Waiting for the Woof

I received a hopeful e-post yesterday. PAALS staff MAY - emphasize MAY - have found the dog that will match with me. Boy! I tell you, prayers are going up from this house Big Time!! I’m saying the Little Paraklesis - a very special prayer service to the Theotokos - for a friend who is going through health problems, and I am very selfishly inserting my desire for the “Woof” along with the petitions for my friend.

The need for contributions is increased greatly.

But mostly, prayers are needed.

IF-IF-IF-IF this is the right dog, and I do pray this will be the right dog, then he and I should be together this time next year!!!! O happy day!

So I will hope for now, and if it is not to be, then I will wait and hope some more.

Thank you, my friends!

Wanna know what your own state’s legal system has to say about service dogs? Here’s a neato link!

http://www.animallaw.info/

On the left hand column, you simply select your state. All the references to animals in the legal system of that state will be listed. You can then scroll down and find “assistance” or “guide” animals and click on that reference. You can read these references in eye-straining and lid-drooping detail.

If you have or are going to have a service dog, however, you had best learn these laws. Memorize the legal references. You will need them - if not now, tomorrow or next week or next month or next year. At some point in time, I assure you, you WILL need them!! And you WILL need them for your certification tests each year!

Find a friendly attorney, and get her to help you understand the laws of your state. Print out a copy of the laws and laminate the copy at your local Office Depot or Office Max. Keep it with your Woof’s vest and always take it with you. It will be your friend when you are “interfered with” in a store or other place of business or public or private place.

Your service dog organization will help guide you in all this, but be sure to learn all the laws that pertain to you in your state. And if you move, or go visiting with your Woof, learn the new state’s Woof laws. That way you won’t get in trouble citing the wrong law in the wrong place!

Here’s to PAALS, who will be keeping me “up” on all that stuff! All donations gratefully - and graciously accepted!!

I ran across this wonderful article - written by Carol Karm, a Correspondent for the Ventura County Star - just the other day, and thought it would be important to bring it to the attention of all owners of service dogs:

“Man’s best friend could get a free eye exam and health check-up next week.” …

“Owners must register at http://www.ACVOeyeexam.org, officials said.”

Please note, that you must have registered your service dog last week for this year’s examination, and your dog must be “certified by a formal training program or organization or that are enrolled in a formal training program. The certifying organization can be national, regional or local.”

This looks to be an annual event, so if you missed it this year, there is always next year!

Thursday I didn’t post to any of the blogs - I didn’t even post any of the Ol’ Curmudgeon’s Rants to his blog (he doesn’t know how to do it, he just rants to MS Word, and I put it on his blog - more on that another time, another place). On Thursday I was out and about in Downtown Hotlanna trying to get paperwork to help me get more paperwork so I can get my SS and Medicare (such as they are). My daughter (herein referred to as DD) and her 6 year old home-schooled son (herein referred to as GS) took me and DD pushed me the equivalent of about 10 major city blocks in a wheelchair (I’d have never made it trying to walk, I assure you)!! I now have all but 1 of the certified copies of the historical documents I need, and that one is being mailed to me - to arrive on Monday or Tuesday (I hope).

Even with a Woof, I could not have made this trip without DD (unless I had an electric scooter). Woof could never have pulled me up some of those so-called “handicap-accessible” ramps. Too steep! So it’s a good thing I’m getting this done before Woof comes to live with me and help me out!

But even using the wheelchair, my back is wrecked and I am in pain and exhausted. I slept all Thursday evening - didn’t even eat supper. Slept all night. Slept most of the day Friday - except when I went to the bank and to the grocery for a couple of forgotten but critical items - and I’m probably going to doze most of the day today. I’m totally exhausted, and my back hurts soooo much!

Each time I try to pull myself out of my chair, I wish for the Woof. Each time I mislay my cellphone, I wish for the Woof. Each time I drop my cane, I wish for the Woof. Each time I drop a handkerchief, a piece of clothing, a pill bottle, a CD or DVD cover - nearly anything that would not be harmed by a Woof’s mouth - I wish for the Woof. I recognize, more with each passing day, how much I need the Woof. Each day I learn of more things the Woof could help me with.

I know there are “down” sides to having a service dogs, but in my case the “up” sides will, I believe, far outweigh any “down” sides!

Please remember to support PAALS! It is a 501(3)c charitable organization (donations are tax-deductible) and it is the organization that is working to match me with my Woof. The cost is high. I need to come up with an enormous amount of money (for us). We need help, and are calling upon our friends and relatives to help us with this.

Just what does the ADA have to say about service animals?? I have referred to the ADA numerous times, and have pt in URL links to the place to find the laws and guidelines about service animals.

Well, for those of you who haven’t “gone there,” or who procrastinate about clicking links, here is the information right here:

This is from http://www.ada.gov/qasrvc.htm

COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT
SERVICE ANIMALS IN PLACES OF BUSINESS

1. Q: What are the laws that apply to my business?

A: Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), privately owned businesses that serve the public, such as restaurants, hotels, retail stores, taxicabs, theaters, concert halls, and sports facilities, are prohibited from discriminating against individuals with disabilities. The ADA requires these businesses to allow people with disabilities to bring their service animals onto business premises in whatever areas customers are generally allowed.

2. Q: What is a service animal?

A: The ADA defines a service animal as any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability. If they meet this definition, animals are considered service animals under the ADA regardless of whether they have been licensed or certified by a state or local government.

Service animals perform some of the functions and tasks that the individual with a disability cannot perform for him or herself. Guide dogs are one type of service animal, used by some individuals who are blind. This is the type of service animal with which most people are familiar. But there are service animals that assist persons with other kinds of disabilities in their day-to-day activities. Some examples include:

_ Alerting persons with hearing impairments to sounds.

_ Pulling wheelchairs or carrying and picking up things for persons with mobility impairments.

_ Assisting persons with mobility impairments with balance.

A service animal is not a pet.

3. Q: How can I tell if an animal is really a service animal and not just a pet?

A: Some, but not all, service animals wear special collars and harnesses. Some, but not all, are licensed or certified and have identification papers. If you are not certain that an animal is a service animal, you may ask the person who has the animal if it is a service animal required because of a disability. However, an individual who is going to a restaurant or theater is not likely to be carrying documentation of his or her medical condition or disability. Therefore, such documentation generally may not be required as a condition for providing service to an individual accompanied by a service animal. Although a number of states have programs to certify service animals, you may not insist on proof of state certification before permitting the service animal to accompany the person with a disability.

4. Q: What must I do when an individual with a service animal comes to my business?

A: The service animal must be permitted to accompany the individual with a disability to all areas of the facility where customers are normally allowed to go. An individual with a service animal may not be segregated from other customers.

5. Q: I have always had a clearly posted “no pets” policy at my establishment. Do I still have to allow service animals in?

A: Yes. A service animal is not a pet. The ADA requires you to modify your “no pets” policy to allow the use of a service animal by a person with a disability. This does not mean you must abandon your “no pets” policy altogether but simply that you must make an exception to your general rule for service animals.

6. Q: My county health department has told me that only a guide dog has to be admitted. If I follow those regulations, am I violating the ADA?

A: Yes, if you refuse to admit any other type of service animal on the basis of local health department regulations or other state or local laws. The ADA provides greater protection for individuals with disabilities and so it takes priority over the local or state laws or regulations.

7. Q: Can I charge a maintenance or cleaning fee for customers who bring service animals into my business?

A: No. Neither a deposit nor a surcharge may be imposed on an individual with a disability as a condition to allowing a service animal to accompany the individual with a disability, even if deposits are routinely required for pets. However, a public accommodation may charge its customers with disabilities if a service animal causes damage so long as it is the regular practice of the entity to charge non-disabled customers for the same types of damages. For example, a hotel can charge a guest with a disability for the cost of repairing or cleaning furniture damaged by a service animal if it is the hotel’s policy to charge when non-disabled guests cause such damage.

8. Q: I operate a private taxicab and I don’t want animals in my taxi; they smell, shed hair and sometimes have “accidents.” Am I violating the ADA if I refuse to pick up someone with a service animal?

A: Yes. Taxicab companies may not refuse to provide services to individuals with disabilities. Private taxicab companies are also prohibited from charging higher fares or fees for transporting individuals with disabilities and their service animals than they charge to other persons for the same or equivalent service.

9. Q: Am I responsible for the animal while the person with a disability is in my business?

A: No. The care or supervision of a service animal is solely the responsibility of his or her owner. You are not required to provide care or food or a special location for the animal.

10. Q: What if a service animal barks or growls at other people, or otherwise acts out of control?

A: You may exclude any animal, including a service animal, from your facility when that animal’s behavior poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. For example, any service animal that displays vicious behavior towards other guests or customers may be excluded. You may not make assumptions, however, about how a particular animal is likely to behave based on your past experience with other animals. Each situation must be considered individually.

Although a public accommodation may exclude any service animal that is out of control, it should give the individual with a disability who uses the service animal the option of continuing to enjoy its goods and services without having the service animal on the premises.

11. Q: Can I exclude an animal that doesn’t really seem dangerous but is disruptive to my business?

A: There may be a few circumstances when a public accommodation is not required to accommodate a service animal–that is, when doing so would result in a fundamental alteration to the nature of the business. Generally, this is not likely to occur in restaurants, hotels, retail stores, theaters, concert halls, and sports facilities. But when it does, for example, when a dog barks during a movie, the animal can be excluded.

If you have further questions about service animals or other requirements of the ADA, you may call the U.S. Department of Justice’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (voice) or 800-514-0383 (TDD).

July 1996, updated January 14, 2008 Reproduction of this document is encouraged.

= = = =

So - there you go! I didn’t go back and reproduce the law, it’s soooooo dull and bor-ring for non-lawyers and non-lawmakers I figured that lawyers and lawmakers can just dig the law out for themselves and read those soporific passages to their hearts’ content!

I posted about this before, but I just discovered this video on YouTube that was added on April 11, 2008

“A Washington County family said they plan to sue their school district, alleging school leaders are breaking a federal law by banning their son’s certified service dog from the building.”

This is bizarre! How many steps backward are we going to have to go before we realize that our service animals are essential???

An article in The Daily Yomiuri OnLine says that a nonprofit in Tokyo, Japan is going to set up a facility to train hearing-ear dogs. (Don’t worry! It’s in English!)

We in the USA are really insulated from the attitudes of the rest of the world toward those of us who need assistance - guide dogs for the blind, hearing-ear service dogs, mobility service dogs. handicap access, all those kinds of assistance that we take for granted. In many parts of Europe, children with congenital anomalies or developmental disabilities are hidden and actively discriminated against if they are not kept at home and away from the public.

Any effort, any organization, that will train assistance dogs for the deaf, is to be applauded. But this organization in particular is to be applauded. It is in a country that has not had an organized and concerted history of helping the disabled, regardless of the kind of handicap we are talking about! Yea for Japan, and Yea for Asunaro Gakko, the organization that will be training the dogs.

I’m using my time fruitfully, I think. First, thinking through exactly how the Woof will “fit” in the household we already have - The Ol’ Curmudgeon, Magnus the Magnifi-Cat, and me. Where will he sleep? What will he do while I’m working? Where will he eat? Where in the yard will he poop?

• Poop - How will we handle the poop? Yellow Labs poop BIG! We’ve had one before, we KNOW! Can’t let it just accumulate - soon there’d be a MOUNTAIN of it! Here’s one of the neater devices known to man - the Doggie Dooley Toilet. It’s a septic system for dog poop! It works if you have your own house and yard. Doesn’t work for apartment or condo dwellers. We are in a house with a large, fenced yard. It will work for us.
  • 
  • You bury it in the yard with only the top showing. Open the top, dump in the poop. Put in the enzymes, fill it with water. The system has to be near a water source. That’s a drawback, unless your handi-dandi son who was once a plumber’s assistant lives next door. Think he can plumb us a little line over to the dooley??
  • We have adolescent grandsons next door who love to earn money - they would be glad to scoop poop into the Doogie Dooley for a slightly less than extortionate fee which we grandparents are more than willing to pay!
  • For those who live in an area in which they cannot do this, there may be a local pooper-scooper service available (research on Google is a big help!) For those in apartments, you will have to rely on the old walking the dog routine. There are jokes about following your dog with a plastic bag, and there are even doggie diapers that can be used! Disposal of the waste will depend on local regulations. Each individual should research their local dog poop regulations!

• Exercise - How will we handle exercise? Labrador Retrievers are what the Ol’ Curmudgeon calls “enthusiastic, bullet-proof dogs made of mostly plastic materials.” They leap upon you, tongue lolling, huge tail wagging frantically, their whole body saying, “I love you - love me back!” If someone breaks into the house, the labrador retriever says, “Hi! I’m Woof! Here’s my bowl, and here’s my favorite toy, and here’s the entertainment center, and here’s the wall safe, and here’s the computer, now let’s play!” No guard dog, these! (Of course, a good service dog is VERY well behaved, and doesn’t jump on you!!) They need JOBZ to do - constantly. If they don’t have jobz to do, they will make up jobz to do - that you don’t want them to do! And they need exercise!! Lots and lots of exercise! That can present a problem for the energy-deficient, mobility limited partner. Exercise often falls to another team member. OR exercise can fall to technology!
  • GoDogGo (mentioned in another post here) is a marvelous invention!!
  • Have a treadmill? You can teach your dog to use your own treadmill safely by starting very slowly and moving very slowly to higher speeds over time. Cesar Millan of the Dog Psychology Center of Los Angeles often uses this technique, but recommends high caution because of harm to the dog if it falls or gets caught up on the leash. Never leave the dog alone on your treadmill! OR you can get a specially-made doggie treadmill HERE! Just be sure the local police don’t think you are training a fighting dog! LOL! Again, NEVER leave your dog alone on a treadmill - not even one that is designed specifically for dogs!
  • 

• • Check out your area for fenced in dog parks for off-leash romping. Be sure you understand the regulations related to innoculations and poop control issues before you set your canine partner loose in a dog park!
• Feeding your Woof. One of the things about most assistance dogs is that they are, well, among the larger breeds. Now, the Ol’ Curmudgeon and I happen to consider Labrador Retrievers to be medium-sized dogs, but most folk consider them to be kinda big! At any rate, they are among the size of canine that needs to be fed with an elevated feeding station. Why? you ask, Why? Because when they lean over to eat, it puts some kind of strain on their GI system, and they can develop a twisted gut or volvulus. This is an emergency, and an expensive emergency - which many doggies don’t survive. So you’ll need an elevated feeding station. Luckily the Ol’ Curmudgon will come to my rescue and make a really nice one for me. But many are available for purchase. Check out a Google search for dog feeding station.
  • Just a couple of the possibilities:
  • 
• Going Places with your Woof. OK, you have your Woof, and your have the poop and exercise and feeding taken care of. Remember, you’ll need to deal with poop when you Go Places! Take lots of plastic bags. And those little diaper things that make “sausages” don’t work worth squat, believe me! You’ll need a pooper-scooper. If you are in a wheelchair, it will depend on whether you are a para or a quad and whether you have another team member with you to help as to what kind to take. But take one, you must, for doggies don’t know about, “Wait until you get home, dear.”
  • Transportable doggie dish for food and another for water.
  • Bottles of water - how many? depends on how long you will be gone and how large a dog and the weather. Labrador Retriever? About 1-2 pints for every hour.
  • Food - only if you will be gone through a feeding time. And if so, then take the usual amount that you feed your Woof.
  • Slobber Scarf - All dogs do drool. Not as badly as Newfoundlands, or Mastiffs, or St. Bernards, but they do drool and slobber. A bandana around the neck when going out is really important. Some doggie towels are, also. If you will be gone very long, you may wish to take some additional bandanas so your Woof always looks fresh. Now you know why so many service dogs are photographed with bandanas!
  • Even in hot weather, you will want a doggie shirt - or one of your tee-shirts - to put on your “Woof” to reduce shedding of dander. This is a courtesy for those who might be allergic to woofs. Especially if you are going into an office building, library, classroom building, etc.
  • So you might want to put together a little doggie suitcase with the travel necessities. There are even lightweight foldable feeding dishes for travel!

That takes care of many of the initial considerations. You may want to add more to the list as you think about them. Comments are, as usual, more than welcome! Donations to PAALS are more than welcome, too! (Please be sure to note that the donation is for me!)

An article in the Monteray County Californian described a hearing ear dog and her partner. One of the things that people with service dogs must do is educate the public about the amount of help service dogs provide. This was demonstrated the meeting reported on in the news article. At the end of the meeting one of the attendees asked some questions and realized that a service dog could be a helpful partner for her 10 year old son.

If this can happen at each group a service dog and partner go to and talk to, then maybe more people will be helped by service dogs in the future!

What a wonderful idea!

My “blog-friend” Denise knows how important a hearing-ear dog is, and does educational presentations and meetings frequently.

This is something I will be doing with my “Woof” when we get together. I’m looking forward to it!

There is a great article in the Daily Home Online about a women with mobility problems who is training her own service dog. I personally would not attempt it - I’m not of the right temperament and don’t have the right background. But this gal has both. She has worked with dogs - training police dogs in the past - and other animals in the past. She has the knowledge and the temperament needed.

This is a great story. And I recommend it to all of you. If you are interested in training your own service dog, I urge you to go slowly!! Study, read up on it, learn about dog training in general. Be honest with yourself. Are you patient enough? Do you understand the ways dogs learn? Can you train without becoming angry and physically retaliating against the dog? Are there good resources reasonably near you to help you with the training if you hit a snag?

These are just a few of the many questions you should investigate and answer before you get started training your own service dog. We thought about this very seriously before deciding that it was beyond us at this point  in our lives.

Resources? I knew you’d ask! And you just knew I’d have some, didn’t you?

1. Train Your Own Dog
2. International Association of Assistance Dog Partners (IAADP)
3. Stuff You Might Need to Train a Handler-Trained Service Dog
4. Assistance Dogs International, Inc

Those 4 references, plus all the links you can reach from them should be more than enough to get started!!