[nagdu] when dogs are working?

[Julie J.]

*Being a student organization, we have a room in the student union which is 
considered a “safe space” where we can relax and be ourselves.
h=The alliance has made it clear to me that if I am on break, then, 
obviously by decision but my dog should get some down time too. I agree 
completely. *

So it sounds to me that your group is totally okay with her being off leash 
and they enjoy seeing her have that time to relax.  If this is the views of 
the group, then it seems to me to be just fine.

It is the dog's training that makes it a service dog.  All the equipment 
does is allow you to utilize the training.  There are service dogs who don't 
need to wear anything like alert dogs for deaf individuals and dogs who 
assist with retrieving for folks in wheelchairs or dogs who alert to medical 
conditions like seizures.

It is a public place, I think, and there is a responsibility to keep your 
dog under control, but I don't think that means you have to have her on 
leash.  I have Monty out of harness and off leash in my office at work.  It 
is a public place, anyone could stop by at any time.  I even allow him to 
interact with certain people.  He's under control and is still a service 
dog.  Jetta isn't ready for that level of freedom yet.  It's all about 
knowing your dog and what they can handle.

Perhaps it would help if your group made the off leash thing official by 
putting it in the rules, then the staff member would back off?  I don't 
know.

Julie


-----Original Message----- 
From: Abigail Bolling via nagdu
Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2014 6:03 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: [nagdu] when dogs are working?

hey all!

So I recently started hanging out with a group of students called the 
rainbow alliance on campus.
Being a student organization, we have a room in the student union which is 
considered a “safe space” where we can relax and be ourselves.
h=The alliance has made it clear to me that if I am on break, then, 
obviously by decision but my dog should get some down time too. I agree 
completely. my dog is easy to control off leash and harness. They are 
completely comfortable with me taking my dog out of harness and all of the 
people who hang out in the room love dogs. There are at least 3 other people 
with service dogs who frequent that room, so it is nothing new to have a pup 
running around greeting people.

Today, we had an advisor come in the room and tell us that our dogs are not 
considered service animals if they are not in their full working gear.
My question is what should I do about this situation?
Should I fill out an incident report and have this advisor informed about 
the laws and regulations about service dogs, or is he correct?

Thanks,

Abby and Puppy Jada

Abigail Bolling
Wright State University: Social Work

“Keep a smile on your face and  a song in your heart, and just let the music 
play.” (Julie Anderson-Diamond)
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