Ignorance of ADA Laws can BITE. Is your trained for Disability Customer Service? Do they know what HOT to say to a person with a Service Dog? Is staff ADA trained to know the 2 questions are allowed to ask? Do they know that they are NOT allowed to ask a person their disability?
Recently, while traveling with a physically disabled friend and her service dog chihuahua, I was stunned by the audacity of business managers, in both a fine dining restaurant and a 4-star hotel, who demanded written service dog documentation and asked specifics about her disability.
ADA Litigation and public media should teach us not to judge who has a FAKE SERVICE DOG but to graciously welcome all guests. Random judging service dogs by breed impacts people with non-traditional service dog breeds.
ANY DOG, including REAL Service Dogs, that is unruly, has bad public manners, is not house-broken, is aggressive, or gets on the furniture or merchandise, MAY be asked to leave. The dog owner is also responsible for the cost of damages.
Legally ANY business may ONLY ask two specific questions. Likewise, these are the only two pieces of information that the Service Dogs Owner needs to give.
(1) Is the dog or service animal required because of a disability?
Note: Only dogs and some miniature horses are recognized by the ADA as Service Animals.
(2) What work or task has the service dog been trained to perform?
Staff is NOT allowed to:
(1) Request any documentation for the service dog
(2) Require that the service dog demonstrates its task.
(3) Inquire about the nature of the person’s disability.
If you are curious what a Service Chihuahua does, he is a heart monitor dog. He started his training when he was a few hours old, by spending hours each day sleeping on her chest. In his vest, he carries emergency medication and instructions. I know other people with Maltese’s and Tiny Terriers who are diabetes blood sugar alert dogs and seizure alert dogs
Service Dogs are expected to be Canine Good Citizens. Service DOG handlers are responsible for their dog’s actions.
Through #DisabilitySmartSolutions, we offer disability friendly customer service training based on ADA Law.