[nagdu] Suggestions needed!

[Ann Edie]

Yes, Julie, but then how many guide dogs would be asked to leave National
Convention hotels each year because of "accidents?"  The "housetraining"
requirement, like most of the other proposed or already-included-in-the-regs
requirements are by no means as black and white as they might at first
seem.--"But sir, my dog really is housetrained.  He's never had an accident
before.  He must be ill, or the stress...."  Or, "Fleas, no, my dog doesn't
have fleas.  He's scratching because he has allergies that cause his skin to
itch.  He's under the care of a veterinarian, really."  Or, "No, my dog
isn't vicious.  That man just backed up and stepped right on the dog's tail.
And the guy weighs 300 pounds.  And he didn't even realize that he was
grinding my dog's tail into the floor.  And of course my dog tried to jump
up and get out from under the guy's foot.  And of course he yelped in pain.
And it's not the dog's fault that when the tail was jerked out from under
his foot that the guy lost his balance and fell down.  Really, my dog didn't
knock the guy over."

It has always bothered me, for example, that one of the extra considerations
that business owners can consider when deciding whether to allow access to a
public accommodation for people with disabilities accompanied by miniature
horse service animals is whether the miniature horse is housetrained.  How
exactly is a business owner supposed to know/ascertain that a miniature
horse is or is not housetrained as the team approaches the place of business
and attempts to gain entry?

Just my Saturday morning musings.

Best,
Ann

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie J.
Sent: Saturday, August 17, 2013 7:31 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Suggestions needed!

I think limiting breeds or even identifying specific breeds as common
service dogs creates a couple of problems.

Every dog is unique and although dogs within a breed will have similarities
in temperament, there are always going to be exceptions.  I'm sure there are
very nice Chihuahua's out there.  I had a Beagle as a kid that was a menace
to society.

Suggesting or pointing to specific breeds will give the impression that only

those breeds can be service dogs.   Different breeds have different talents.

What we choose for a guide might be the polar opposite of what someone that
needs a hearing dog would choose.  Also there may be things that dogs can do
that we haven't discovered yet.  I wouldn't want to say that St. Bernard's
can never be used as service dogs, only to find out in 20 years that their
saliva contains some enzyme that can be used for pain management for people
with advanced arthritis.  I totally made that up, but I don't think we've
discovered everything that dogs are capable of helping with yet.

My final issue is that the general public is not very good with breed
identification.  I had people mistake my Beagle for a pit bull.  And what
about the mixed breed dogs?  Just the other day I had someone insist that
Monty looked like a Great Dane.  Or at the state fair a couple of years ago,
I had someone say he was a pit bull.

I think entering into the area of what breeds are used as service dogs will
cause more confusion than it will clear up.  Any public education efforts we
offer have to be super simple, straightforward and black and white.  The
less open for interpretation the better.  Either the dog has fleas and
should be asked to leave or he doesn't.  Either the dog pooped on the floor
and should be asked to leave or he didn't.

JMHO
Julie


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