I've had it and can't stand it no more. There is a man with a dog in my work building and a woman with a dog in my work building and then in the building across the yard, a woman has a pony. She has a freaking pony! This pisses me off to no end. I go ask my wife if I can get a service dog and she says no. I want a hound curled up by my feet while I work. Some people have all the luck!

Are you referring to legitimate service animals?

Or are these "Emotional Support Animals," frequently a scam.

I suppose it doesn't matter. I'm jealous because I don't have one. I've worked on this base for 25+ years and only in the last 5 have I seen people with animals. In my little fantasy world, I would have a beagle that would steal people's lunches. I'd name him JDAM.

Anything in your employee hand book that says you can't bring puppers to work with you?

I do occasionally bring Roman the Frenchie to work with me


Our office manager breeds Maine Coons and shows them too, she has the admin office door closed about once a week, dookie boxes and toys for the kitties

I'm sure my company would be cool if I got some doctor to say I need one, but then there are Air Force hoops to jump through. Honestly, I think I am more in love with the idea than the actual.

My Dad wanted a GSD, but settled for a beagle. He doesn't understand why the beagle doesn't close the drawers and cabinets after it opens them.

quote:

Originally posted by xd45man:
and then in the building across the yard, a woman has a pony. She has a freaking pony!

Miniature ponies are - or at least can be - legitimate service animals. In fact, dogs and miniature horses are the only two service animals covered by the ADA, which doesn't cover "emotional support animals", only true service animal dogs or ponies that are trained to provide a medically necessary service. For example, this is why businesses are required by law to let seeing eye dogs in, but not your emotional support lizard/llama/peacock/whatever.

I'm acquainted with a guy who uses a miniature pony service animal. He has some sort of inconsistent balance issues, and the horse is the right height and sturdiness to support his weight if he needs to lean on it to steady himself or have it support/guide him during one of his spells.

I've also heard of them being used as seeing eye horses for blind folks, though obviously less common than dogs.

They can be trained and housebroken like dogs, but one big benefit to these horses is they live ~3x longer than dogs, so there's less expense in acquiring and training replacement service animals every several years.

^Beagle does whatever Beagle wants. How can you be angry at that face.

Our station is in the town hall, and one of the employees on the town side is a trained therapy dog handler. He has a Doberman therapy dog named Ava that he brings in to work pretty frequently, and she's my buddy. He usually stops by with her to say hi when I'm working otherwise I go hunt him down, lol. She's a sweetheart, and very well trained...just hangs out under his desk unless she's called for.

We've got a couple of K9s in the county who are pretty sociable, although now that I'm on days I don't see them as much. There's also a different trained therapy dog that works at the DCS center where they do forensic interviews with minor victims. I hate working cases where I have to go over there, but getting to pet the dog makes up for it a little bit. It's supposed to be for the kids, but I think the rest of us get as much out of her being there as they do.

My daughter has a service dog. She can verbatim quote the ADA. She also carries a card with theADA information. She and her friends have no tolerance for fakes.
A real service dog is easy to spot. They watch their human and ignore distractions. When we’re at a hospital the only place he can’t go is a “clean room.” That’s when I’m the backup.
We eat breakfast at a chain restaurant. It’s always fun when we leave and this large pup appears from under a table. There was one Fudd that took over a table and complained. He finally claimed he was allergic. The manager offed another table or move outside (Seattle in the rain).

Not directed at the OP
But my first question every time this topic comes up is "is it a service animal or an emotional support animal?". Its really fun when people try and argue that an emotional support animal is a service animal.

I recently required a Standard Poodle. I'm training her to be a service dog that will alert and bark whenever I'm about to say something stupid. She seems to bark quite a bit now.

I don't mind service animals at all, obviously. But I do wish that the state issued them ID cards similar to handicapped placards. This would immediately end the issue of people bringing their pets everywhere because they know nobody is going to dare say anything for fear of the person making a scene, and it would be more discreet than the current way of doing it. You can't ask what condition the person has for obvious reasons, but you're allowed to ask what task the dog is trained to perform which is essentially outing the person's condition anyway.

"You can't ask me if I have seizures"

"Okay, what is your dog trained to do?"

"Alert me if I'm going to have a seizure"

Standardize service dog ID cards. The owner can choose to keep it discreet in their wallet or put it in an ID window on a service dog vest so they don't even get asked. No more telling anyone anything about your condition/disability. And make the fines for making fake ones the same as making a fake handicapped placard. Here in MA that's a $1,000 fine.

quote:

Originally posted by xd45man:
In my little fantasy world, I would have a beagle that would steal people's lunches. [u] I'd name him JDAM.[/u]

hehehe I laughed - and may need to rethink the name of my next dog

quote:

Originally posted by 7iron:
I recently required a Standard Poodle. I'm training her to be a service dog that will alert and bark whenever I'm about to say something stupid. She seems to bark quite a bit now.

Snort… I need to train my dog the same way.