Take a stand or back down?

I inadvertently added to a firestorm last week by posting a story about a woman, Becky, who was asked to leave Ann Taylor, a woman’s clothing store in Salt Lake City, Utah because of her guide dog, Cricket.

Becky wrote a blog article about the event and made her story public through various media outlets. In interest of full disclosure, Ann Taylor is maintaining that the dog was not wearing its harness and that the fault resided with Becky, not their sales clerk or manager.  Clearly, Becky disputes that fact.  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not require either a harness or a service vest.  But, Becky uses Cricket to guide her, so the harness is clearly important.

The firestorm … on the blogs … media reports, Facebook posts and reposts was all about the fact that Becky chose to leave the store without creating a scene and “standing up for her rights”.  People were highly critical of her choice and were suggesting that she should have made the decision to stay and advocate for her right to shop in the store with Cricket at her side.

However, as one of the commenters succinctly put it: “having a disability is hard enough, we don’t always choose to set the example at that particular time and place”.

Many people with a service dog do choose to advocate for their rights when they are turned away from someplace they have a legal right to be.  Others, depending on the time of day, the week, or the hour, simply choose to walk away.  We must respect that right as much as we respect their right to public access.

A Dog’s Tail of Two Restaurants

This is a tale of one service dog in training and her recent experience at two different restaurants, both part of the same national chain.

Kim is a re-homed service dog who is in advanced training to serve a veteran with post-traumatic stress.  Under Virginia State Law and supported by the Americans with Disabilities Act, a trainer with a service dog over the age of 6 months is afforded the same public access as the service dog and its owner.  That means that the trainer and the dog are allowed anywhere the public is generally allowed.  If asked, the trainer must answer the two legally allowed questions:  1) is that a service dog (yes) and 2) what tasks does it perform (list the tasks).

Just a few days apart, Kim and her trainer visited two restaurants in different parts of her city but all part of the same restaurant group.  In the first restaurant – at the height of the lunch rush hour – the visit was a non-event.  She and her trainer entered the restaurant, bought their food at the counter, found a table and Kim tucked under it.  With the exception of some poorly informed people who tried to pet Kim, there was no problem with lunch that day.

However, in the second restaurant, Kim entered with her trainer – food was purchased, taken to their booth, and again Kim tucked under.  Within a few minutes the restaurant manager came over and said, “some of my customers are having a problem with a dog being in here … is that a service dog?”  Not the most polite way to start a conversation, but he did ask the right question.  The trainer answered yes without elaborating.  Now, keep in mind that the dog was under the table in a booth and could not be easily seen by anyone unless they were on all fours.

Now, here is where it gets interesting.  The manager looked at Kim’s trainer, made an ugly face, harrumphed loudly and walked away.  In about 5 minutes there was a very loud ruckus near the self-serve trash cans, banging of dishes, flinging of chairs at a nearby table and all in all quite the commotion.  The manager was clearly trying to make enough noise and disturbance to engage the dog in a negative way.  The dog didn’t blink an eye and lunch continued without incident other than the manager continuing to be visibly unhappy.

Sadly, the poor behavior exhibited by the manager cost the restaurant a customer – or two or ten.  Even without a service dog in tow, the trainer won’t likely be frequenting that particular restaurant … and it’s likely that the boycott will extend to his family and friends as well. 

While business owners may understand their legal obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, they may be unaware of how their managers or front desk personnel are handling the situation.  And, they may be unaware that they are driving customers away with their poor attitude.  These owners, together with those who are unaware of their obligations, are opening themselves up to the possibility of negative media attention or even a lawsuit.  And, I can assure you, no one wants their business to be in the media bullseye.

If you would like information about how to improve, retain or increase business by creating a service dog friendly environment, please contact Service Dog 411 to schedule a staff education session today.  Or, please feel free to share your story about dining or shopping with your service dog!

Do you believe in Leprechauns?

As I noted in my previous blogpost article, I spend a portion of my time each day researching information about service dogs, organizations, providers and trainers. 

So, today, this is what I learned:  Number one: the difference between therapy dogs and service dogs is that people get to keep their therapy dogs as pets and service dogs are given away to help people in wheelchairs.  Really?  Not so much. (Let’s not even address the misconception about the role of service dogs and the disabled!!).  Essentially a service dog has had extensive training to provide one or more specific tasks for an individual. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guarantees the rights of these individuals to have their service dog accompany them wherever they go as long as the general public is also allowed.  On the other hand, a therapy dog most often gives its love in group settings such as nursing homes, hospitals, and schools.  Read more about the difference here.

Number two:  one organization advertises that their program is the very best because they train their dogs to perform basic obedience commands like sit, down, stay and shake by the age of 3 weeks.  Hmm.  Perhaps they meant three months, but that’s not what the article said.  At three weeks I’m pretty sure those puppy babies are still scooting around on their bellies looking for momma’s teats.  So, language is important. 

And, if language is important, perception is reality.  While there are many altruistic organizations whose primary motivation is to help people, they still have expenses.  And to offset those expenses, they have to make people believe that their organization is the very best.  Clients who pay or sponsors who pay … makes no difference, someone has to pay.  And, while many of these organizations are truly awesome—great dogs, great trainers and a great moral compass—there are just as many who are not as well-educated about what they’re doing, how they're doing it and why. 

So, do you really believe that the Internet is a harbinger of solid, reliable, factual, and real information?  Do you believe in Leprechauns?  If you’d like some assistance in navigating through the ocean of information about service dogs, providers, trainers or just to learn more about the role of service dogs for people with invisible disabilities, please contact us through our website at www.ServiceDog411.com.