A while back there was a post with the title “At this point, I don’t even count ‘deep pressure therapy’ as a task anymore.” In the future I might share the post with my rebuttal, but I don’t have the spoons for that today.

One under lying complaint of this post was “shitty psychiatric service dogs”. As well as a comment I’ve seen on different Facebook service dog communities. “I have a right to go out in public and not be harassed by poorly trained service dogs!”

Well, depending on what is meant by harassed, no one actually does have that right. Service dog’s can’t be aggressive, and they have to be house trained, but that’s all the law says. It even notes that moments such as barking or lunging, are allowed if the handler can get that dog back under control. The bells and whistles of public access that we as a community throw around as must haves actually aren’t a requirement. Sniffing shelves, soliciting food and attention, walking up to strangers and sniffing their crotch, and even lunging and tugging erratically on leash are all behaviors that a service dog can exhibit while still maintaining its access rights.

There has been a lot of debates about if any type of test should be administered to prove the dog can behave well in public, and from what I’ve seen we as a community have said no. We see it as more important to protect those of our members struggling to live their disabled lives with poorly trained service dogs (dysfunctional aids) than to protect our own comfort and the comfort of the public at large.

These behaviors are not against the law because the are merely nuisances. They pose little to no risk to anyone. Of course it’s annoying to see a dog in a service vest chasing a squirrel and barking - out of control, or one who doesn’t know ‘under’ and so lays down in the middle of an aisle. And, of course, it’s much, much easier to handle a dog who is well behaved, well trained, and well mannered. But many disabled people have to make due with what they’ve got.

They, and their poorly trained service dog, no matter what tasks it knows, have the same right to be in public as you do. I feel like too often we forget that, and forget that these people are apart of our community.