Page 4 | Therapy dogs in shops and restaurants

Humpback21 · 2023-05-13T20:27:37+00:00

Where I used to work we had a rule of no dogs except assistance and guid dogs etc. in the last few years at that job we get dogs coming in as “therapy dogs” with coats for the dog saying therapy dog.One lady would bring her big dog pulling on the lead I questioned her and politely said no dogs allowed she claimed it was a therapy dog but it didn’t like to wear its coat and collar. I recently saw a dog outside the supermarket with therapy dog written on its coat waiting with its owner and all their shopping. There are no dog charity’s that train dogs to be assistance therapy dogs. I know of charities that bring therapy dogs into hospitals and care homes. Are people really buying fake coats for their dogs so they don’t have to part with them. I’m all for dogs and am a massive dog lover but surely dog owners have to realise that a trained assistance dog in a public or private space is trained to be

Gingerkittykat · 14/05/2023 05:06

elm26 · 14/05/2023 00:11

My dog is registered as an emotional support dog. I had crippling depression and anxiety from 13-28 and ended up in psychiatric care. Him being registered as emotional support meant that he can be with me at all times and if I was to go down the council housing route, they have to house me somewhere that is suitable for him too. He has helped me more than any human or medication when it comes to panic attacks and feeling suicidal. Your attitude isn't really a nice one to have.

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I'm afraid there is no register for emotional support dogs so your landlord would not have to let your dog live with you.

An emotional support dog (ESD) is a dog that provides comfort and companionship to its owner.
There is no doubt that all of the assistance dogs trained by ADUK members offer emotional support to their owners, but none of our members currently train emotional support dogs for the sole reason of bringing comfort or support.
In the UK emotional support animals do not have legal recognition in the way that assistance dogs do.
There is no register for emotional support dogs or assistance dogs in the UK, so it is not possible to register, validate or get an ADUK ID booklet for an emotional support dog.
Some websites claim that registering your emotional support dog with them (for a fee) will allow you the same rights as someone with an assistance dog by providing you with ID. There is no guarantee that this will increase your access rights.

From https://www.assistancedogs.org.uk/assistance-dog-information/

Applying for an Assistance Dog - ADUK

Assistance Dogs UK is a coalition of assistance dog charities providing information to prospective and current assistance dog owners.

https://www.assistancedogs.org.uk/assistance-dog-information

Rotormotor · 14/05/2023 05:12

You can buy jackets off the internet. Of course some people are scamming.

QOD · 14/05/2023 05:25

I went in a village Weatherspoons recently with my chihuahua in her pram (judge me 😂- she has sublaxing patella and we were away so not able to simply leave her at home) and a waitress came up to me and said ‘that’s your assistance dog isn’t it’
i just mumbled ‘errr ummm yes ‘ as she nodded at me
turns out no dogs allowed which I’d not noticed.
random rambling 5am post

Olivida98 · 14/05/2023 05:31

What are you talking about, that there are no organisations training therapy dogs?! My friend has a therapy dog to help with her depression. It was trained and arrange for her by an organisation. I bet you’d take one look at her and think she’d bought the jacket herself too 🙄 have some empathy.

WalkingThroughTreacle · 14/05/2023 05:34

If it were my establishment, I'd far rather have the occasional chancer get away with it than risk embarrassing, stressing out and potentially wrongly turning away legitimate service dog owners.

Original poster

Humpback21 · 14/05/2023 05:51

Olivida98 · 14/05/2023 05:31

What are you talking about, that there are no organisations training therapy dogs?! My friend has a therapy dog to help with her depression. It was trained and arrange for her by an organisation. I bet you’d take one look at her and think she’d bought the jacket herself too 🙄 have some empathy.

which organisation is this? As I wasn’t aware of any organisations training therapy dogs for daily help. I was just aware of charity’s that train therapy dogs to go into care home etc and they don’t have the same rights as assistance dogs as they are not trained to be. If there is a charity or organisation that does train them then they need to be clearer on the law surrounding it. Do I now illegally have to allow therapy dogs in if this charity has trained them? Do they were a coat with the charity on? I don’t want to upset anyone by asking a dog

OP posts:

Emmamoo89 · 14/05/2023 05:53

You are being ridiculous.

Original poster

Humpback21 · 14/05/2023 06:07

How am I being ridiculous ?

OP posts:

Florenz · 14/05/2023 07:12

Dog people are getting worse and worse. They are animals. Not people. If you think you get emotional support from a dog, you have serious problems. Shops etc should just issue a blanket ban on all dogs and animals entering their premises unless you have a verifiable form of identification for the animal that proves that it is a guide dog etc.

It's really getting ridiculous now. WTF is wrong with people?

DustyLee123 · 14/05/2023 07:15

You can buy the leads and a ‘pass’ off the internet, and I believe that it’s against a disability law to refuse access.

Florenz · 14/05/2023 07:17

It should be a serious offence to pass a normal dog off as an assistance dog. Punishable by a lengthy jail term for the human and automatic destruction of the dog.

Quveas · 14/05/2023 07:17

FurAndFeathers · 13/05/2023 21:46

@Humpback21

assistance dogs are specially trained and registered https://www.assistancedogs.org.uk/the-law/

pitting a jacket on a fog and telling folk it’s a therapy dog is not the same thing.

No that's not the case. Some assistance dogs are trained by core agencies - not all. And there is no formal requirement for an assistance dog to pass any training or standards. Some people train their own assistance dogs.

The UK is very odd about the way it does this. There is a serious shortage of assistance dogs in the UK and the range of conditions they are available for is similarly limited by the lack of training availability. In the US formal registration is based on a test of the dog - so anyone can train the dog to do the tasks that it needs to do (which may include mental health support), and then it must pass a test to prove that it can perform the tasks and behave well in public.

MrsSkylerWhite · 14/05/2023 07:20

Coincidentally (really 😁) I was in the supermarket yesterday and a young woman had a greyhound with an “assistance dog” coat on. They says she was staring up close at products made it clear she had sight issues. I did think it was unusual that the dog was a greyhound and not a lab but thinking about it subsequently, it occurred to me that there’s a huge waiting list for an official “guide dog”. If I were a young woman with failing sight, I would feel extremely vulnerable goi g out alone. A big dig by my side would go a long way towards making me feel safe, regardless of the level of assistance it actually gave.

Doesn't bother me in the least to see one in a shop. I’m just thankful that I don’t need one.

MrsSkylerWhite · 14/05/2023 07:21

The fact , not they says 🙄

EsmeSusanOgg · 14/05/2023 07:22

user1477391263 · 14/05/2023 00:24

I don't know why some people are giving the OP a hard time. A dog is not a service animal unless it is trained to perform an actual service and is registered.

Just to flag, unlike the US, there is no central register in the UK. But the charity who provided and trained the dog will have a registry.

EsmeSusanOgg · 14/05/2023 07:26

Gingerkittykat · 14/05/2023 05:06

I'm afraid there is no register for emotional support dogs so your landlord would not have to let your dog live with you.

An emotional support dog (ESD) is a dog that provides comfort and companionship to its owner.
There is no doubt that all of the assistance dogs trained by ADUK members offer emotional support to their owners, but none of our members currently train emotional support dogs for the sole reason of bringing comfort or support.
In the UK emotional support animals do not have legal recognition in the way that assistance dogs do.
There is no register for emotional support dogs or assistance dogs in the UK, so it is not possible to register, validate or get an ADUK ID booklet for an emotional support dog.
Some websites claim that registering your emotional support dog with them (for a fee) will allow you the same rights as someone with an assistance dog by providing you with ID. There is no guarantee that this will increase your access rights.

From https://www.assistancedogs.org.uk/assistance-dog-information/

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This.

EsmeSusanOgg · 14/05/2023 07:31

Florenz · 14/05/2023 07:12

Dog people are getting worse and worse. They are animals. Not people. If you think you get emotional support from a dog, you have serious problems. Shops etc should just issue a blanket ban on all dogs and animals entering their premises unless you have a verifiable form of identification for the animal that proves that it is a guide dog etc.

It's really getting ridiculous now. WTF is wrong with people?

I think this is a bit extreme.

I love my dog, and she absolutely provides me with comfort and emotional well-being. Which you'll find a lot of pets do for a lot of people.

That does not mean I am entitled to take her everywhere with me. Because she is not an assistance dog. She is my beloved pet.

I do like that there are dog friendly places I can go with her - a coffee or light bar snack after a nice dog walk in a local dog-walking spot for example is great.

But I also appreciate there are places she cannot go with me. And that is fine. I don't really want to go to a clothes shop where lots of dogs are present as you're just going to get fluff everywhere. And sometimes you want a less dog-friendly dining experience.

LolaSmiles · 14/05/2023 07:33

WiddlinDiddlin
Your dog sounds amazing and thank you for the informative post.

It's great that dogs can be trained properly for assistance beyond what people think of traditionally as guide dogs.

It's sad that some people are dressing up their preference to have Fido with them as having a properly trained assistant dog.

QuintanaRoo · 14/05/2023 07:36

Someone in my town takes her two poodles in the supermarket and they both have jackets saying “seizure alert dogs”. She doesn’t have seizures and told me she bought the jackets off Etsy.

OMG12 · 14/05/2023 07:41

BungleandGeorge · 14/05/2023 01:03

Of course not, registered guide dogs are assistance dogs. They have access rights. The difference is only registered assistance dogs have that right and it’s not up to an individual to decide where their dog is allowed if they are not an assistance dog. If you read my post it wasn’t actually written in the first person and I think it was quite clear it wasn’t about assistance dogs

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So, if (and probably when) emotional support dogs are recognised (after all, I would argue they are just as vital to the owner as a guide dog) you would be happy for them to be there.

FurAndFeathers · 14/05/2023 08:02

Quveas · 14/05/2023 07:17

No that's not the case. Some assistance dogs are trained by core agencies - not all. And there is no formal requirement for an assistance dog to pass any training or standards. Some people train their own assistance dogs.

The UK is very odd about the way it does this. There is a serious shortage of assistance dogs in the UK and the range of conditions they are available for is similarly limited by the lack of training availability. In the US formal registration is based on a test of the dog - so anyone can train the dog to do the tasks that it needs to do (which may include mental health support), and then it must pass a test to prove that it can perform the tasks and behave well in public.

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And in the USA there’s all manner of problems with ‘emotional support monkeys ‘ and ‘emotional support parrots’ demanding access everywhere.

assistance animals are for people with disabilities, and access is granted for them to meet the requirements of the EA.

if you don’t have a legal disability then there’s no requirement for any premise to accommodate an unregistered ‘support animal’

Reasonableadjustments · 14/05/2023 08:03

Some of the comments on this thread are disgusting.

My friend is autistic and has an emotional support dog and the difference it makes for them is phenomenal.

OMG12 · 14/05/2023 08:09

FurAndFeathers · 14/05/2023 08:02

And in the USA there’s all manner of problems with ‘emotional support monkeys ‘ and ‘emotional support parrots’ demanding access everywhere.

assistance animals are for people with disabilities, and access is granted for them to meet the requirements of the EA.

if you don’t have a legal disability then there’s no requirement for any premise to accommodate an unregistered ‘support animal’

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Ah so you’re happy for someone who has a physical disability to get support from a dog but not people with a mental disability or divergence I see…,

Reasonableadjustments · 14/05/2023 08:12

A trained dog is as much an assurance animal for a person with an invisible disability as a guide dog is for a blind person or a hearing dog for a deaf person.

This thread is disgusting from the very first post. It shows the discriminatory attitudes towards those with invisible disabilities.

sandgrown · 14/05/2023 08:15

I work in retail and I am so sick of customers trying to sneak their dogs in by pretending they are therapy dogs . I love my dog but we are not joined at the hip
and I wouldn’t dream of taking him in a flipping food shop.