-to-face with a German Shepherd (who was harmless). Pa Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie came close to creaming my dog at another performance walking down the aisle in the dark singing. That's how I learned the hard way not to put them in the aisle.

The first clue is the animal's demeanor and behavior. A service animal should be very well behaved and obedient. A dog who wanders around at the end of the leash aimlessly probably isn't a service animal.
If you still aren't certain, you can ask the animal's owner if it is a service dog. Businesses are permitted to ask whether an animal is a service animal, and what tasks the animal is trained to perform that the human handler cannot do for themselves. The business is not, however, permitted to ask for information about the specific nature of the person's disability or other invasive questions. If an animal is not trained to perform tasks to mitigate the handler's disability, then it isn't a service animal under the ADA.
Guide dogs usually wear a special leather harness that helps them to guide their owner. In addition to the harness, the owner will also use a leash for controlling and directing the dog. Most other types of service animal wear some sort of marking such as a vest or cape, or special gear, like a harness. However, not all service dogs will wear special markings. Under the ADA, they aren't required to be marked. Unfortunately, the presence or absence of a cape or gear alone doesn't make it clear whether or not an animal is really a service animal.
Unfortunately there are unscrupulous people who buy gear over the Internet to try to pass their pets off as service animals. Sadly, this is also true with certification. Anyone can forge their own certification or purchase fake certification over the Internet for their pets. Many states have begun taking steps to prosecute those who falsely claim their pets as service animals with stiff fines and jail time.

A service animal can be removed from a business when its presence constitutes a fundamental alteration of the goods or services offered by the business. For example, a service dog that howls during a concert interferes with the performance of the concert and can be excluded. A service animal that misbehaves and makes unwanted contact with other patrons or is otherwise disruptive due to poor behavior can be removed. If a service animal is removed, the business must still offer their goods and services to the owner of the service animal, even if the animal itself must remain outside.

Service animals can also be removed if they pose a direct threat to the safety of others by barking, lunging, growling, snarling, or lunging at others.

No. Churches are exempt from the ADA. The only exception would be if the church opened their facilities for a public event, such as a bazaar or pancake supper where items are sold and the general public are permitted to enter.

Service animals should be permitted in the waiting areas of emergency rooms.

However, it is at the discretion of treating physicians whether a service animal should be permitted in a treatment area. This determination must be made on a case-by-case basis based solely on whether the presence of that particular animal, in that particular place, at that particular time poses a direct threat to a person. It cannot be a perceived threat ("sometimes dogs bite") or based on past experience ("another service dog acted up") but must be a cognizable real threat ("I have a patient with serious open wounds and the presence of any loose dog hair or dander may cause dangerous infection of the wounds").

A service animal may also be excluded if its presence fundamentally alters the ability of the hospital to provide emergency services, for example if there isn't room to safely work around the dog without tripping or slowing treatment.

While many programs train their dogs to ride escalators there are many accidents each year involving sudden toe amputation. In the U.S., wherever there is an escalator there is also an elevator. It is generally safest to take the elevator instead to avoid risk of injury to the dog.

The Americans With Disabilities Act generally requires businesses, including food establishments, to modify policies to permit service animals to accompany their disabled handler wherever the general public are allowed. The general rule of thumb where food is involved is that where special clothing is not required a service animal must be permitted. Where special clothing is required, such as food preparation areas, a service animal may be excluded and in fact must be excluded if necessary to comply with health statutes or ordinances.

Since a typical patron of a restaurant isn't asked to don a hairnet, latex gloves and an apron while in the dining area of the establishment, a service animal (including a guide dog) should be permitted to accompany a disabled handler there.

Generally guide, hearing and service dogs are permitted to accompany their disabled owner everywhere members of the public are allowed, but there are a few exceptions. For example, a member of the public would be permitted in the dining area of a restaurant, but not in the kitchen. Therefore, a guide dog would be permitted to accompany his disabled owner in the dining area of a restaurant.
It is also an important distinction to note that it is the handler who has access rights and not the dog. A guide dog without his blind handler has no particular access rights of his own and neither does a hearing dog or other service dog without his disabled handler.
"Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), businesses and organizations that serve the public must allow people with disabilities to bring their service animals into all areas of the facility where customers are normally allowed to go. This federal law applies to all businesses open to the public, including restaurants, hotels, taxis and shuttles, grocery and department stores, hospitals and medical offices, theaters, health clubs, parks, and zoos." -- U.S Department of Justice.
For clarification, contact the U.S. Department of Justice's ADA Information Line at 800 - 514 - 0301 (voice) or 800 - 514 - 0383 (TTY)
In the U.S., according to the Department of Justice's Business Brief concerning Service Animals, business owners/managers can ask 2 specific questions. 1) Is this a service dog required because of a disability? and 2) What task(s) is the dog trained to perform? If these questions are not appropriately answered, the business may exclude the animal, but not the person.
Though service animals of all kinds can legally accompany their disabled handler almost anywhere the handler goes, they can be excluded from areas where their presence would constitute either a fundamental alteration of goods and services available for all or a direct threat to safety. Examples where a service animal might be excluded include:

-Sterile rooms, such as operating rooms, some areas of emergency rooms/departments, some ICU rooms, some ambulances, some delivery rooms (on a case-by-case basis)
-Clean rooms where microchips are manufactured
-Places where food is prepared (though they cannot generally be excluded from dining areas where food is present) (by order of most health departments)
-Open air zoological exhibits, such as open air aviaries (at the zoo's discretion)
-Churches (at the church's discretion)
-Native American Tribal Council Chambers (at the council's discretion)
-Federal Courts (at the judge's discretion)
-Private clubs (at the club's discretion)
-Private homes (at the home owner's discretion)
So far, this discussion is centered entirely on laws of access in the United States of America. Other countries will have their own laws in place regarding the access rights of individuals accompanied by a service animal.

It's time to go to corporate headquarters. But don't call them. Send them your complaint in writing and request a written reply within 10 business days. Why? Because you are now at the point where you need to carefully document your interactions with them. If you talk to them in person or on the phone and there is a later dispute about who said what, it will be their word against yours. In a case of discrimination like this, if it comes down to your word against theirs your case will be dropped (it's your burden to prove discrimination occurred).

Send them a copy of this document:
http://www.ada.gov/svcanimb.htm

And suggest they consult the U.S. Department of Justice's toll-free ADA information line (800 - 514 - 0301) to learn about their rights and obligations under federal laws that protect the disabled, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act.

If you do not receive a reply within 15 business days, send your letter again, but this time send it certified, return receipt requested. That will prevent them from claiming they never received your letter, and put them on notice you are serious.

If it still isn't resolved, go to your state's human rights commission. You could complain to the U.S. Department of Justice, but it takes about three times as long to get a case through them as it does to get the case handled at the state level. The DOJ is also very selective about which cases they take on and won't take on yours unless they see a pattern of discrimination (receive complaints from several different people each having a similar experience).

You can find information about contacting your state's human rights commission, attorney general, and a bunch of info on various state laws at Service Dog Central's collection of service dog law information:
http://www.servicedogcentral.org/content/node/51

Throughout the process it is essential that you maintain your cool. Be very polite. Remember that anything you write, say or do could be examined by a judge if this complaint goes to court. You'll want to show by your behavior that you were being reasonable and they were being unreasonable.

You always have the option to pursue it privately in civil court, but the last time I got an estimate on a case I was quoted $7,000 up front in attorney's fees. If you go through a government enforcement agency, such as your state's human rights commission or the U.S. Department of Justice, that agency will pick up the costs of taking it to court instead of you.

A service dog may generally accompany his disabled handler any where in a public accommodation where the public are permitted with certain exceptions. The service animal may be excluded if it poses a direct threat or fundamental alteration of the services offered by the public accommodation.

For example, on a case-by-case basis a ambulance crew may decide not to permit a service animal in the treatment area of an ambulance if lack of space means the dog would interfere with the necessary movement of personnel providing emergency care. That might be a "fundamental alteration" if the presence of the dog prevents the emergency workers from performing their jobs.

A service animal might be excluded from an area that requires special clothing, such as a hospital ICU (Intensive Care Unit), or a computer "clean room," where the tiniest particle can ruin the manufacture of computer chips. A service animal might be excluded from an area where zoo exhibits can come in direct contact with human visitors, such as an aviary. On a case-by-case basis, a service animal might be removed if its presence is frightening a zoo exhibit to the point of harming the exhibit.

Service animals may also be excluded from places that are not public accommodations, including but not limited to worship services of a church, private clubs, some Native American facilities, and military bases.

The exceptions are few, but they do exist. The keys in evaluating whether a service animal should be permitted in a given area are:

1. Would the presence of this specific animal pose a direct (known and not just hypothesized) threat in this specific instance, not based on past experiences with other service animals or dogs in general?
2. Would the presence of this specific animal fundamentally alter the goods or services provided by the public accommodation?
3. Is there some reasonable accommodation possible? Reasonable accommodation is the art of compromise. Is there is a readily achievable solution which permits the person with a disability to access goods and services, and which does not constitute an undue hardship on the business?