Participating in everyday life and performing common routine activities may be a challenge for people with disabilities. In order to move, manipulate, see, and sometimes even just feel safe they get a companion, who can be trained to perform certain tasks – a service dog. Many people mistakenly believe that for getting a service dog you should have some serious disability.
But it’s not true: 99% of people can have such a dog if they feel the need for it. This myth was dispelled for us by a doctor from Certifymypet who stated that almost every dog owner can make his own dog a service dog. Below we will discuss when having a service dog makes sense and how to make your living with it more comfortable.
What Can Service Dogs Do?
In what way do service dogs assist to combat the difficulties? You will be surprised with the variety of tasks, and it’s not just the one and only guide dog we are used to seeing in the streets. In addition, astonishing is the percentage of hardship situations when a service dog can become a panacea. To put it shortly, service assistance dogs can:
- Provide stability for people, who have systematic problems with balance or walking
- Guard children with autism, preventing them from getting into trouble
- Alert partially or completely deaf person that someone is approaching from behind
- Assist people with epilepsy
- Ensure emotional support for those suffering from depression and anxiety etc.
The deeper you dive into the topic the more you learn about the infinite love and care of dogs towards humans. If you have a dog you know what I mean. Think of how many times your dog has been taken away, almost absorbing the anxiety and feeling of constant pressure. A service dog can help so many people with so many problems. For example, imagine how much support you could get from a dog if you were a veteran suffering from PTSD after serving in the forces. Once you have used a VA disability calculator to see how much you could be entitled to, it’s worth seeing if you would be eligible for a service dog to help you combat your difficulties.
Moreover, it must have happened to you, that your little (or not that much) fur friend being a positive and loving creature turned into a beast barking and growling at someone, who later turned out to have vicious intentions.
Dogs can perform these “tricks” and many more, we just need to trust them. Even if not yet registered as a service dog, each of them is already serving a master.
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But How to Certify Your Dog As a Service One?
It has nothing to do with the breed, as any species can be trained to be a service dog. Though, the handler and a dog must match, so that the animal will perform the task related to the person’s disability, complying with the law under the ADA.
Often, first, you need to do the research and figure out what type of companionship and assistance works best for you. Be it a therapy or service dog if you still haven’t got one you should brace yourself, as the process of pairing the potential handler with the dog may take some months. Always better to start pairing while the animal is still in training.
The animal will perform the task related to the personal disability. Every dog owner should get a letter for an ESA from the psychology therapist for housing or travel.
Yet, what if your dog is a service animal, and you don’t need any training? Why do you need to certify it?
The pros are obvious:
- Under the FHA, service dogs are exempted from a fee and are welcome in pet-free homes, being recognized as “medical equipment”, rather than a pet;
- Service assistance dogs can fly with you in-cabin for free on domestic flights;
- They can ride public transport with you etc.
Advantages are many more and to view the full list and get a certificate for your service dog visit Certifymypet.com.
We got the benefits, but is it actually required by the law to register your pet as a service animal?
No, surely not. But the official status of your dog means a lot. Some establishments and offices claim a “no pets allowed” policy, but in case your dog is properly certified, it cannot be considered as a pet and automatically gains the privilege to follow you everywhere with no limits present for pets.
Can you lie about the status of your dog? No doubt you can, but why should you, if the process of certifying your dog as a service animal will take you little time and is 100% online.
You may get tempted by the information, that no employee is permitted to ask you if the dog is really a service one, though the following two questions may be put forward:
- Is the animal required because of a disability?
- What work or task has the animal been trained to perform?
So, seize the chance and get the registration for your dog, as the regulations change rapidly and the process that once took less than a day, may later result in days or weeks, and we know that the presence of your dog with you every moment is precious.
