Wonder Chihuahua Service Hound?

RantWoman directs her readers to a page of very good technical assistance from the Office of Civil Rights at the Justice Department about service dogs.
http://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm

If that is all you need for your current situation feel free to skip the below.

Somehow RantWoman suspects that the guidance above may NOT be all you need.

--There is no single standard for training service dogs. Public accommodations cannot ask about certification or training anyway;if specific behavior problems arise. they can be addressed.

--Service dogs respond to many different commands and perform very differen services for different handlers. Seeing eye dogs for example get extensive training in many areas including obedience --nd learned disobedience, socialization in crowds, not sniffing excessively, not chasing after squirrels, behavior around other dogs. Other dogs may or may not get socialized in crowds and may know only a very few commands; these commands may be no less vial to their handlers than all the different training Seeing Eye dogs get.

--Many service dogs work on leash or in harness. Others specifically do not because they open doors or retrieve items or respond to other commands.


RantWoman has been meditating about all this first of all because Irrepressible Nephew recently acquired Wonder Chihuahua. Boy and Chihuahua have bonded completely and passionately. Wonder Chihuahua is happy to go anywhere the boy will take him; the places they visit also seem surprisingly indulgent. Wonder Chihuahua is delighted to ride around in a backpack or coat pocket.Wonder Chihuahua weighs about 7 pounds and seems instinctively to recognize that being under RantWoman's feet is a bad idea. He has no special harness or ID card. RantWoman is unclear as to obedience issues but we assuredly will not talk about specific training. In other words, don't ask, don't tell reigns.



RantWoman finds herself meditating about other service hounds in her recent experience:

Service Mastiff lives in the same building with RantWoman. Service Mastiff;f's tasks relate to his owner's need for help standing and with mobility. RantWoman is unclear as to exactly what training Service Mastiff has had; RantWoman notes that she frequently sees Service Mastiff's owner on Sundays waiting for a ride but with his crutches rather than Service Mastiff. RantWoman is pointedly not opining as to Service Mastiff and anyone's house of worship.



Very Handsome Standard Poodle was at at event with RantWoman. Very Handsome Poodle has some kind of ID card on his collar and is generally quite dignified. Very Handsome Poodle is a wonderful dog, engaged, of delightful temperament, obedient when expected. At one point over the several-day event Very Handsome Poodle ran away from his human, trailing his leash, but he came right back when called.

RantWoman's only quibble: Very Handsome Poodle's human sometimes fed him human food at the table. True this was after the humans had all eaten our fill. Many of the humans were vegetarians so feeding Very Handsome Poodle the remains of the sausage is kind of understandable. However, RantWoman personally prefers a zero tolerance policiy about feeding animals at the table.

RantWoman further notes, its one thing if an owner feeds a dog at the table. RantWoman knows many blind people who justifiably become outraged when other people feed their seeing eye dogs. Part of qualifying for a seeing eye dog is proving one is able to care for it appropriately. Introducing random other things into the diet can make the dog sick and interfere with weight management. NEVER feed another person's service animal unless they specifically ask you to!

RantWoman was at another event with someone who trains puppies on track to become Seeing Eye dogs and a dog in training. This dog had a harness and wore it whenever out in public. This event was high on opportunities to socialize the dog for crowds; the dog also had an attentive trainer who offered her ample opportunities to stay out of the limeilight and sleep. This dog seemed to be a good trainee in another respect: she did not get distracted easily by all the people around her. But then, RantWoman only ever saw her with her harness on, working. Maybe, like a number of otherSeeing Eye dogs RantWoman knows, she gets to cut loose when the harness comes off.

Finally RantWoman is thinking about circumstances where, for vairous reasons, people basically wind up training their own service dogs. RantWoman believes in people getting the help they need as simply as possible. Sometimes this means formal training is the best option; sometimes a do-it-oneself model is more workable. Here is RantWoman's wish list for what proper training might include:

--Response to the specific commands required to make the dog a service animal.

--If the dog is a service animal for a child, the dog needs to respond both to the child's commands and to commands from other family members. The dog also needs to understand its place in the pack hierarchy. It performs a vital service but the humans are still in charge.

--Someone in the family needs to be able physically to hold a leash and restrain the dog at times. For big dogs and families where physical capacity is an issue, the dog needs really good obedience training.

--Socialization in crowds including around children, white canes and other mobility devices. RantWoman recommends easing into long-lasting crowd situations and other circumstances the dog might find stressful. Better, RantWoman thinks, to train a little longer and get off on the right foot in terms of good first impressions than to have to clean up after initial missteps.
But then what does RantWoman know? Ask Irrepressible Nephew and Wonder Chihuahua...?