Service Dogs?

[PigPandemonium]

Hello again,

So recently I was looking into the option of getting an "Emotional support" service dog, and thought some of the people of the forum might be able to help me find where to get one, and also give me so more info on it.

So first off, I have very bad agoraphobia, to the point where I can't live a life outside my house, I can not longer go to school, or even to the mall with friends without being stressed out of my mind. I also have ADHD, OCD, and Anxiety. So I'm thinking that an emotional support dog would help me to be able to go more places, since animals calm me down a lot.

So first thing I'm wondering, is how do I go about getting an emotional support dog? I'd love to get one fast, as I'd love to enjoy more freedom now, not in two years.

Also, how do I handle the cost? I really have no money now, and I already have four guinea pigs, one bunny, one dog, and two cats, which if any of them have to go to the vet in the near future, the car may be taken away, or the electric turned off, so there is no way I can pay for the extra food, vet bills, ect, of another dog. How do I handle this? I really think it would really help me a ton, but I honestly have no way of paying for it.

I'm sure I will have about a thousand more questions as I start learning more about it, but this is all for now.

Thanks!
The human, Fus, Ro Dah, Godric, Nova, Pikachu, Bellatrix, Sushi, and Jack

[animalhouse]

Is there anyway you can train your personal dog to be your service dog? That is what I did. I Have a amazing bond with one of my dogs, and i Noticed that she could sense me getting anxious and knew right away how to comfort me. She is now my service dog, all though.. She is on the road to retirement as her hips are both bad now I would look up stuff online, that is how I found out how. And I am part of a Therapy dog org that helped me as well. But first you would need to get a docter to give you a script for it.

http://www.iaadp.org/psd_tasks.html

http://www.psychdog.org/index.html

And you will have to check with your state laws regarding them to make sure you dot all your I's and cross your T's.

Good luck

[PigPandemonium]

Sadly no, first reason being, that for emotional support, I'd rather have a bigger dog that I can pet, and such, plus Bella (My dog) also has a lot of issues that would take a longggg time to work out, such as she has problems learning lose leash walking, she chases after any thing that moves, she wouldn't ignore other people walking by, she would jump up on them, lick them to death, ect. xD

I've looked up quite a bit, however from what I have seen, all I have to do is get the script from my doctor which I can easily do, so more what I was asking was how do I get the actual dog, do I go through a program that trains them, do I ask a shelter. ect?

I also couldn't find anywhere that told me about any different laws for emotional dogs in PA, so I'm guessing it's just the same as what I've been reading I just have to have a written note for the doctor, though I'm also wondering, could I bring the dog to my public high school if I chose to return to that one instead of the cyber one I'm going to now?

[mufasa]

There are some very important distinctions between emotional support dogs and service dogs (I know from experience with some of my counseling clients). Service dogs have the right to accompany you virtually anywhere, while emotional support dogs do not. The difference is that a service dog is trained to perform certain tasks to mitigate a condition, while emotional support dogs mainly provide support with their presence. Be sure to research the differences and see if there are some tasks for which you could use the dog that would put it into the service dog category.

[PigPandemonium]

Alright, thank you! I guess I was reading old laws, because they said emotional support dogs could be taken anywhere, I'll be training him/her to be able to sense when I'm stressed out, and be able to clam me down, and break me out of anxiety attacks, plus be able to stop my OCD behaviors, would that classify him as a service dog, or would he need to do more? Long term I plan to teach him more, but I thought that would be good to start out with, of course along with the basic stuff like ignoring other people, sit, lay down, stay, ect. I plan to just train him myself since I train my own dog and it's quite a fun activity.

[jacqueline]

@PigPandemonium : your goals for a service dog are pretty high. i had a service dog for 4 years before he unfortunately developed a health condition and had to retire. i'm waiting for my next service dog now. it's helpful to think in terms of concrete tasks for your dog to do for you. when you're stressed out, for example, what do you want the dog to DO to or for you that would calm you down? would you want him to nudge you, put his head in your lap, sit next to you? you will be teaching him to DO certain behaviors.

i got my dog because of a condition of chronic intense unremiting pain (which i still have). because i was pretty much always in pain, my dog, Kazi, never saw it as anything unusual that he needed to do anything about. so, he never intiated any behaviors, but when my pain flared, i would give him a signal, and he would come and walk right next to me, very slowly, as i painfully went where i had to go, with my hand on his head for mostly emotional support.

mostly, service dogs aren't going to think for themselves. they're not problem solvers. in fact quite the opposite. they are the low guy on the totem pole. YOU are the leader of the pack, and their world revolves around you. they follow your cue and will do whatever you ask them to, but they don't take the initiative much. their are some exceptions. there's something called intentional disobedience (i think that's the term). that would be if, for example, a blind person commanded his seeing eye dog "forward" but the dog saw that a car was coming and refused to obey the command.

i and the trainer i worked with, had to get very creative and concrete and look at what i needed help with and what i could teach Kazi to do to address that need.

please go on the IAADP website to learn more. there's also a section just on service dogs for people with psychiatric disabilities which may be helpful.

also i STRONGLY recommend that you don't try to train a dog alone. the behavior and temperament of the dog is critical, and you'll need the support an expertise of a qualified program to get all you can from a service dog. service dog programs are few and far between, and the waiting list is long, and they are expensive. but it's so worth it. you get what you pay for. don't be penny wise and pound foolish.

that ends my cliches for the night! good luck!

[PigPandemonium]

Thank you for the advice! The reason I sorta just put it in broad terms is because I had yet to decide exactly what I would have him/her do, though I have now decided from looking around online on how other people do this kind of thing, when I get stressed out, I'll have her nudge my leg to bring me sorta out of it and pay attention to her, I'll train her to do the same with some of the OCD things I do (Such as tapping my fingers) So that she will get me to stop. For the latter I can simply train her that when I do those hand motions she should nudge my leg, and for the first, I've seen people who have trained the dogs to do that by getting stressed out, having the dog come over and do the action, then they get a reward. After a while they catch on to doing the action when they feel you are really stressed.

I've also trained many dogs, so I feel confident in my ability to train the dog to do what I need, and of course be good in public, ect. The dog I have now named Bella I train from a puppy by myself, and knows tons of things (Sit, stay, down, leave it, drop it, wave paw, high five, low five, dance, which hand, kiss, bow, sit up, stand, go to sleep, ect) And she also knows all of her toys by name, which she has about 50. xD So we have a huge dog bed full of them in the living room, and all we have to do it say "Bella were's your _____" and she will run to go find it. So I'm very confident that I can train my own service dog.

[MrWhistles]

My pug can go to SEVERAL places without being exhausted.
Size shouldn't change your pick of an emotional support animal. I just got Emma certified. She still has some work to do with children(cause she KNOWS they'll pet her). But shes GREAT. And best thing that if we go into a crowded area, I don't have to worry about her getting stepped on. I can just pick her up/snuggle her.

Dachshunds are great emotional support dogs as well.

Thank you for the advice! The reason I sorta just put it in broad terms is because I had yet to decide exactly what I would have him/her do, though I have now decided from looking around online on how other people do this kind of thing, when I get stressed out, I'll have her nudge my leg to bring me sorta out of it and pay attention to her, I'll train her to do the same with some of the OCD things I do (Such as tapping my fingers) So that she will get me to stop. For the latter I can simply train her that when I do those hand motions she should nudge my leg, and for the first, I've seen people who have trained the dogs to do that by getting stressed out, having the dog come over and do the action, then they get a reward. After a while they catch on to doing the action when they feel you are really stressed.

You may just get lucky and your dog won't have to be trained for that situation. That's how Emma(my pug) is.

[PigPandemonium]

I would have Bella as a service dog, but she has a ton of issues that would take years to work out, such as she is used to pulling on the leash, she has a huge prey drive, ect, ect, so to get her to be my service dog, it would take 10X the work and time, plus one of the issues that I have with the agoraphobia is that I don't feel safe in public. Like my house is a safety zone where nothing can hurt me, however even going to the mail box makes me fear that someone will be waiting to hurt me or something like that. xD So a bigger dog would make me just feel a little bit safer, even though of course I wouldn't be training the dog to guard me. It just for some reason makes me feel safer, plus I just LOVE the rottweiler breed, and love to change how they are looked at.

[MrWhistles]

I would have Bella as a service dog, but she has a ton of issues that would take years to work out, such as she is used to pulling on the leash, she has a huge prey drive, ect, ect, so to get her to be my service dog, it would take 10X the work and time, plus one of the issues that I have with the agoraphobia is that I don't feel safe in public. Like my house is a safety zone where nothing can hurt me, however even going to the mail box makes me fear that someone will be waiting to hurt me or something like that. xD So a bigger dog would make me just feel a little bit safer, even though of course I wouldn't be training the dog to guard me. It just for some reason makes me feel safer, plus I just LOVE the rottweiler breed, and love to change how they are looked at.

dobermans are great **wink wink**
Usually teaching out habits are easier done when the dog is young. However, a dog like yours CAN get perfectly trained.
But from what I read, you don't want to be kept waiting for too long. But honestly, I think anywhere reputable will require you to wait a while. They don't exactly have dogs to hand out. These dogs are trained by volunteers.

[PigPandemonium]

Yep I'm always working on training her, however it's just her problems are so bad it's slow going. I'll actually be training the do myself, so I'm not going through a service.

I have another questions for those of you who can answer. To train my own service dog, and take him into the mall, stores, ect, do I have to register for something? Or can I just find a dog and start training it now? xD Also, while the dog is in training to become my service dog, do I have to have the doctors note already, or can I just get that after it is done with the training? Also, where can/can't I go with a service dog in training, I'd like to give him/her lots of exposure to the places he will be going as my service dog, but I don't know if there are limitations for dogs in training.

[MrWhistles]

Yep I'm always working on training her, however it's just her problems are so bad it's slow going. I'll actually be training the do myself, so I'm not going through a service.

I have another questions for those of you who can answer. To train my own service dog, and take him into the mall, stores, ect, do I have to register for something? Or can I just find a dog and start training it now? xD Also, while the dog is in training to become my service dog, do I have to have the doctors note already, or can I just get that after it is done with the training? Also, where can/can't I go with a service dog in training, I'd like to give him/her lots of exposure to the places he will be going as my service dog, but I don't know if there are limitations for dogs in training.

Here are a coupla sites:
Free My Paws - The Resource for Service Animal Owners
The United States Service Dog Registry (this is used most)

I highly suggest you work with a reputable and qualified trainer.

[jacqueline]

okay - so i apologize ahead of time for how this may sound. but it is something i am extremely passionate about, and have had years of experience with.

i don't for one second doubt your ability to train a dog, nor do i doubt how smart your dog(s?) is. but a service dog is a WORKING dog. it is far beyond a pet. it is a career, a profession. not every dog is up to that task. many many dogs are evaluated and raised with the hopes of becoming service dogs and many many of them never make the cut.

you will be going into public places, and into a public that DOES NOT understand service dogs. they will say and do things, and react to you and your dog in ways you cannot even imagine. there's no need to set yourself up for even more scrutiny by having a breed that will frighten people. it is sad that certain breeds are so "scary" for people, but you can only fight one battle at a time. and believe me, walking into public places with your dog will create enough controversy.

a service dog must understand when it is working, and when it is not. when kazi was home, he was officially off-duty, though there were lots of things he helped me with. but when people or dogs came to visits, there were no restrictions. as soon as i put his service dog vest on - he was on the clock. he was trained to totally ignore other people, dogs, etc. his focus was exclusively on me. even if someone came up to him with food, or wanting to pet him, he was trained to totally ignore them. there were many times when i had to intervene and protect him from public strangers wanting to treat him like some pet dog i was out for a walk with.

Kazi was a golden retriever. they are the sweetest breed, and love to be petted and cooed over by people. just imagine, that being his nature, how terribly hard he had to work to simply lie down, by my feet, without moving , in a room full of people he would otherwise have trotted over to and cuddled with! so when he was lying there quietly and i asked people to leave him be and not distract him because he was working. they'd give me the hairy eyeball and say," working?! he's just lying there - how is that working?!"

there are in fact standards for a service dog that your dog must be able to exhibit and pass. again, check the IAADP web site for the standards. i'm not certain about what the rules are for a service dog in training, but i believe they may not have the same public access as a fully certified service dog.

in order to qualify as a service dog the dog must be able to perform, on command, 2 (i think) distinct task which are necessary to assist you with your disabling condition. there are different rules for support or companion dogs, and also for therapy dogs.

one of the hardest things for me was always going out in public. i prefer to be quiet and just be left alone to do what i need to do. you cannot walk into walmart or shop-rite or any public facility without having all eyes watch your every move. i hated that.

it was also hard to constantly stick to the rules, but it was necessary for kazi's sake. dogs DO NOT understand "sometimes." i could never allow him to freely wander around my office, no matter how hard my co-workers pleaded with me. i had to be firm in keeping the work place a place where Kazi had to be on duty and work. if he ever even looked at someone else whie we were out in public, i needed to correct him and remind him what was expected.

being partnered with a service dog is hard work. don't get me wrong, it is worth it, and Kazi helped me tremendously. i have been lost without him these past few months. i'm saying these things based on my own experiences. i never really knew all that was involved in a service dog, until i had one myself. PLEASE don't underestimate, or take lightly what you're trying to do. again, doing it yourself is not what i would recommend at all.

[PigPandemonium]

I defiantly understand what you are saying, and thank you for the tips! I'm not taking this lightly in any way, I'm getting a service dog to help me, not just to get another pet. I would love to work with and organization, but there are a few problems with that, one being that I don't have the money to pay thousands of dollars for them just to train the dog which I believe I could do myself, second I'd like to be able to live my life as soon as possible, so being able to train the dog myself I believe would cut the time in half. I also have looked up places I can get a service dog from, and there don't seem to be many/any near me, so the best course of action I see at the moment would be to train a dog myself.

[MrWhistles]

okay - so i apologize ahead of time for how this may sound. but it is something i am extremely passionate about, and have had years of experience with.

i don't for one second doubt your ability to train a dog, nor do i doubt how smart your dog(s?) is. but a service dog is a WORKING dog. it is far beyond a pet. it is a career, a profession. not every dog is up to that task. many many dogs are evaluated and raised with the hopes of becoming service dogs and many many of them never make the cut.

you will be going into public places, and into a public that DOES NOT understand service dogs. they will say and do things, and react to you and your dog in ways you cannot even imagine. there's no need to set yourself up for even more scrutiny by having a breed that will frighten people. it is sad that certain breeds are so "scary" for people, but you can only fight one battle at a time. and believe me, walking into public places with your dog will create enough controversy.

a service dog must understand when it is working, and when it is not. when kazi was home, he was officially off-duty, though there were lots of things he helped me with. but when people or dogs came to visits, there were no restrictions. as soon as i put his service dog vest on - he was on the clock. he was trained to totally ignore other people, dogs, etc. his focus was exclusively on me. even if someone came up to him with food, or wanting to pet him, he was trained to totally ignore them. there were many times when i had to intervene and protect him from public strangers wanting to treat him like some pet dog i was out for a walk with.

Kazi was a golden retriever. they are the sweetest breed, and love to be petted and cooed over by people. just imagine, that being his nature, how terribly hard he had to work to simply lie down, by my feet, without moving , in a room full of people he would otherwise have trotted over to and cuddled with! so when he was lying there quietly and i asked people to leave him be and not distract him because he was working. they'd give me the hairy eyeball and say," working?! he's just lying there - how is that working?!"

there are in fact standards for a service dog that your dog must be able to exhibit and pass. again, check the IAADP web site for the standards. i'm not certain about what the rules are for a service dog in training, but i believe they may not have the same public access as a fully certified service dog.

in order to qualify as a service dog the dog must be able to perform, on command, 2 (i think) distinct task which are necessary to assist you with your disabling condition. there are different rules for support or companion dogs, and also for therapy dogs.

one of the hardest things for me was always going out in public. i prefer to be quiet and just be left alone to do what i need to do. you cannot walk into walmart or shop-rite or any public facility without having all eyes watch your every move. i hated that.

it was also hard to constantly stick to the rules, but it was necessary for kazi's sake. dogs DO NOT understand "sometimes." i could never allow him to freely wander around my office, no matter how hard my co-workers pleaded with me. i had to be firm in keeping the work place a place where Kazi had to be on duty and work. if he ever even looked at someone else whie we were out in public, i needed to correct him and remind him what was expected.

being partnered with a service dog is hard work. don't get me wrong, it is worth it, and Kazi helped me tremendously. i have been lost without him these past few months. i'm saying these things based on my own experiences. i never really knew all that was involved in a service dog, until i had one myself. PLEASE don't underestimate, or take lightly what you're trying to do. again, doing it yourself is not what i would recommend at all.

I agree.
I've felt that 90% of dog owners should be working with a reputable and qualified trainer.
It isn't just that it is a service dog, a partner, practically a coworker. It is the fact that so many people treat their dogs unfairly.

OP, I don't think you treat your dog(s) unfairly. Sometimes training a dog is difficult. Sometimes you have no idea how to approach to teach your dog to do something. Sometimes the internet or friends simply cannot give you ideas. But a qualified professional can. Also a qualified professional can and will remind you "it's okay that he doesn't get it. He will. Just be patient and give him time."

[Aertyn]

As someone who has several friends with service dogs (ranging from Guide Dogs, to Medic Alert dogs). You will also have to understand the difference between a 'Service Dog' and an 'Emotional Support' dog. A service dog is a dog that is (I'm quoting a friend here, I asked her for a bit of help with this one) an 'animal must be task trained to mitigate disability'. You also have to be 'disabled by law'. A 'doctors note' doesn't cut it. A doctors note would be fine for an ESA for housing, but has zero to do with service dogs. It's also wont stand up in court.

She also suggested you join and read through this forum

Login

It's really good, especially for people wanting to self train their service animals.

[PigPandemonium]

Thanks @Aertyn Someone already told me about the service dog vs. emotional support dog thing, and I looked it up, and what I will be training the dog to be is a service dog and not an emotional support dog. What exactly do you mean by "Disabled by law"? Meaning I have something that would count me as disabled? Does really bad agoraphobia to the point where I can't leave the house, OCD, ADHD, and anxiety count as being disabled?

Thanks everyone, and sorry for all the questions. Haha, just trying to make sure I'm doing everything right.

[WaxButterfly]

I think it's best you look at your state laws when it comes to how they define "disabled". Typically, disabled refers to someone who has difficulty performing physical activities that enable them to function with ease (i.e seeing, hearing, etc..), or mentally (i.e walking, picking things up, etc...) Find out how your state would define it in order to get the type of service dog you think you'd require.

I also don't recommend you train one yourself for several reasons, most mentioned already. First being that you might not even be able to have your dog certified if it's not trained by a professional that's specialized in the field. I can claim I know everything about medicine to be a doctor, but without official and proper schooling it doesn't make me one.

Second, you say you want to get one fast. I don't think this should be a spontaneous decision (and forgive me if it's not) that you decide to just jump on. Getting a service dog would change your life tremendously and is a full time commitment.

Thirdly, you say you're low on money which is understandable, but getting a dog is NOT a good idea then. You must think of this new dog's (as well as your other pets) expenses before adopting/purchasing. You must think long term should anything happen where you'll need to spend money for emergency situations, whether it's for your animals or even yourself.

Fourthly, as someone mentioned; not just any dog can be trained to be a service dog. You can't pick just any dog from the shelter and train it to work. Some dogs will take to learning and some dogs just can't pick up the skills. I know there's a certain amount of dogs each year that are trained for K-9 units, and they train for months, often by the same trainer, and don't make it to the field because they lack certain abilities or can't cope or respond while in certain situations. Certified trainers have high hopes each time they start with a new dog but it doesn't necessarily mean that dog will succeed. Trainers pick certain dogs specifically based on their temperament, personality, social skills, etc... and teach them to the best of their ability so that they can help a person with whatever they're struggling with. Also, if you plan on training the dog yourself how will you be able to train it in social settings if your phobia is as severe as you say it is? The dog will need to be trained with distractions (traffic, people, noises, etc..) around it to learn to ignore them and focus on it's work.

I don't mean to come across as harsh I just want you to know that getting a service dog, no matter what type of service it is, is a huge commitment for you and the dog. It takes time, effort, and money.

I really think it's best you talk to an official about this as advice online won't be 100% correct compared to talking to someone who specializes in this sort of thing. Especially depending on where you live.

[Aertyn]

I really hope I don't come across as condescending here but...if you have anxiety, ocd, etc issues I really would question whether you should be O/T. It means a lot of public work in the early stages and if going out stresses you out then the dog is going to be stressed out before any learning has even begun.

I know of a lot of people who have O/T in the US and have had to fight to have their dogs certified (even when they are guide dogs, or mobility dogs).

I would start to read, join forums, go to training classes, find other people that have O/T with similar issues to yours and see if you can learn anything from them.

[PigPandemonium]

Alright, thank you for the info, the way I plan to train the dog, is in a way that would lower the stress a lot for me so that they dog isn't stressed out also. First I plan to pat down the basics like sit, down, stay, heel, ect, then I will start working in public at a store a friend works at, so I can be with them which would calm me down a lot, and I would also be with the dog, which just having the dog there would clam me down to the point where going to the store would be easy. After he is used to the public, and ignoring people and such, then I will be able to take the dog other places to train and such.

I understand what everyone is saying, and am looking into my options at this point, I've definitely done a lot of research, and am not rushing into anything, though I am excited, who wouldn't be. Of course I do have financial issues, however my animals come first, and always get the vet care and such they need, they even drink expensive bottled water, I don't know how much more spoiled they can get then that. xD