Fake Support Dogs

NoHeat

NoHeat

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When flying commercially I suspected that some of the purported service dogs I saw in airport terminals were pretenders. Then I saw ads for the dog vests that anybody could buy, making me think that for sure people buy them just so they can take their dog wherever they like.

Here's a story about it, claiming that it has become an increasingly common practice:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31646970
 
Yes, the comfort dog BS. Get a note from a doctor about flying anxiety, now you get to keep,your dog with you. It's been getting really insane with people and there dogs. I love dogs, always had dogs. But the way people are now bringing them everywhere is a ibit much. I have complained at a restaurant once and the dog person left, a second time a ended up leaving when the manager found no problem.
 
Sure some dogs can be a public nuisance, but I have been run out of restaurants MANY times by out of control kids. They don't even have to wear a red vest or anything. On balance I'll take the dogs.
 
I'm not surprised. OTH, they don't really bother me either. I like most dogs.
 
I think it's just an extension of the peculiar tendency of many people today to need to be "special," even if "special" means disabled in some way; and even if being disabled means just pretending to be disabled so they can be special.

It's one of the reasons I hate going to social functions any more, especially if they involve a dinner. Half the conversation is about peoples allergies, intolerances, syndromes, disorders, and other maladies. It becomes like a contest to see who's the sickliest soul at the tables. And then when they run out of their own maladies to boast about, they start bragging about all their kids' dubious disorders.

It's really quite bizarre.

Rich
 
Alexb2000 said:
Sure some dogs can be a public nuisance, but I have been run out of restaurants MANY times by out of control kids. They don't even have to wear a red vest or anything. On balance I'll take the dogs.
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+1,000

Put me on an airplane with a bunch of dogs over a bunch of kids any day!
 
I know someone who got her doc to designate her cat an "emotional support animal". Thus skirting the condo association pet rules. :rolleyes2:
 
I'm sitting here with my emotional support parrot. She flies with me regularly, but only in the Navion (she hates flying commercial).
 
The thing that I don't like is that you are not even allowed to ask for proof that a service dog is justified. Anyone can buy the vest, but even that is not necessary. All they have to say is that the dog is a service dog.

The only question you are allowed to ask is what service the dog is trained to provide.

But the dog still has to behave. An unruly service dog can be asked to leave.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
OMG! OMG! OMG! Someone is walking around with a dog!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whatever.
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AS much as I love dogs, and I certainly don't mind people that take dogs to restaurants, as long as they are behaved, I have a problem when people bring dogs into my CAT-ONLY veterinary hospital. Not only do the sick or injured cats hate it, but the cat's owners hate it even more. One of the reasons they bring their cats here is because there are no dogs. I had a client get up and leave before their appointment because someone brought in a lap dog that they claimed was an "emotional support dog". The the client with the dog declined every service we recommended.
 
Anyone suppose my doctor would certify my 10' Boa Constrictor as an emotional support snake? :D
 
timwinters said:
+1,000

Put me on an airplane with a bunch of dogs over a bunch of kids any day!
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That

And you can register your dog online as a official service dog for under 50 bucks.

...who cares, I could care less, Ive never had a barking, biting, kicking, or other wise dog on a flight, little poorly trained children kicking, pooping, screaming, etc, that's another story.

Basically it's a way to get your dog on without paying yet another airline fee and I'm all about that.


JOhnH said:
AS much as I love dogs, and I certainly don't mind people that take dogs to restaurants, as long as they are behaved, I have a problem when people bring dogs into my CAT-ONLY veterinary hospital. Not only do the sick or injured cats hate it, but the cat's owners hate it even more. One of the reasons they bring their cats here is because there are no dogs. I had a client get up and leave before their appointment because someone brought in a lap dog that they claimed was an "emotional support dog". The the client with the dog declined every service we recommended.
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Cat only vet?

Enough people spend enough money of CATS to make a business out of that?

Personally I'd just buy a new cat, they just don't bond or train like a dog
 
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True service dogs are well trained and rarely create a problem for anyone around them.
 
weilke said:
True service dogs are well trained and rarely create a problem for anyone around them.
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Very true. On a flight back to Denver, I sat with two FEMA agents, both female, with their cadaver dogs. They were going to Denver for an exercise. The dogs were Belgian Shepherds, and extremely well behaved. You never new they were there unless you looked.
 
Anthony said:
Very true. On a flight back to Denver, I sat with two FEMA agents, both female, with their cadaver dogs. They were going to Denver for an exercise. The dogs were Belgian Shepherds, and extremely well behaved. You never new they were there unless you looked.
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Sat across the aisle from a blind gentleman a couple of months ago. His dog was off leash and curled into a ball below the seat.

I have encountered some of the fakes as well. They were just pets and wouldn't stay in place, in one case the handler had to walk the restless dog up and down the aisle.
 
James331 said:
That

And you can register your dog online as a official service dog for under 50 bucks.

. . . .
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Thanks for that. I'm always happy to know about new and thriving scam operations. It's one of the few growth sectors our economy has left.

Rich
 
I'm on the fence on this one; tilted slightly towards the "c'mon, seriously?" side.

I don't mind a well behaved dog in any situation. I do think it unfair that some folks who would like to take their dog out and about do not because they don't want to scam the system (I'm projecting here).
 
Lately I've been far more annoyed with fake support wives. You know, the easily spotted gold digger types that get on the plane, and pay no attention to their husband while immediately ordering several cocktails before takeoff (all while talking loudly on their cell phone). They grudgingly cease their cell conversation only after the 4th request by the flight attendant, only to then turn to their iPad to watch episodes of 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' with annoying laughter. The husband, meanwhile, just sits there reading his WSJ, completely oblivious to her histrionics. And literally just as the plane is touching down, she's back on her phone to continue the conversation for seemingly half of the cabin to hear.
 
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jhausch said:
I'm on the fence on this one; tilted slightly towards the "c'mon, seriously?" side.

I don't mind a well behaved dog in any situation. I do think it unfair that some folks who would like to take their dog out and about do not because they don't want to scam the system (I'm projecting here).
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I don't mind the dogs, either. I like dogs. Dogs like me. No worries there.

It's the people who make me nauseous, not their dogs. I'm tired of being surrounded by people who believe that their made-up disabilities trump rules, regulations, the rights of others, and anything else they can think of. They're obnoxious and annoying.

But more importantly, people with made-up disabilities are an insult and a hindrance to people who work very hard to overcome real disabilities. Genuinely disabled people work very hard to maximize their abilities, not brag about and seek sympathy for their disabilities.

Rich
 
James331 said:
Cat only vet?

Enough people spend enough money of CATS to make a business out of that?

Personally I'd just buy a new cat, they just don't bond or train like a dog
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There are enough people willing to spend $$ on their cats that my wife and I are about to retire to a life of Bonanza flying courtesy of money spent on cats. It was touch and go for a few years during the recession, but people are starting to spend again.

For people like you, there are many places you can get the veterinary care you think your cat needs. But people that love their cats and want the best for them come to us with open billfolds.
 
How about people with actual but not obvious disabilities?
RJM62 said:
I don't mind the dogs, either. I like dogs. Dogs like me. No worries there.

It's the people who make me nauseous, not their dogs. I'm tired of being surrounded by people who believe that their made-up disabilities trump rules, regulations, the rights of others, and anything else they can think of. They're obnoxious and annoying.

But more importantly, people with made-up disabilities are an insult and a hindrance to people who work very hard to overcome real disabilities. Genuinely disabled people work very hard to maximize their abilities, not brag about and seek sympathy for their disabilities.

Rich
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JOhnH said:
How about people with actual but not obvious disabilities?
Click to expand...

I'm sure there are a small percentage of such people. But the vast majority of people with "emotional support animals" and the like are, in my opinion, just crybabies. Not everything about life being to someone's liking is not a disability.

Rich
 
RJM62 said:
I'm sure there are a small percentage of such people. But the vast majority of people with "emotional support animals" and the like are, in my opinion, just crybabies. Not everything about life being to someone's liking is not a disability.

Rich
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OK, since we are talking about "emotional" support dogs, I mostly agree with you. But one growing exception is the number of veterans with severe PTSD that find dogs can help them cope.
 
JOhnH said:
OK, since we are talking about "emotional" support dogs, I mostly agree with you. But one growing exception is the number of veterans with severe PTSD that find dogs can help them cope.
Click to expand...

I agree.

Rich
 
asechrest said:
I know someone who got her doc to designate her cat an "emotional support animal". Thus skirting the condo association pet rules. :rolleyes2:
Click to expand...

That sounds familiar... "medical" marijuana, anyone?
 
James331 said:
That

.......

Personally I'd just buy a new cat, they just don't bond or train like a dog
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I get attached to any critter I end up with.... Dogs, cats, ...You should have been around when I had my pet alligator when I lived in Miami... Sylvester was a kool gator too. My mother would not even go in that section of the house while I had him....;););)
 
This is my Psychiatric Wellness vulture. He is gluten intolerant just like I am.

133348838936765512_WMtoxdT5_c1.jpg
 
How about religious freedom. It's against my religion to be crammed into an aluminum tube close to other people. I want an accomodation of a free upgrade to first...
 
A woman walked into the local grocery store one day, a coupe of years ago, with a wonderfulyl behaved service dog. The store manager started to give her a very bad time, until a deputy sheriff walked up and politely asked him to shut the hell up, and stop harassing the nice lady.

They jawed for quite a while, until the woman handed the deputy her cell phone, and he heard first hand from her doctor that she is an epileptic and her dog apparently senses a seizure before it happens, and somehow warns her, so she can lay flat and let it pass.

The lady was perfectly Ok with choosing o disclose that information, which I think of as private, and the grocery store manager just had to say something stupid and make her cry before he was satisfied.

It's been several years, and that manager moved, or was moved one, and I still won't go into that store.

Until then I didn't understand that a dog could signal his owner that she was about to have a seizure. Amazing what you can train a dog to do.
 
weilke said:
True service dogs are well trained and rarely create a problem for anyone around them.
Click to expand...

no kidding. I've seen a few and they were very disciplined.

My daughter's roommate in college has a "support" dog for depression. She gets to keep it in the apartment since she has a note from her MD. My daughter said she she found dog poop in her closet. I dunno, maybe that cheered her up. :rolleyes2:
 
NoHeat said:
When flying commercially I suspected that some of the purported service dogs I saw in airport terminals were pretenders. Then I saw ads for the dog vests that anybody could buy, making me think that for sure people buy them just so they can take their dog wherever they like.

Here's a story about it, claiming that it has become an increasingly common practice:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31646970
Click to expand...

:eek: I'm shocked! I can't imagine anyone making a "Service dog in training" vest for their perfectly behaved and friendly companion dog to get around stupid rules. The nerve of some people... Just, utterly shocking I tell you. I for one would never even dream of having done such a thing many times. :no:
 
TommyG said:
Yes, the comfort dog BS. Get a note from a doctor about flying anxiety, now you get to keep,your dog with you. It's been getting really insane with people and there dogs. I love dogs, always had dogs. But the way people are now bringing them everywhere is a ibit much. I have complained at a restaurant once and the dog person left, a second time a ended up leaving when the manager found no problem.
Click to expand...

Why is it a problem? America is one of the few countries in the world where you can't bring your dog into a restaurant.:dunno:
 
RJM62 said:
I think it's just an extension of the peculiar tendency of many people today to need to be "special," even if "special" means disabled in some way; and even if being disabled means just pretending to be disabled so they can be special.

It's one of the reasons I hate going to social functions any more, especially if they involve a dinner. Half the conversation is about peoples allergies, intolerances, syndromes, disorders, and other maladies. It becomes like a contest to see who's the sickliest soul at the tables. And then when they run out of their own maladies to boast about, they start bragging about all their kids' dubious disorders.

It's really quite bizarre.

Rich
Click to expand...

It's also a situation of people refusing to play along with the stupid by using a sign that indicates you aren't playing today. That's what the vest is, it's your level 12 anti stupidity shield.
 
People are getting sick because they are so coddled as kids. They need to be exposed to the outdoors so they can build up resistance.

I love to tell this story...My team is sitting around the pool at the downtown palace in Bagdad in 2003; several of the guys are smoking cigars and otherwise just hanging out, when LCDR M*** comes out of the building in his gym shorts and climbs up on the diving board. We tell him the power has been out and the filter has not been running. He then exclaims that "every now and then a person has to take their immune system out for a little exercise." At that he jumps in the pool and manages to keep his cuban high and dry.
He suffered no ill effects of his plunge.
 
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