Therapy dog policy at CA beaches?

[Danica32]

Originally Posted by SportyandMisty

You were not wrong. You did not go far enough. You should have said your doctor prescribed you Scream Therapy, and you should have screamed at her non-stop.

Hahahaha perfect.

[BeauCharles]

Glad you said something. "Therapy" or "Emotional support" dogs are a crock and are nothing more than some ridiculous loophole people think they have found to take their pets everywhere. I got into a similar row with a young woman who brought her dog into a restaurant and it proceeded to bark at my elderly mother on a walker. She ended up leaving. I'm sick of entitled dog owners who think they're pets are children or something. Its against California health code to have anything but a licensed service animal (as in trained for six months by a professional for those who are deaf, blind, etc...) in an establishment that sells or prepares food.

[evening sun]

I think it was OK to tell her, Untrained dogs wreck havoc on wildlife in parks & on some endangered birds on shore ( snowy plover). I love dogs but hate the misuse of so many people with "therapy dogs"

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by BeauCharles

Glad you said something. "Therapy" or "Emotional support" dogs are a crock and are nothing more than some ridiculous loophole people think they have found to take their pets everywhere. I got into a similar row with a young woman who brought her dog into a restaurant and it proceeded to bark at my elderly mother on a walker. She ended up leaving. I'm sick of entitled dog owners who think they're pets are children or something. Its against California health code to have anything but a licensed service animal (as in trained for six months by a professional for those who are deaf, blind, etc...) in an establishment that sells or prepares food.

As I recall, in the past you have made clear you don’t like dogs, in general. Fine. And without a doubt many many people are playing the system to self-interest aside from “therapy.” But curious where you get that dogs are not proven valuable in many theraputic situations? You’ve made a blanket condemnation that I suspect comes from your personal preference. Plenty of research and studies validate the positive role of dogs in other than true trained service applications and venues. You want to make negative points about people bs-ing the system, fine. True enough. But there’s plenty evidence to go beyond and against your overarching opinion.

And where did you come up with the definition of legitimate service animals needing to be “trained for six months by a professional”? ADA law doesn’t stipulate any such requirement or certification. People with medically diagnosed conditions that can benefit from service dogs can train their animals themselves and there is no time or curriculum requirement, nor even certification. In most cases professional training is best. But not always.

I am friends with a Deaf couple who trained a couple retrievers to alert them to various sounds and situaltional stimuli ... the dogs, for example, alert the owners when a text tone sounds on their cell phones, thus assisting general communications and also providing notice for emergency alerts. I asked them how long it took to get the dogs to respond to the text tones and smoke alarms. They laughed and said “less than a couple months”. Dog biscuit rewards can be a powerful technique, I guess. Text tone = cookie time!

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by evening sun

I think it was OK to tell her, Untrained dogs wreck havoc on wildlife in parks & on some endangered birds on shore ( snowy plover). I love dogs but hate the misuse of so many people with "therapy dogs"

Disagree. Many conditions that can benefit from service dogs are not visibly apparent. Diabetes, epilepsy, dystonia, PTSD, deafness - as just a few examples. Folks with such conditions are constantly challenged about their dogs. It is a real aggravation after a while. It is best to refer concerns to venue management.

As to “untrained dogs wreaking havoc” ... well, if they’re “untrained” they’re not service dogs, by definition ... and can be ejected from any venue ... should be reported ... but stll best to leave confrontation to management. Most employers these days give employees basic orientations to their jobs that include dealing with guests / customers with disabilities. Let them handle it.

[Mike930]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

Disagree. Many conditions that can benefit from service dogs are not visibly apparent. Diabetes, epilepsy, dystonia, PTSD, deafness - as just a few examples. Folks with such conditions are constantly challenged about their dogs. It is a real aggravation after a while. It is best to refer concerns to venue management.

As to “untrained dogs wreaking havoc” ... well, if they’re “untrained” they’re not service dogs, by definition ... and can be ejected from any venue ... should be reported ... but stll best to leave confrontation to management. Most employers these days give employees basic orientations to their jobs that include dealing with guests / customers with disabilities. Let them handle it.

The problem is people are mixing up emotional support dogs with real service animals. Emotional support animals have no right to go anywhere but their owners try to insist they’re the same as the support animals. They’re not.

I’m all for service animals but this nonsense with the emotional support animals has to stop. Costco recently began stopping people with emotional support animals from entering. I’ve seen people react the same as the OP described. Screaming, yelling, throwing fits and cursing out the Costco employees. These people come unhinged when told no.

[LLCNYC]

Originally Posted by Mike930

The problem is people are mixing up emotional support dogs with real service animals. Emotional support animals have no right to go anywhere but their owners try to insist they’re the same as the support animals. They’re not.

I’m all for service animals but this nonsense with the emotional support animals has to stop. Costco recently began stopping people with emotional support animals from entering. I’ve seen people react the same as the OP described. Screaming, yelling, throwing fits and cursing out the Costco employees. These people come unhinged when told no.

Amen.

Now someone can't handle going to the beach w/o assistance? Ugh.