MumsNetters with Guide Dogs

[Wolfbasher]

I am a longtime MNer with a new (first-time) guide dog. Wondering if there are any other MNers with guide dogs out there to chat about logistics and the like.

Went to the dentist today and found my dentist doesn't allow guide dogs in the surgery (only in the waiting room). I'm checking with Guide Dogs if that's legal. What do you do at the dentist's? I am trying to work out the logistics of taking my DC to the dentist, with my guide dog if it's not allowed in the surgery - do you leave your dog with reception staff? Or what?

Hi i work in a health environment (not dentist) and im afraid dogs arent allowed in the actual clinic room where i work at the moment. I deal with wounds as well as routine. Our receptionist takes the guide dog who gets made a big fuss of and i guide the patient to and back to the clinic. Sometimes the patient uses a stick, sometimes i guide using the method shown at our yearly manual handling courses. Both ways i chat to the patient re the dog (i love dogs). Never had a complaint. No idea re legal but more about keeping dog hair out of a clean environment which other patients have wounds cleaned in. We have to clean the room (deep clean every morning and evening) and wipe down after every patient. Whilst training i do remember the one time a guide dog was allowed into a clinic room. My colleague stood on the poor dogs paw and made he bark very loudly leaving the poor owner saying im really sorry he normally very quiet. (We were students and kept quiet about it). My colleague got given a doggy dirty look by the dog! I work in the nhs and its in my guidelines at my present place. Might be different in other places.

Thanks for your post londonrach. I wonder if anyone has done any research into the health risks of a guide dog in that kind of environment (a non-sterile but clean environment). It would be interesting to know if they actually present any more of a risk than people's outdoor shoes/coats etc. etc. given the high health standards guide dogs are kept to. But that's by-the-by.

If it's the case that guide dogs can be dis-allowed from dental surgeries, I will have to work out logistics for visiting mine! Not sure if the receptionist at mine would be willing or able to look after my dog.

By the way - I am sure you know this and it was just youth and uncertainty keeping you quiet at the time - but if a similar situation (someone stepping on a guide dog's paw) were to happen again, it is good manners to tell the guide dog owner. For several reasons - first, they will otherwise be concerned and unnerved at their guide dog's barking for "no reason" and it may undermine their confidence in their dog. Also the dog may be wary of that person/situation in future, and the owner needs to be ready to deal with that. Second, the owner will want to check the dog's paw / watch out for a hint of a limp etc. And third, keeping quiet about something everyone except the blind person has seen is a bit rude - like talking in a foreign language that only one person in the room doesn't speak.

I have a hearing dog. I am about to take her to the dentist for the first time, so I'll be interested to hear how you get on. As far as I'm aware its illegal. I know of someone who takes her HD to her dentist with no issues so there's no rules afaik

Much as I appreciate the usefulness, if not necessesity of guide andh earing dogs, I think you also have to be sensitive to the staff in these places too. I am not at all comfortable around dogs, and, if I were a receptionist, I would not want to be left to look after a dog if it's owner were in the other room undergoing treatment. Similarly, if I were a doctor, nurse or dentist, I doubt I'd be able to perform a procedure at my usual standard if there were also a dog in the room.

I know guide dogs are highly trained, docile etc etc, but I really don't like dogs.

MrsLeigh you can't breach the equality act because you don't like dogs.

hello op, :) I have been a guide dog owner for the past eighteen years (on my third dog now).

under the equality act it is an offence to put a disabled person at a particular disadvantage over their able-bodied peers, therefore disallowing the dog into the dentist is potentially up for question.

That being said, if the dentist are adament that the dog is not allowed within the actual surgery they would need to make this clear under their equality policies in order that owners be aware beforehand. If not then they would be obliged to look after the dog while you enter the surgery, although it is up to you if you would be happy for that to happen.

The law on public establishments e.g. shops/restaurants etc is very clear. But with more private ones it is less so, and is IMO much more about personal preference than genuine health and safety/hygiene.

There are two exceptions to this afaik:

The first is in kitchens where food is being prepared, because "no animals" is a part of the health and hygiene laws. This applies only to the actual kitchen area of a restaurant though and not the seating area, so a restaurant where food is prepared in sight of the customers still wouldn't have the right to disallow a guide dog.

The other is places where there are other animals present, and where the presence of a dog could be seen as detrimental to the wellbeing of the animals. Examples of this are London and Bristol zoos which don't allow guide dogs at all, although afaik they have kennelling areas should you wish to bring your dog, and they will look after them for you. Not all zoos have this policy, but many which have areas where animals roam free do because it is much easier to say no dogs than to be sure that a guide dog wouldn't be taken into an area where e.g. monkeys were running free. Paignton zoo however do allow guide dogs, but they ask you to keep them away from the big cats as this distresses the cats. Having been round a zoo with a guide dog though it's not something I would recommend.

Wrt dentists/hospitals/clinics, I know of at least two large hospitals in the UK where guide dogs have been allowed on to the ICU, so I am not convinced of the argument that there are valid reasons not to permit them other than personal preference/ignorance on behalf of individuals.

It's a difficult one to challenge though especially if you are a first time guide dog owner. But it might be worth having a word with your guide dog engagement officer so they can perhaps go and have a chat with the dentists. Which branch are you under?

MrsLeighHalfpenny I think that a guide dog owner can be sensitive to the needs of someone to the extent that if you don't like dogs then mine will be on the floor anyway so there's no need to approach it or have it approach you. I also agree that it is not preferable to leave a guide dog with a receptionist anyway and that the dog is best off with the owner. If however the dentist are adament that the dog is not allowed in the surgery, then they need to make adjustments to ensure that the owner can be helped - they cannot bar the dog from the waiting room as well for instance...

Taxi drivers use this excuse all the time "I don't like dogs" to justify guide dog refusals, something which in the case of taxi's is actually a criminal offence. And again, I will make allowances by having the dog sit in the back or even in the boot space as long as the car is a hatchback or estate, but saying that the dog is not allowed isn't something that should be tolerated.

If someone has that much of an issue with dogs then they have no business working in jobs where they may have to deal with guide dog owners.

This is a good guide to assistance dogs and medical facilities.

Assistance dogs can be prohibited from certain designated areas for reasons such as infection control, but a suitable place for the dog to wait should be provided.

www.southcentralambulance.nhs.uk/_assets/about_us/guide%20dogs%20access%20to%20%20medical%20facilities.pdf

Mrsleighhalfpenny - once again I am shocked by the ignorance of some mnetters towards disabilities.

I couldn't care less if you hate dogs, the law is the law and quite frankly you're lucky that's all you have to worry about.

I think a phobia can also be a disability. Fortunately, I any not a dentist, nor a nurse or doctor, so the situation wouldn't arise. But hypothetically speaking - would you want me to take a blood sample with my hand trembling? I cannot enter a room with a dog in it. I cross the road if I see one, even on a lead. I would not be able to see to a patient who brought a dog with them, regardless of what their rights are.

we're puppywalkers and apart from the odd comment about pet dogs Not Being Allowed ....they seem to miss the white lead, the puppy vest with "GUIDE DOG PUPPY IN TRAINING" and the lurid yellow flash on the lead...we have taken all the puppies with us to the dentist and the orthodontists, opticians and hospital appointments

The orthodontist staff are HUGELY disappointed if we turn up without the dog and on another occasion the dentist particularly asked if I would like to take the dog in to the consulting room so she could see around. I often would wait in the waiting room, as the children prefer to go in on their own.

You should refer this back to your GDMI and get clarification...as you say I really cannot see that a Guide dog is any grubbier than shoes and coats.

No it's not a disability. You can get treatment for it. Blindness is permanent.

I know it's not actually a disability. But it disables me.

Then you are in the wrong job

Eh? I work in an office. There are no dogs in our office.

I have applied to be a puppy walker/trainer. Are they allowed the same rights as a fully trained guide dog? I think I can offer a great opportunity for a pup with plenty of socialising situations. I hope I am sucessful.

I work in an office, assistance dogs can go into offices and indeed anywhere except an operating theatre.

Trainee assistance dogs don't have the same rights as qualified assistance dogs, its up to the shop/restaurant/dentist/doctor etc to admit puppies.

MrsLeighHalfpenny if I got a job in your office my guide dog would be entitled to be there. A phobia is not a disability don't be so ridiculous. If it disables you why don't you get help for it? Why anyone would choose to cross roads and feel anxious rather than seek help is beyond me.

As for puppies in training, no they don't have the same rights, although on the whole there are few issues with taking puppies in training into supermarkets etc as long as they are kept under control. I know of a case where a puppy walker was asked to leave asda but it was because she had put the dog in a trolley and insisted it had the right to be there, plus she had very little control over it, allowed it to jump up at people etc including small children - something which resulted in her eventually being reported to the association...

I just stay away from dogs.