Bill approved to make VA service-dog friendly

The House of Representatives could vote as early as next week on sweeping legislation that makes the Veterans Affairs Department more dog-friendly.

A House committee has approved legislation that would allow service dogs to be used on any VA property or in any VA facility, including any facility or property receiving VA funding.

“I’m really pleased this legislation is moving, just for the sheer fact we have been trying to do this for so long,” said Christina Roof, deputy national legislative director for the veterans’ service organization AmVets. “VA could have done this itself, by regulation, a long time ago if they wanted, but they haven’t done anything so it looks like Congress will.”

Under current law and regulation, VA is required only to allow guide dogs for the blind onto its property and into facilities because those are the only type of assistance animals specifically covered in federal law. Individual facilities directors can be more flexible, if they wish.

VA officials have been working since March on trying to come up with a new service dog policy but discussions have been bogged down, in part, over the question of whether the policy should specifically list the types of service dogs that should be allowed or to leave that open to interpretation.

Language included in HR 2074, a veterans’ health care bill passed Sept. 28 by the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, would end the discussion. The provision is very direct, saying the VA secretary “may not prohibit the use of service dogs in any facility or on any property.” The bill makes no effort to define what constitutes a service dog.

Roof said she expects common sense would be used, with eligible dogs having received some specialized training in order to be considered a service dog and with facilities still able to have restrictions on where dogs could go on the premises. For example, a service dog would not be allowed into an operating room but might be allowed in the waiting room of a medical clinic, she said.

In addition to opening the buildings and grounds to service dogs, the bill would create a three-year pilot program in which veterans with post-traumatic stress or other post-deployment mental disorders would be involved in training service dogs for other veterans. The idea of the test is to see if being a dog trainer has any rehabilitation benefits for veterans.

Veterans who have service dogs would have priority in being hired as trainers under the pilot program.

Source: airforcetimes
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Dont Pet the Service Dog

Greg is a 19 year old from New Hampshire. Like most teens his age, he'll be going to college in September—taking classes, living in a dorm...

But unlike other freshman, Greg will have a four-legged roommate: his service dog, Sprinkles.

"When you first get a service dog, you set targets, like: 'I want my dog to help me with balance, stability and mobility," said Greg, who came to Dobbs Ferry this week for his bonding week with Sprinkles, who will be his second service dog. "But then you realize the dog helps you emotionally. My dog doesn't judge me; I can tell him anything."

Sprinkles was trained by ECAD (Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities), a local organization that trains dogs—mainly golden retrievers—to accompany people with physical and emotional disabilities ranging from orthopedic problems to post-traumatic stress disorder.

On Wednesday, ECAD hosted an open house at its training facility in Dobbs Ferry's Children's Village to honor International Assistance Dog Week. Assistance dogs include guide dogs, service dogs, hearing alert dogs, seizure alert/response dogs and medical alert/response dogs. International Assistance Dog Week was established as a result of the efforts of Marcie Davis, a paraplegic who lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

"The main idea for Assistance Dog Week is to spread awareness of the prevalence of assistance dogs and to teach people proper etiquette surrounding them," said Carrie Picard, daughter of Lu and Dale Picard, ECAD's founders. "People know not to walk up and pet seeing-eye-dogs, but they don't realize you shouldn't touch service dogs either. They can be the arms and legs of a disabled person."

ECAD is a unique program in that it trains dogs to serve people with all disabilities—except sight and hearing impairment. It is also unique because much of the training is performed by students in special act school districts like Children's Village, Greenburgh Graham and Green Chimneys.

Greg, whose first service dog will stay home with his parents when he and Sprinkles head off to Salve Regina University in Rhode Island, said most public places are accommodating to people with service dogs.

"Hotels can be difficult though," he said. "Sometimes they want to charge more 'because of the mess'—which is ridiculous! Would you charge extra for someone with crutches?"

Greg believes "bonding week," or a service dog recipient's first week with the dog, is the most important time in their relationship.

"It's when you familiarize yourself with the dog," he explained. "Trust between a master and worker goes two ways. We have to work as a cohesive unit."

Rubbing Sprinkles, he added: "Everything flows so nicely with Sprinkles. I have a feeling we'll be just fine together."

More Info on Service Dog Tag, Click here.
Source : Patch.com
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Flying with Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals

It is unlawful for airlines to charge a fee for a service animal or ESA.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) allows for Service dogs and emotional support animals to travel in the cabin of the aircraft as long as the dog does NOT obstruct an aisle or any other area used for emergency evacuations.

Although general in-flight rules will always be enforced by every airline company, the processes of actually making reservations, passing the ticket counter, luggage check in, security checkpoint, and gate may vary slightly, depending on the airline and airport. By reviewing the websites for individual airlines, you'll learn most of their guidelines, including that all request and require service dog and ESA identification and identifying apparel.

What To Expect At the Airport
• Flying with a service animal or ESA for the first time can be very anxiety producing, but in reality, the experience is actually easy and low-stress for prepared handlers. It is a very good idea to contact the airlines or consult their website a week or more before the flight (or at the time tickets are purchased) to find out what the requirements are for flying with a service animal or ESA. Most airlines now require advance notification and some, like Frontier and Midwest Airlines require special forms to be completed, in addition to the letter of prescription.

• At the airport and on the plane, the animal should wear an easy identification photo ID tag attached to the leash or harness. All airlines strongly encourage this because it makes identifying your dog as a service dog or ESA much easier and will prevent unnecessary confrontations (this is also true for all other settings in which you may be accompanied by your dog).

• When you arrive at the ticket or baggage check-in counter, make sure the airline representative is aware of the service animal/ESA. Airline personnel have typically seen and managed many passengers with service animals, and have a specific process they must follow before a passenger with a service dog can proceed without delays.

• First, you'll be asked questions to determine if the animal is a working service dog or an ESA. If the animal is a working service dog, the airline representative will ask what task your dog is trained to perform for you because of your disability. You, as the passenger, must be able to provide credible verbal evidence at this point (that means you need to be prepared to convincingly tell airport personnel what task your dog performs specific to your disability.

• If the animal is an ESA (emotional support animal), then you must tell the airline representative that the dog is an ESA. You will be required to produce a formal letter of prescription for a service dog or ESA from a licensed mental health professional. A letter from your medical doctor will NOT be accepted, as the letter must be written by a licensed mental health professional (psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist, counselor, social worker). There is no way around this. In addition, it is becoming increasingly common for airlines to require you to submit a copy of this letter several days prior to the flight. Some airlines (Midwest and Frontier, for example) actually require you to have your therapist or licensed mental health professional complete one of their third party verification forms.

• Once you're on your way to the boarding gate, the next step is to pass through the security checkpoint. This is easy, and your dog may walk or be carried through the scanner with you, but the dog's leash, collar, harness, or anything else with metal in or on it must be removed prior to going through. So we highly recommend non-metal ID Badge/tag to eliminate the hassle. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officer may also ask about your dog, but it's just a formality.

• Having arrived at the boarding gate, it's a good idea to let the attending airline personnel know that you are being accompanied by your service dog or ESA, although it isn't required. Often, they will allow you to board first and be seated ahead of others out of convenience for you, as well as other passengers.

• Once you have boarded the aircraft, most airline policies state that your dog must be on the floor between your knees and the seat in front of you. Most of the time, however, flight attendants rarely seem to mind if small a service dog or ESA sits on your lap.


ID4Pet wish you a pleasant flight.


Source: AAA ebook
ADA

Family Pets Get Trained to Become Service Dogs

We all like to think of our family pets just as that, part of the family. But for local veteran Kimberly Cunningham, her "man's best friend" goes even further than that.

Cunningham and her 5-year-old daughter rescued the Pitbull mix Beans two years ago. Their bond might initially seem just like any other four legged and two legged friendship. On a typically Sunday afternoon Beans is hanging out on Kim's lap, just enjoying being petted by her owner.
"She's a lap dog. She's a snuggler. And she has to just be with you all the time," Kim says.

The bond between Beans and Cunningham reaches far beyond the realm of just a lap dog, though. Kimberly has severe post traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD.

"It's inside and it's a very terrifying thing for me it's traumatizing on a daily basis. I want to be so normal and it's just not there," Kim explains.

That's where the 2-year-old rescued pit bull comes in. About a month ago, Kim read about Canine Angels, a local group that adopts dogs and then trains them for PTSD veterans. Rather than give Kim another dog, she thought maybe Beans could undergo training.

For about the past month, the family dog has been training to become Kimberly's service dog. She says the strong bond between human and pet is what makes the training so easy.

"She picked up on it right away, and it was pretty incredible to watch him work with her and then deal with me," she says.

Rick Kaplan, the owner of Canine Angels says this is the first time he has ever trained a pet that was already in the family, but Beans took to training very quickly. Already the dog's presence is already a calming force to Kim's symptoms like anxiety and panic attacks.

Kim says even though she rescued Beans as a nine week old puppy, Beans is the one giving her a one of the greatest gifts of all.

"Beans will be able to give me my life back. I realize that there's a light at the end of the tunnel and with her I know I will eventually have a life again."

Source : WPDE news

Service Dog Training

If you are familiar with dogs and how to work with them, you may want to consider training one yourself.
But what about certification? What is ADA? I want a REAL Service Dog!!
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not mention the guidelines for raising, training, and/or obtaining a service animal. What it does say is what you and businesses can and cannot do with one. The ADA does, however, provide a definition of a service animal. Meeting that definition is all the "certification" your dog needs.
Now, after you have determined what you need a service dog to do and chosen a dog that can (with training) do those tasks - its time to do the training! The next thing is to live with the dog you have chosen for 30 days before making a commitment. Go for car rides. Does she get carsick? Go to the pet store. Does she get aggressive to other dogs? Play different games with her. When you throw the ball, does she bring it to you or run around with it? Or does she give you the look that says "You threw it, YOU get it!"
At the end of the 30 (or more!) day trial, do some serious thinking. This critter will be with you probably more than your own spouse! Is this a dog you could live with for the next 7 to up to 15 years? What about personality types? If the dog is in perpetual motion, can you keep up? If the dog is a rug potato, do you mind?
So, you made your list and you've picked a dog and you both survived the 30 day trial. Now Obedience classes. Even if you have an adult dog who already knows sit and stay, go anyway. It will strengthen the bond. And you'll both be speaking the same language. Then check to see if your city or state or municipal area has a 'service dog in training" (SDIT) law. Since SDITs are not covered by the ADA, you must follow that law. Find dog friendly places to go. Home Depot is a great place.
Most important: train your dog at least ONE thing that helps you with your disability and your dog is a Service Dog according to the ADA. It has to be a trained activity, not something the dog naturally does on its own. For example, most dogs will go after a ball and also bring it back to you for you to throw again. However, if you trained your dog to hand you whatever item you point to AND it's an activity you cannot do yourself, then it's a trained activity. It's a thin line between the two.
Once that trained activity is reliable, then ignore the SDIT law and follow the ADA. Start taking your dog to places you usually go and/or places you would need help. Get the critter used to the sights, smells, and sounds it will encounter. At the same time, use common sense. Unless your dog can reliably NOT urinate, poop, or mark without your 'approval', don't take it to an all day conference. If your dog is too young to sit still for the time span you need it to, then don't embarrass it by putting it in situations it will fail. If your dog begs at the table, don't take it to a restaurant until that habit is gone.
Training your own dog to do what YOU need it to do is not as difficult as it seems. Neither is it as easy as it may seem. No Service Dog is ever fully finished with training. Just as we need to be refreshed on our own jobs or responsibilities, so do they. And you can take pride in knowing that the praise and kudos your dog receives is all your doing (okay, the dog has some to do with it too!). The best compliment you can get is to hear people say "I didn't even know the dog was there!"

More info on the service dog tag, please click here
Source EDStoday Magazine.

Train your dog with games! Part 2/2

Games are good ways to train your dogs. By playing games with your dog, not only they can learn command but also they don't get bored. Bored dogs create problems. Let your dog prove how clever she or he is by sitting when you say “sit”, lying down when you say “down”, etc. Try it when your eyes are closed, your back is to the dog, or you are in a different position like lying down or even standing on your head! For advance learner, can try mix up “drop it”, “take it/get it”, “hold it”, and “leave it”. You’ll be surprised with the results if trained properly and with patience.

4. Find It! Put your dog in a down-stay position, show him the treat or his favorite toy, then let him watch you put it behind a door, a chair or under a towel. Then tell him to “Find it!” When he does, give him lots of praise. And of course, he gets to eat the treat. You can repeat this by varying the places and treats. Overtime, hide the treat where the dog can’t see it, like in another room. Release her, and let her get the treat. You can increase the distance, difficulty level. This is especially good for dogs that have learn “stay” but are nervous about having their people go out of sight.

5. Give Him Problem To Solve Boring dog? Put a treat inside a cardboard box and let your dog work to get it out. Make it easy at first — start with a box without a lid and let the dog see you put the treat in it. Work up to more difficult ones. Depending on your dog’s skill, you may end up with pieces of box all over the floor but you’ll have a very happy and busy dog throughout the process.

Good luck and have fun!

Read more about how to train your pets with games Part 1/2, click
here.

source: mypetnetwork.tv