AIBU to think assistance dogs should be formally registered and assessed?

[sunshine244]

Should there be a register of trained and assessed assistance dogs?

I seem to come across a lot of dogs wearing assistance dog jackets these days. One barked and lunged at me in a local shop recently. I mentioned to staff, as schools were about to come out and I was worried there might be issues, but they said they can't do anything if a person claims their dog is an assistance dog.

Theres also a small charity in the Outer Hebrides being sued because they refused entry to someone whose assistance dog had caused issues.

Currently there is no regulation at all and it seems anyone can call their dog an assistance dog. This is likely damaging for people who have real need for one. Aibu to think it needs more control?

Who's going to police that? Paw patrol?

😂

I haven’t checked but I’ve seen posters on here saying they’ve bought a harness or whatever it’s called saying assistant dog so they’re as official or not as a sunflower lanyard. So yes, I agree with you. A properly trained seeing eye dog is a different kettle of fish to a random dog someone’s decided is their emotional support puppy.

Proper assistance dogs have accreditation paperwork, they have to be certified by one of the British agencies with permission to do so. A harness with assistance dog on it won’t get you into places that are no dogs

This isn’t true. Legally, owner trained assistance dogs have access rights.

It’s a tricky one. The price of assistance dogs trained by charities is prohibitive for many. But I do think there are ‘assistance dogs’ out there who don’t meet the standard and aren’t genuinely trained to mitigate disability.

As much as I'd love that... A register with ID card that staff can ask to see if needed.

Not correct sadly. You can order a harness, or thing to attach to a lead, for just a few pounds.

In theory an assistance dog needs to be trained to perform at least two tasks rrlated to a medical or disability need. Not just emotional support. People are allowed to ask what tasks they are. But nothing to stop it being totally made up. No proof needed, in fact its currently illegal to even ask for proof.

The issues with sunflower lanyards being overused is why so many places are now only accepting things like access cards instead. These require proof of need.

Yes, I think they should be properly accredited.

Just googled and the blurb says ‘emotional support dogs’ aren’t assistance dogs. The ‘recognised’ assistance dogs perform a task such as guide dogs.

My friend’s dog detects food that my friend is extremely allergic to. He must seem very badly trained a lot of the time as he barks and pulls in public, but he keeps my friend alive with his nose and scent training, and enables them to dare to eat out occasionally 🤷🏻‍♀️

I would bet random people judge, but he saves my friend’s life frankly.

Absolutely agree. People claiming their pet is an emotional support/assistance animal is out of control

Not all dogs are formally trained. Some happened to detect things like low blood sugar in their owners, and became informal assistance dog. These dogs were just normal pets.

A charity near us who train dogs to detect blood sugar level, so they have had formal training.

Yes, but some people have pet dogs that ended up detecting/alerting with no formal training.
I know of someone who got a dog who could predict her panic attacks due to PTSD. No training at all.

They need formal training in order to have access to non-dog spaces.

It doesn't have to be a formal charity it can be privately trained but without that training it is still a pet. Can do life changing to things but does not have access to non-dog spaces

It's a problem for people who rely on guide dogs as badly trained dogs pulling & barking & distracting in public areas can mean that the visually impaired person can no longer access that place.

I agree there does need to be a standard of training but that should be accessible to private trained assistance dogs as well as the charities.

There is an absolute gulf of difference in standard of a guide dog & an 'emotional support pet'

Same dog in outer Hebrides killed the cat in the community centre the cafe is in and been aggressive too so of course they aren’t wanting it in there! Woman owner is an entitled twat!

Could he not be trained to stop barking randomly and to walk well on the lead? He sounds like a clever dog so this sounds like it should be doable.

A woman called Claire Kellerman is in the news today for sueing an Outer Hebrides island cafe for refusing her ‘assistance dog’ entry. The inverted commas are because her dog is one she claims supports her but refuses to say how / why, and it doesn’t wear any sort of Guide Dog / Support Dogs harness. In my eyes, it’s a pet. Support / assistance dogs should have proper training and serve a clear purpose if they are going to be given special treatment. The cafe welcomes service dogs, just not dogs that owners say are support animals which I think is fair enough. The case is particularly controversial because the woman is getting legal aid and the café is saying that the legal case is enough to make them go bankrupt.

Completely agree op. What a joke it is that you can just buy a vest off of amazon

You can say even a guide dog has to leave if it misbehaves, though. It just rarely comes up because they are so well trained.
So if another sort of assistance dog is barking or lunging at people, it’s not the case that everyone has to just put up with it.
I don’t know what the legal situation is with an assistance dog that has misbehaved on previous occasions though - do you have to allow it back?

I was chatting with a lady the other day who said her dog was an emotional support dog. I'm sure the dog is a help to her but surely everyone could say that?

yes, I was in my cousins local Tesco. There was a pitbull that was straining at the lead and taking its owner for walk down the aisles. I made a complaint via phone when I got in and was told it “might be an assistance dog” and this one wasn’t even wearing a harness btw.

I said well it’s clearly unlikely and why can’t they stick to just allowing proper service dogs for the blind/deaf etc just like they used to do?!

Anyone can claim a pet is an assistance dog with zero proof. And many of them are “emotional support dogs” but if you need emotional support coming to Tesco please just stay home and order home deliveries.

I didn’t really get a satisfactory answer which tbf I didn’t expect one as the issue is much bigger than this particular Tesco branch.

Yes there’s a thread on that. I actually donated money to the charity.