Lucys Dog Rescue Blog will soon cease to exist.

In the process of moving Lucys Dog Rescue Blog to a new home we have moved the old "Lucy" posts to the new publication. Except for some pictures all previous posts are at the new location.
The old blog will be deleted soon.

New articles are published exclusively in the new periodical.
Please be patient during the transition. We are still experimenting with the new format and layout.You can expect abrupt changes in appearance while we are testing the practicality of different layouts.

Please feel free to contribute your opinion about the templates. We appreciate and invite your input.

'Working Service Dog' focuses on issues and developments that affect true working and service dogs as well as their owners. Rescued dogs deserve a place in the overall picture.

But let us take one step at a time by completing the transition.
PJJ

Lucys Dog Rescue Blog has a new home - Working Service Dog

As of December 17, 2011 lucysvoice.blogspot.com has a new home, a new title and a mission.

The old 'Lucys Dog Rescue - Giving Rescued Pets a Happy Voice' is still at the previous URL. However, we will post all new blogs exclusively on the new blog

Working Service Dog.

You can find the new blog at

http://servicedogpost.blogspot.com/

Please make a note of it. 

As the name says, the new blog will focus more on service and working dogs and topics associate with them. We will look at the legal ramifications, ethical issues and the many abuses perpetrated by zealous owners of 'service' dogs.
Those abuses will have in the long run negative effects on the status of all legitimate service dogs.

Please be patient until the two blogs are fully integrated and the new blog interface is in place.
PJJ

Good Dog Bites Bad Guys

October 13, 2011 by DFG News 

Here is a noteworthy press release featuring a working canine. These dogs are too often overlooked; their valuable work is rarely mentioned anywhere. Here is a tribute to one of them:

"A California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) K-9 and her handler have proven to be a great asset in the war against drugs in northern California. German Shepherd Phebe and her handler, Warden Brian Boyd, have been responsible for the apprehension of 40 fleeing marijuana cultivation suspects on grow sites hidden deep in forestland.

“Apprehension of marijuana cultivation suspects is some of the most dangerous work wardens do,” said Lt. Lynette Shimek, coordinator of DFG’s K-9 program. “Marijuana cultivation suspects are actively engaged in the commission of a felony, usually armed, extremely physically fit, and know the area better than their pursuers. Although most initial contacts with suspects result in foot pursuits, they can’t outrun Phebe.”
DFG has eight K-9s that are trained to detect illegal substances and objects, protect their handlers and apprehend fleeing suspects. Phebe and Warden Boyd, who have been partnered for three and a half years, have fine-tuned their apprehension strategy with great success. Phebe apprehended 13 of the 40 suspects with a bite, while the rest gave up under the threat of being bitten.
Phebe’s recent successes include:
• A July 25 police raid on a known grow site in Mendocino County resulted in a foot pursuit after two suspects fled. One suspect was quickly apprehended by Phebe and detained by the law enforcement team. Warden Boyd immediately put Phebe on the trail of the second suspect, who called out “Don’t let that dog bite me!” before surrendering to officers. Phebe was commanded to hold the suspect without biting him, which she did.
• During a July 28 a police raid of a site in Tehama County, the team contacted five suspects who subsequently ignored the officers’ commands and fled. One officer apprehended a suspect with his Tazer and two additional suspects were captured immediately. Warden Boyd, Phebe, and partner Warden Aaron Galwey set off after the other two. After pushing through extremely dense foliage for 400 yards upstream, Phebe located a suspect and apprehended him. Over an hour later, when Phebe was searching the area for evidence, she sniffed out the fifth suspect hiding in thick cover. Warden Boyd was able to detain the suspect without injury. Phebe then went on to locate the suspects’ ammunition stores hidden in a plastic bag in heavy brush.
Two of Phebe’s apprehensions have been filmed for Wild Justice, National Geographic’s reality television series highlighting the work of California game wardens. Videographers from Original Productions, the producers of the series, attached a camera to Phebe’s collar to give viewers a never-before-seen view point of an apprehension.
One of the apprehensions was aired during the first season of Wild Justice, which began in November 2010. The other apprehension will be shown on the upcoming second season. The air date of the season premiere has not yet been announced."
DFG

Commuting Russian Dogs.

Feral Dogs in Moscow, Russia, have learned to commute via subway from their homes to the inner city of Moscow according to unconfirmed reports.

During the communist era the inner city of Moscow did not have many restaurants or other establishments that normally attract visitors and off duty workers. Packs of feral dogs had taken up residence in Moscow to forage in deserted alleys and garbage dumps for food.

This all changed with the advent of capitalism and western tourists in the city. Now Moscow has well established restaurants, movie and other theaters as well as a lively nightlife. These activities drove the feral dogs out of the city and to the fringes and suburbs of the metropolis. Most of these districts are predominantly industrial. Food for the dogs is rare and far between.

Abundantly available food around the new food establishments of central Moscow eventually lead the dogs back to their old homes to forage there during the  night.

Now travelers can observe small packs  of dogs waiting in suburban subway stations for trains bound for central Moscow, board the train, ride it for a given time and debark from the train in order to visit their feeding places.  Hours later they return home to their resting places via subway.
Commuters on the subway trains used by the dogs claim that older, experienced dogs  are training younger ones exactly how long to wait before getting off the train at the desired destination.

If proven true, this would be a most exciting story attesting to the ingenuity of dogs and their ability to adapt tochanged environmental conditions.
DK

Definition of “Service Dog” updated.

Revised ADA guidelines.

In March 2011 the Department of Justice published a revised definition of “service dog” and the requirements such animals must meet. This move was long overdue because the requirements for a service dog according to ADA (American With Disabilities Act) were too wide and not clearly enough defined. That resulted in well meaning but ill conceived attempts of dog lovers to declare their pet a service dog when the animal in fact is only a pet.

Consequently, the owners of true service dogs had to cope with resistance from business owners and administrators whenever they were accompanied by their service dog. This reluctance to allow service dogs extended even to the State licensed dogs that had to pass a test in order to become a licensed service animal and are issued a state identification tag with a unique license number.

The following new definition of a service dog should make things a little easier, though it will not solve the problem created by pseudo service dogs and their petulant owners. The Justice Department issued this definition:

“Service animal means any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability.”

An owner of s service dog must no longer have a sensory disability in order to qualify his dog as a true service dog. However, the dog still must be individually trained to perform a task uniquely designed to assist his owner in ameliorating or offsetting a specific disability.

As I pointed out in my previous articles on service dogs the emphasis is on specifically “trained”. The dog must perform a task when required and asked to do so at all times and not just occasionally.

Qualifying psychiatric disabilities and tasks of service dogs are found at the IAADP’s Service Dog Tasks for Psychiatric Disabilities.

General information, rules, regulations and definitions are covered in ADA Americans with Disabilities Act, section 36.302 ff. The modifications to this act went into effect in March of 2011. You can find it at www.ada.gov. Please read it before engaging in any arguments over the admissibility of your service animal.

Federal housing and air travel rules are explained at http://www.animallaw.info/articles/ovuspetsandhousinglaws.htm while air travel is addressed in

http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/rules/FAQ_5_13_09.doc.

One other caveat: Even if your dog qualifies as a service animal, business establishments and other public accomodations still can refuse to let you keep your dog if . . .”if:
(I) the animal is out of control and the animal's handler does not take effective action to control it; or
(II) The animal is not housebroken. (ADA 36.302; c Service Animals; (c 2 Exceptions).

The service dog must also be under the handlers control at all times (leash or harness requirement, obedience).

Contrary to previous provisions the management of an establishment is now allowed to ask two questions in order to determine the status of the dog as a service animal. These questions can ask what specific task the animal is performing for its owner. Questions regarding the nature and extent of the disability are not permitted.

Finally, a “service animal shall be under the control of its handler. A service animal shall have a harness, leash, or other tether, unless either the handler is unable because of a disability to use a harness, leash, or other tether, or the use of a harness, leash, or other tether would interfere with the service animal's safe, effective performance of work or tasks . . .”.

Sorry, no small noisemakers running free and loose all over the place.

The above covers updated laws and regulations of service dogs/animals under the ADA provisions. Many states and municipalities have their own regulations. Local policy is more likely to be familiar with these than with the ADA body of law. Though federal law supersedes local laws (except when local laws have stricter requirements) it is wise to opt for a state service dog license because of the mandatory test and the greater familiarity of law enforcement with local statutes.

Many local regulations require that the dog take and pass a test in order to qualify as a service dog.

The animal must demonstrate his ability to perform his tasks on command and to be under control of the handler. Dogs that successfully pass the test receive a license (similar to a dog license) that must be worn when on duty. It is a unique number that stays with the dog for life. In most jurisdictions it also has the added benefit that the service dog is exempt from dog license fees.

You can find further details on California state law regarding service dogs at cbears.wildboarbook.com/index.html.

I strongly support any efforts to broaden the requirements for an ADA service dog to include a

mandatory qualifying test. Many contentious arguments and difficulties owners of qualified service dogs are confronted with on an almost daily basis are caused by irresponsible dog owners who insist on taking their pet to places from which dogs are excluded.

This will only change when all service dogs will have to pass a test.

Which leads me to a final word on therapy dogs and emotional support dogs. They have never been covered under ADA as service dogs. Yet declaring a dog a therapy dog is the most frequent attempt to let a common pets enjoy the privileges of a service dog. Toy dogs in someones shoulder bag barking up a storm in grocery stores also do not qualify as therapy dogs but rather as a fashion accessory.

They serve no purpose other than the ego of the owner and must not be allowed near groceries under any circumstances. Many of these toys are neither trained nor housebroken.

Long, nasty battles over the rights of a therapy dog to access a public accommodation closed to pets are very frequent consequences of such misguided attempts. True service dogs and their owners suffer undeserved inconveniences because of irresponsible acts of inconsiderate pet owners.

In my humble opinion, federal and state laws and regulations on service dogs should be further tightened and strengthened in order to guarantee that the privileged status of service dogs remains protected and undisputed access of these working animals together with their handlers is guaranteed.

PJJ

Change is coming to this blog.

The untimely death of the editor of this blog prompted a long hiatus during which the publication essentially lay dormant.
We have now decided to revive it under a changed name,  modified content and with a different layout. We will phase in these changes gradually over a period of weeks.

Please check back frequently.