Service Dog Replacement

This is a continuation of a blog from March 24, 2017 at this link.

On April 5, my friend (Jamie) called and asked if I could assist him in training a replacement dog for the fellow that had his dog loose one eye. My friend said that on April 4, the fellow had told him and the judge that the dog had passed. The veterinary said the whip had gone beyond taking out the eye and had damaged the dog's brain and the dog had passed due to the injury. The veterinary found the evidence when he posted the dog.

Jamie said that under normal circumstances, he could handle an additional dog, but he was already working with six dogs and adding another dog would not help the dogs he was training. I asked if he could use another person and gave him the name (Tom). He said that person was already working with three dogs for him and was unavailable at this time.

I said I would be there on Monday, April 17 but that we would need to go over my schedule of doctor appointments. He agreed and thanked me for helping.

On the April 17, I was at Jamie's and all three of us were present. I was told I would be working with a dog ready for the American Kennel Club good citizen test. We would be working in town today and then on Wednesday, I would take the dog for the test. The AKC tester from the trial would be doing the test and was aware of what happened to the dog from the trial. I would have the dog on Tuesday to work for the test and become better acquainted with the dog.

The dog was a pleasure to work on Monday and I felt that the dog would work with anyone. The store owner (Alfred) that was with us for the trail was happy to see us and said that his employees would be working with us as he had a meeting he could not miss. He did not tell us that we would be facing a pair of noisy dogs and that they could be problems for us. Our dogs behaved, but the other two dogs would not.

It turned out that there was another service dog trainer and it was his dogs that were not properly trained. The employees did ask the trainer to remove his dogs from the store while our dogs were in the store, but he refused and said his dogs had just as much right as our dogs to be in stores. At that point, we pulled our dogs out and went on to several other stores. That trainer tried to follow us, but when we split up, he was not able to follow.

Because all of us knew our way around the town, we were able to go more businesses. When we were back to the first store, the employees wanted to know how they could refuse entry to dogs that misbehaved so poorly. Jamie hesitated, so I said that the behavior was all they needed to have the dogs removed. I asked how many times have our dogs behaved poorly. One employee said only once and that was caused by a store customer creating the problem. I said that most of the dogs brought into businesses are near passing the AKC good citizen test or have passed it. The two dogs we saw today are not ready for the test.

In addition, businesses do not need to accept dogs with behavior that poor. The trainer is doing all service dogs a disservice and this will allow all businesses to reject good service dogs.

My friend was trying to get me to stop and I turned to him and asked how he could accept the behavior of such poorly trained dogs. They are a threat to your dogs being accepted in this town and will not make good service dogs. They are obviously not going to be mobility service dogs because of their small size and their poor behavior will cause other business owners to reject your larger mobility dogs and rightfully so.

Tom spoke then and said he agreed with me and said he needed to do something about the other trainer. As he spoke, the trainer and his two dogs entered the business. Both dogs started barking and raising a fuss at our dogs. I had my dog lie down and stepped in the path of the trainer and his two dogs. The trainer asked me to move aside and I said when his dogs behaved as if they had been trained and not before. Jamie stepped forward and his dog dropped in place.

Jamie spoke and said that all three of us agree that your dogs do not belong in businesses. They are too poorly trained and showed it. They bark incessantly and try to go in any direction. Businesses do have the right to refuse entry to any dog that has not passed the American Kennel Club good citizen test. You will notice that our dogs do not bark, when I walked away from the dog I am working with, it dropped in place as did my assistant's dog. I will not allow other dogs to ruin the position they have earned over the years I have used businesses in this town.

The other trainer said, but service dogs are to be allowed in any business under the American Disabilities Act. Wrong, Jamie answered. They can reject dogs that do not pass the AKC good citizen test. I can say and I know my assistants will agree that your dogs will not pass the test. When my dogs go into a restaurant, many people don't even know they are there unless they see them come in. My dogs don't bark unless the wheel chair their owner is in tips over and their owner cannot move. Plus the barking is not continuous like your dogs.

At that point, the store owner, Alfred, entered and asked what the problem was. The two dogs started barking loudly and would not quit. Alfred asked the trainer to remove his dogs and he refused. At that point, he had an employee call the police and ask an officer to be there quickly.

While we were waiting, the two dogs continued barking and misbehaving. When the officer arrived, he had a copy of the American Disabilities Act and read the section about businesses being allowed to prevent misbehaving dogs from being allowed in businesses. Then he asked the trainer of the two dogs to remove his dogs and keep them out of businesses in this town until they were trained and could pass the test of the American Kennel Club. The trainer complained that he was being forced out and his dogs were being discriminated against. At that point, another officer entered the business and together they removed the dogs and the trainer. What was said outside we don't know, but Alfred said he was the one that had gotten the American Disabilities Act for the police department and marked the section about misbehaving dogs for the police.

Jamie asked if he had made copy that he could read. One of his employees handed him a copy and he read this to himself and then asked if he could keep the copy. Yes, the copy was for him and he could have a copy for each of his assistants. He took two more copies and thanked Alfred. Alfred said because his dogs were well trained, there would always be a place for them in his business and most other businesses.