How’s your assistance dog’s off-lead recall?
How’s your assistance dog’s off-lead recall? Whistle is an amazing assistance dog and he spends a lot of his time working with me. However, I try to give him several times throughout the day and evening when he can spend some free time in the backyard relaxing and just being a dog.
When he and I were first working together, I really had a hard time getting him to come back to me whenever he was off-lead. He was thoroughly enjoying the sunshine and outdoor smells and was in no hurry to come back inside.
I tried to entice him by making it worth his while to return. I began offering him a tasty treat whenever he would come when I called. That strategy has been pretty successful. However, lately, it seems that when he goes out for his free time in the backyard, he is less anxious to come back inside when I call him.
I was curious if anyone else has this issue with their assistance dog. If so, how have dealt you with it?
ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Searching for Deserving Families with an Assistance Dog
Do you need a home makeover or do you know someone partnered with an assistance dog that does? I just got a call from the Casting Director with ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. She told me they were avidly looking for deserving families for this season’s show and they are particularly interested in working with a family with an assistance dog!
Here’s the info you need to know and what you need to do to apply:
What does it take to be picked for an Extreme Makeover?
The producers are in search of deserving families and deserving people – people who have amazing strength of character and who put their own needs aside to help others. Whether it’s a mom, a soldier, a teacher, or a fireman, they think deserving families are families who inspire those around them. In addition, the producers are looking for families whose houses need major alterations or repair—homes that present serious problems for the family and affect the family’s quality of life.
To be eligible:
A family must own their own single family home and be able to show producers how a makeover will make a huge difference in their lives.
Interested families or those who wish to nominate another family should:
E-mail a short description of their family story to CNPMediacasting@gmail.com
Nominations/submissions must include:
- The names and ages of each member of the household
- A description of the major challenges within the home.
- Explanation of why this family is deserving, or a positive role model in their community.
- Photos of the family and a photo of the home
- Don’t forget to include a contact phone number.
The deadline: for nominations is August 25, 2011. BUT Don’t Delay! Please send story submissions as soon as possible! For more information on how to apply please visit their website.
Whistle and I can’t wait to see if you and your assistance dog are chosen for this amazing, once-in-a-lifetime adventure! You never know, Ty Pennington and his crew might just be getting ready to drive that famous bus into your neighborhood!!
How to Choose the Best Chew Toy for Your Assistance Dog
Toys are an important part of your assistance dog’s overall health and well-being. Having appropriate, engaging chew toys is important not only for entertainment but it can also support their dental health and ease anxiety.
I don’t know about you but when I got my first assistance dog, I did not have much experience with highly trained dogs and I was unsure about what were the best chew toys on the market.
Over the years, I have learned the hard way but I came across an article about chew toys this year in the Cornell University DOG Watch publication. The article provides an array of information about selecting the best chew toy.
As we all know, there are an endless variety of dog toys on the market but not all toys are right for your dog. Every dog has his or her own preference in toys. However, the key thing you need to keep in mind is safety first.
When choosing a toy best suited for your dog, you want to think about:
- Is your dog young or extremely active?
- Does he have any food allergies?
- What size is your dog?
- Is he a dedicated chewer or does he prefer to carry around a stuffed toy?
Most chew toys fall into the following categories:
- Rawhide
- Dental Chews
- Nylabones and Kongs
- Puzzle Toys
- Stuffed Toys and Rope Toys
Rawhides are just like it sounds, cured animal hide shaped into strips or bones. Most dogs love them and gobble them up. Be aware that rawhides soften when chewed and can become lodged in your dog’s throat. You need to be cautious and monitor your dog as they enjoy a rawhide.
Dental Chews can help to prevent periodontal disease by helping to clean your dog’s teeth and freshen their breath. They certainly do not replace brushing your dog’s teeth but they can play an important part in a healthy dental routine. CET chews, Hextra chews, DentaBones, and Greenies are just a few on the market.
Nylabones and Kongs – Nylabones are made from nylon, resins, hard-packed rubber and other synthetic materials. They are similar to regular bones but they won’t usually splinter or break as easily. Kongs are extremely durable toys made of hard rubber. You can even insert your dog’s favorite treat into some kongs such peanut butter, cream cheese, dog toothpaste, etc. Kongs stuffed with a special treat are great to encourage your dog to lick and chew. This oral stimulation will hopefully help them to relax and rest.
Puzzle Toys engage your dog’s mind, paws, nose and teeth. It will depend on your dog’s preference whether or not he appreciates the stimulation or if he simply gets frustrated and becomes uninterested.
Stuffed Toys and Rope Toys are best for gentler dogs. These types of stuffed toys can be very dangerous for dogs with a strong prey drive. Keep a close eye on the squeaker inside these types of toys. It can become a choking hazard for your dog. Rope toys can be fun but be sure to keep the ends knotted. If it becomes untied, your dog may shred and ingest it, resulting in digestive problems.
It is best to have a variety of all of these types of toys available for your dog. Whistle has to pick up his toys and store them in one of two toy boxes in our house. We regularly go through his toy boxes and donate any toys that he no longer seems interested in to our local animal shelter.
As Cornell University’s article stated, the two key things that I need to remember when selecting a chew toy for my assistance dog are:
- Everything in moderation…and with supervision.
- There is no substitute for human interaction.
Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. (February 2011) “How to Choose the Best Chew Toy”. DOG Watch. 15(2): 1.
U.S. Department of Justice Rules on Assistance Dogs to Become Stricter March 15, 2011
James J. McDonald, Jr., managing partner, Fisher & Phillips, LLP wrote a good summary about the March 15 changes impacting U.S. assistance dogs. His summary is listed below. It’s long but I found it to be very informative.
Regulations issued in 1991 following the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act required that public accommodations (which include restaurants, hotels, retail establishments, theaters, and concert halls) modify their policies, practices, or procedures to permit the use of a service animal by an individual with a disability.
Essentially this means that service animals accompanying persons with disabilities have to be admitted to establishments with policies that otherwise exclude pets or other animals.
When the ADA was enacted, most service animals were “seeing-eye” dogs that assisted blind or sight-impaired persons. In most cases, these dogs were highly trained and, because of their extensive training, were not likely to create a nuisance or a sanitary problem.
Over time, however, a variety of species came to be characterized by their owners as service animals, including pigs, horses, monkeys, snakes, lizards, birds, and rodents. Also, dogs and other animals that merely provide emotional comfort to their owners also have been characterized as service animals.
This proliferation of creatures claimed to be service animals has posed obvious problems for many restaurants and hotels in terms of safety, sanitation, and disturbance of other guests. Until now, however, proprietors were largely powerless to bar these types of animals from their establishments.
The U.S. Department of Justice has issued new regulations effective March 15, 2011, however, which will substantially limit the types of animals that will qualify as service animals under the ADA.
First, only dogs (and miniature horses in some cases) will qualify as service animals under the new regulations. “Other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained,” will not qualify. The new regulations, however, do not place limits on breed or size of dog.
Second, the dog must be “individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability.” The regulations go on to state that the work or tasks performed by the service animal must be directly related to the handler’s disability. Examples of work or tasks set forth in the regulations include:
a. Assisting sight-impaired persons with navigation or other tasks
b. Alerting hearing-impaired persons to the presence of people or sounds
c. Providing nonviolent protection or rescue work
d. Pulling a wheelchair
e. Assisting an individual during a seizure
f. Alerting an individual to the presence of allergens
g. Retrieving items such as medicine or the telephone
h. Providing physical support and assistance with balance and stability to individuals with mobility impairments
i. Helping persons with psychiatric and neurological disabilities by preventing or interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors
Under the new regulations, the mere “provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship does not constitute work or tasks” for purposes of the definition of service animal. Thus, animals that provide only comfort or emotional support for their owners will no longer qualify as service animals.
For a dog to qualify as a service animal to an owner with a psychiatric disability under the new regulations, the dog must be trained to perform specific work or tasks. Examples given in the guidance accompanying the new regulations of tasks performed by psychiatric service animals include reminding the handler to take medicine, providing safety checks or room searches for persons with posttraumatic stress disorder, interrupting self-mutilation, and removing disoriented individuals from dangerous situations.
The guidance also states that a dog that is used to “ground” a person with a psychiatric disorder will qualify as a service animal if the dog has been trained: (1) to recognize that a person is about to have a psychiatric episode and (2) to respond by nudging, barking or removing the person to a safe location until the episode subsides.
The new regulations additionally clarify that “attack dogs” trained to provide aggressive protection of their owners will not qualify as service animals. The crime-deterrent effect of a dog’s presence, by itself, does not qualify as “work” or “tasks” for purposes of the service animal definition.
The new regulations also formalize prior Justice Department technical assistance addressing the use and handling of service animals. The regulations provide that a public accommodation may ask an individual with a disability to remove a service animal from the premises if the animal is not housebroken, or if the animal is out of control, and the animal’s handler does not take effective action to control it. (Ordinarily, the regulations state, a service animal shall have a harness, leash, or other tether, unless the person with a disability is unable to use a harness, leash, or tether or the use of such a device would interfere with the animal’s ability to perform its work or tasks.) If a service animal is removed for any of these reasons, the person with a disability must still be permitted to access the establishment’s goods, services, or accommodations without the animal being present.
The regulations also confirm that a public accommodation is not responsible for the care or supervision of a service animal.
The regulations provide that a public accommodation may not ask about the nature or extent of a person’s disability, but that it generally may make two inquiries to determine whether an animal qualifies as a service animal; it may ask: (1) if the animal is required because of a disability, and (2) what work or task the animal has been trained to perform. These inquiries may not be made, however, when it is readily apparent that the animal is a service animal, such as where a guide dog is guiding a blind person or a dog is pulling a wheelchair.
Furthermore, a public accommodation may not require documentation, such as proof that the animal has been certified, trained, or licensed as a service animal. Nor may a public accommodation require a person with a disability to pay a surcharge for a service animal, even if it applies such a surcharge for pets.
These regulations will not apply to landlords or airlines, which are governed by the Fair Housing Act and the Air Carrier Access Act, respectively. It is also not yet clear that these regulations, and particularly the definition of a service animal, will be applied by courts to cases brought under Title I of the ADA which covers employment.
A good argument may be made, based on existing case law, that a stricter standard would apply under Title I. Unlike under Title III, where a dog must be allowed onto the premises if it qualifies as a service animal and does not leave a mess or cause a serious disturbance, an employee under Title I of the ADA is entitled only to such accommodations as are necessary to enable him or her to perform the essential functions of the job.
An employee, therefore, will likely need to show that the presence of a service animal is needed for the employee to be able to perform his or her essential job duties. An animal that provides only comfort or emotional support to an employee, but that is not needed in order for the employee to be able to work, will not likely qualify as a reasonable accommodation under Title I of the ADA.
These new regulations give long-needed clarity to hotels, restaurants, retailers, and other public accommodations regarding which animals must be allowed as service animals, and under what circumstances. No longer will these establishments need to allow patrons to bring exotic, dangerous, disruptive, or unsanitary animals with them as purported “service animals.”
James J. McDonald, Jr. is managing partner of the Irvine, Calif. office of the national labor and employment law firm Fisher & Phillips LLP (www.laborlawyers.com).
Current Assistance Dog Legislation
As a member of an assistance dog team, I know I sometimes take for granted all of the policy and administrative decisions that are being discussed and implemented. These laws and policies are very important, as they can directly impact our ability to function in public as effective assistance dog teams. Recently I heard about two legislative proposals directly related to assistance dogs that I think are of interest.
Representative seeks to designate National Assistance Dog Week in Hawaii
The first is from Hawaii Representative Corinne Ching. Representative Ching has proposed House Bill 1596 which would formally designate the second week of August as National Assistance Dog Week in Hawaii.
Representative Ching needs your support for this assistance dog specific legislation. She encourages people from throughout the United States to email her at repching@capitol.hawaii.gov and weigh in on her endeavor to make Hawaii the first state to declare NADW (www.assistancedogweek.org) an official holiday! Even a short message saying you approve of this recognition and the public education opportunity it supports will be appreciated.
Penalties for owners of dogs that attack service animals
Secondly, Pennsylvania Representative John Evans has introduced House Bill 165 which creates civil and criminal penalties for dog owners if their pet kills or maims a service animal. This legislation allows for fines of up to $1,000 and jail time of up to two years, and would require those convicted to pay veterinary and replacement costs.
This legislation is now headed for the Pennsylvania House floor for consideration. I don’t know if you and/or your assistance dog have ever been attacked. I can tell you that my service dog, Ramona, and I were on business in Washington, D.C. and were attacked by a dog while approaching the elevator to the Metro. It was quite a shocking experience because this dog suddenly came from out of a local business located near the Metro elevator.
Luckily, my husband Franz was with me and his quick actions saved Ramona’s life. Ramona suffered post traumatic stress from that moment on. So from a personal perspective, I can really appreciate Representative Evans’ leadership to hold pet owners accountable in such unfortunate incidents. You can connect with Representative Evans’ office through Jennifer Keaton at jkeaton@pahousegop.com or through his Facebook page.
We are all so busy with our everyday lives but I think it is important that we try to pay attention to current legislation that will impact our ability to work and thrive in public as individuals with disabilities with our assistance dogs. Do you know of any other legislation that is currently being proposed in your state that we should be tuned into?
