[Music]
during presentations about service
animals people often hear stories about
how remarkable and life-changing these
dogs are and the audience leaves feeling
inspired and amazed this isn’t one of
those talks really these animals are
amazing brilliant creatures who can be
critically helpful to your life but
having them in public can also be very
frustrating I didn’t always know this
the first time I considered getting a
service animal was long before I got
Lulu I was at university in a hallway
studying and because I’ve been
completely deaf from the age of seven I
wasn’t listening when a man grabbed my
shoulder as I looked up at him my first
thought was I really could use a service
animal because he kind of looked like
this my second thought was I should
really leave the building because there
was a fire going on in the restaurant
below and although hundreds of people
had walked behind me no one knew I was
deaf so no one had told me when you get
a service animal many things will happen
to you out in public that you are not
warned about people are often confused
when you have a service dog and an
invisible disability they don’t know how
to react people can be rude
inappropriate judgmental and sometimes
even verbally abusive they block access
create barriers and make life more
difficult for people living with
disabilities whether they realize it or
not so after many frustrating years of
educating people I decided to make a
list of my top three tips on how to
train yourself to be a good human
tip number one don’t make assumptions
about the handler or their disability I
want you to take a moment look at the
people around you can you see their
entire medical history probably not a
cursory glance is not enough to judge
dogs can be trained for so many
invisible disabilities such as autism
diabetes seizures and a whole list more
just because a person doesn’t look
people look at me
they look at Lulu and they assume I’m
blind then when I jump into my car and
drive off those people look perplexed
and concerned when I first walked out on
stage with Lulu what was your first
thought it’s normal to be curious and
that’s okay but don’t let that first
thought guide your actions traveling it
can be tough for anyone my husband and I
had to get a taxi from the airport to
make a connection our timing was very
tight so my husband ran ahead to secure
the taxi and begin loading our luggage
when I arrived with Lulu the driver took
one look at us and unloaded the luggage
he denied us service he made an
assumption that I didn’t really need a
service dog from that one quick look
another fare jumped in his cab they sped
away we missed our connection tip number
two don’t judge the validity of the
service dog by the handler
let’s talk about something frequently in
the news
and something many handlers have
experienced fake service animals it’s
important to understand that there is
not yet a national standard in Canada to
legislate service dogs beyond what is in
the Canadian Human Rights Code each
province or jurisdiction may have
additional protection laws and
identification suggestions but they
cannot override federal laws against
discrimination due to disability
typically there are three categories of
assistive animals
the first service animals or more
commonly service dogs service animals
are protected by law and are guaranteed
access to any building or venue that
provides service to the public they go
wherever their handler goes service
animals cannot be denied access with all
without also denying their handler
because of their disability these dogs
are highly trained to perform a task to
mitigate their owner’s disability Lulu
for example is always listening to
sounds such as fire alarms which would
have been handy back at university a
second category is therapy dogs
these dogs are obedience trained and
their primary purpose is to help people
other than their handler you might have
seen them as visitors to hospitals or
nursing homes or similar kinds of
situations they do not have any access
rights in public facilities they attend
by invitation only the third category is
emotional support animals or ESA s es
A’s are not a legislated or protected
category in Canada but due to widespread
use in other countries Canadians often
believe that they are regardless es A’s
are very important to a wide range of
disabilities that cannot be supported by
service animals the important
distinction
is that they’re not trained they do not
perform specific tasks and they do not
have any public access rights beyond
what a business would grant them so with
these categories in mind what are the
fake service dogs we’re seeing in the
news well sometimes they are legitimate
ASA’s or therapy dogs with a handler
that innocently doesn’t understand the
laws and what is required to use the
label and access privilege of a service
animal but the bigger and more common
issue is sometimes people without
disabilities are purchasing vests or IDs
off the internet specifically to pass
their pets off as assistive animals it’s
almost become a trendy thing to do
ironically the sites that most of these
people are using are scams they have no
legitimate value so what’s the big deal
these people they’re not hurting anyone
right well actually they are when you
bring an untrained pet into the public
you’re exposing them to a lot of
stressful and sometimes dangerous
situations service animals have been
trained from birth to handle those
situations to remain calm and continue
doing their jobs untrained pets will not
handle those situations well and then
they can leave a negative experience for
anyone encountering them and that
experience will affect their future
actions with legitimate service animals
after several incidents including a
customer attempting to bring a peacock
on to a plane as an emotional support
animal Airlines started changing their
rules they started putting up more
barriers more checks and yes maybe it’s
necessary to weed out people who abuse
those rules but for someone who
legitimately needed that animal this
might mean now they can’t travel or they
can’t access that service when they need
to
so how do you know a service animal is
really a service animal well you look at
the animal itself is it a dog checked is
it on the ground
check groomed well behaves check you can
assume at this point that this is
probably a service animal there are
always exceptions of course if the dog
is inappropriately barking growling
misbehaving marking you can and should
ask them to leave what with that being
said please do not start policing
service animals if you are just a
passerby if you have concerns approach
management or an authority in the area I
once had some random person in a store
yell at me tell me to leave dogs aren’t
allowed unfortunately I wasn’t listening
at that time as I mentioned earlier it’s
a problem when you’re complete ly deaf
so this person became more frustrated
walked over to us grabbed Lulu’s leash
and tried to take her from me and this
is not okay in some areas including
Manitoba it’s illegal if you are
concerned please remember you have zero
right to anyone’s medical details you
have zero ability to determine if that
person actually needs the dog tip number
three don’t distract the service dog
while they’re working and yes this
includes petting one thing I hope most
people know about service animals is
that you shouldn’t distract them and
this includes feeding them talking to
them and petting them most people don’t
know why though I know I know we should
be polite and educate people when in
public but sometimes you don’t have the
time
well you’re not in the mood but some
people don’t have the ability to
verbally explain due to their disability
and that should be okay
service dogs are very focused on what
they are doing Lulu is always listening
for things trying to figure out whether
or not I need to know about that sound
when they are distracted they can have a
harder time getting back into the groove
of things and they can miss cues they
need to catch in order to keep us safe
there is never a good time to distract a
service animal when they are working a
friend of mine who’s blind was going
when a stranger decided that they wanted
to pet the dog without any warning they
touched the dog’s back and the dog at
this point was so focused on guiding his
handler safely down the stairs that when
he got touched he turned because of the
way the harness is attached to my friend
she turned as well she missed her step
she fell and the doll fell with her they
they were both injured and why because
of this person’s need to pet the dog
over my friend’s safety I know what
you’re thinking but I always ask first
and that’s true you should ask that
should be a rule for any dog not just a
service animal but I think it’s
important for each of us to examine our
motivations do you really need to pet
imagine yourself at the end of a busy
workday you know you need to run in to
the store grab Mel can get home you need
to make supper or pick up your kids or
you have a meeting you’re on a mission
get in and get out as fast as possible
once I counted being stopped over 20
times in a store by people asking to pet
Lulu 20 times each time I stopped said
no explained why and dealt with the
inevitable disappointments and
complaints and judgment and added up to
a lot of time and a lot of unnecessary
frustration petting it’s distracting and
it’s not necessary and in some
jurisdictions it’s illegal about two
years ago after getting Lulu I had a
situation I will never forget I was in a
store with my husband when a four year
old boy and his mother walked in front
of me the boy saw Lulu got upset and
looked at his mom and yelled mom there’s
a dog in the store
dogs aren’t allowed in the store she’s
breaking the rules and I honestly
expected his mother to shush him and
they carry on because that tends to be
what happens when people see the dog
instead
his mother shot me an apologetic look
mouthed sorry and she knelt down to her
son to explain yes dogs are not allowed
in the store that’s right but this is a
special dog they help do things for
people who need help if they can’t see
or can’t hear or in wheelchairs like
Nana we need to give them space and not
pet them on the boy thought about it
looked over at Lulu said okay wandered
off I thought wow what a great teachable
moment great this could have been the
end of the story
how
ever as I finished shopping and waited
in the checkout I saw that same boy
again but this time with his dad his dad
saw Lulu and became very excited who
decided to tap his son on the shoulder
and say look look as a puppy I bet if
you asked nicely
she’ll let you pet her the boy saw that
it was Lulu looked over rolls his eyes
said dad no that is a special helper dog
we have to give her space and not pet
her so she can help her person that kid gets it thank you
during presentations about service
animals people often hear stories about
how remarkable and life-changing these
dogs are and the audience leaves feeling
inspired and amazed this isn’t one of
those talks really these animals are
amazing brilliant creatures who can be
critically helpful to your life but
having them in public can also be very
frustrating I didn’t always know this
the first time I considered getting a
service animal was long before I got
Lulu I was at university in a hallway
studying and because I’ve been
completely deaf from the age of seven I
wasn’t listening when a man grabbed my
shoulder as I looked up at him my first
thought was I really could use a service
animal because he kind of looked like
this my second thought was I should
really leave the building because there
was a fire going on in the restaurant
below and although hundreds of people
had walked behind me no one knew I was
deaf so no one had told me when you get
a service animal many things will happen
to you out in public that you are not
warned about people are often confused
when you have a service dog and an
invisible disability they don’t know how
to react people can be rude
inappropriate judgmental and sometimes
even verbally abusive they block access
create barriers and make life more
difficult for people living with
disabilities whether they realize it or
not so after many frustrating years of
educating people I decided to make a
list of my top three tips on how to
train yourself to be a good human
tip number one don’t make assumptions
about the handler or their disability I
want you to take a moment look at the
people around you can you see their
entire medical history probably not a
cursory glance is not enough to judge
dogs can be trained for so many
invisible disabilities such as autism
diabetes seizures and a whole list more
just because a person doesn’t look
people look at me
they look at Lulu and they assume I’m
blind then when I jump into my car and
drive off those people look perplexed
and concerned when I first walked out on
stage with Lulu what was your first
thought it’s normal to be curious and
that’s okay but don’t let that first
thought guide your actions traveling it
can be tough for anyone my husband and I
had to get a taxi from the airport to
make a connection our timing was very
tight so my husband ran ahead to secure
the taxi and begin loading our luggage
when I arrived with Lulu the driver took
one look at us and unloaded the luggage
he denied us service he made an
assumption that I didn’t really need a
service dog from that one quick look
another fare jumped in his cab they sped
away we missed our connection tip number
two don’t judge the validity of the
service dog by the handler
let’s talk about something frequently in
the news
and something many handlers have
experienced fake service animals it’s
important to understand that there is
not yet a national standard in Canada to
legislate service dogs beyond what is in
the Canadian Human Rights Code each
province or jurisdiction may have
additional protection laws and
identification suggestions but they
cannot override federal laws against
discrimination due to disability
typically there are three categories of
assistive animals
the first service animals or more
commonly service dogs service animals
are protected by law and are guaranteed
access to any building or venue that
provides service to the public they go
wherever their handler goes service
animals cannot be denied access with all
without also denying their handler
because of their disability these dogs
are highly trained to perform a task to
mitigate their owner’s disability Lulu
for example is always listening to
sounds such as fire alarms which would
have been handy back at university a
second category is therapy dogs
these dogs are obedience trained and
their primary purpose is to help people
other than their handler you might have
seen them as visitors to hospitals or
nursing homes or similar kinds of
situations they do not have any access
rights in public facilities they attend
by invitation only the third category is
emotional support animals or ESA s es
A’s are not a legislated or protected
category in Canada but due to widespread
use in other countries Canadians often
believe that they are regardless es A’s
are very important to a wide range of
disabilities that cannot be supported by
service animals the important
distinction
is that they’re not trained they do not
perform specific tasks and they do not
have any public access rights beyond
what a business would grant them so with
these categories in mind what are the
fake service dogs we’re seeing in the
news well sometimes they are legitimate
ASA’s or therapy dogs with a handler
that innocently doesn’t understand the
laws and what is required to use the
label and access privilege of a service
animal but the bigger and more common
issue is sometimes people without
disabilities are purchasing vests or IDs
off the internet specifically to pass
their pets off as assistive animals it’s
almost become a trendy thing to do
ironically the sites that most of these
people are using are scams they have no
legitimate value so what’s the big deal
these people they’re not hurting anyone
right well actually they are when you
bring an untrained pet into the public
you’re exposing them to a lot of
stressful and sometimes dangerous
situations service animals have been
trained from birth to handle those
situations to remain calm and continue
doing their jobs untrained pets will not
handle those situations well and then
they can leave a negative experience for
anyone encountering them and that
experience will affect their future
actions with legitimate service animals
after several incidents including a
customer attempting to bring a peacock
on to a plane as an emotional support
animal Airlines started changing their
rules they started putting up more
barriers more checks and yes maybe it’s
necessary to weed out people who abuse
those rules but for someone who
legitimately needed that animal this
might mean now they can’t travel or they
can’t access that service when they need
to
so how do you know a service animal is
really a service animal well you look at
the animal itself is it a dog checked is
it on the ground
check groomed well behaves check you can
assume at this point that this is
probably a service animal there are
always exceptions of course if the dog
is inappropriately barking growling
misbehaving marking you can and should
ask them to leave what with that being
said please do not start policing
service animals if you are just a
passerby if you have concerns approach
management or an authority in the area I
once had some random person in a store
yell at me tell me to leave dogs aren’t
allowed unfortunately I wasn’t listening
at that time as I mentioned earlier it’s
a problem when you’re complete ly deaf
so this person became more frustrated
walked over to us grabbed Lulu’s leash
and tried to take her from me and this
is not okay in some areas including
Manitoba it’s illegal if you are
concerned please remember you have zero
right to anyone’s medical details you
have zero ability to determine if that
person actually needs the dog tip number
three don’t distract the service dog
while they’re working and yes this
includes petting one thing I hope most
people know about service animals is
that you shouldn’t distract them and
this includes feeding them talking to
them and petting them most people don’t
know why though I know I know we should
be polite and educate people when in
public but sometimes you don’t have the
time
well you’re not in the mood but some
people don’t have the ability to
verbally explain due to their disability
and that should be okay
service dogs are very focused on what
they are doing Lulu is always listening
for things trying to figure out whether
or not I need to know about that sound
when they are distracted they can have a
harder time getting back into the groove
of things and they can miss cues they
need to catch in order to keep us safe
there is never a good time to distract a
service animal when they are working a
friend of mine who’s blind was going
when a stranger decided that they wanted
to pet the dog without any warning they
touched the dog’s back and the dog at
this point was so focused on guiding his
handler safely down the stairs that when
he got touched he turned because of the
way the harness is attached to my friend
she turned as well she missed her step
she fell and the doll fell with her they
they were both injured and why because
of this person’s need to pet the dog
over my friend’s safety I know what
you’re thinking but I always ask first
and that’s true you should ask that
should be a rule for any dog not just a
service animal but I think it’s
important for each of us to examine our
motivations do you really need to pet
imagine yourself at the end of a busy
workday you know you need to run in to
the store grab Mel can get home you need
to make supper or pick up your kids or
you have a meeting you’re on a mission
get in and get out as fast as possible
once I counted being stopped over 20
times in a store by people asking to pet
Lulu 20 times each time I stopped said
no explained why and dealt with the
inevitable disappointments and
complaints and judgment and added up to
a lot of time and a lot of unnecessary
frustration petting it’s distracting and
it’s not necessary and in some
jurisdictions it’s illegal about two
years ago after getting Lulu I had a
situation I will never forget I was in a
store with my husband when a four year
old boy and his mother walked in front
of me the boy saw Lulu got upset and
looked at his mom and yelled mom there’s
a dog in the store
dogs aren’t allowed in the store she’s
breaking the rules and I honestly
expected his mother to shush him and
they carry on because that tends to be
what happens when people see the dog
instead
his mother shot me an apologetic look
mouthed sorry and she knelt down to her
son to explain yes dogs are not allowed
in the store that’s right but this is a
special dog they help do things for
people who need help if they can’t see
or can’t hear or in wheelchairs like
Nana we need to give them space and not
pet them on the boy thought about it
looked over at Lulu said okay wandered
off I thought wow what a great teachable
moment great this could have been the
end of the story
how
ever as I finished shopping and waited
in the checkout I saw that same boy
again but this time with his dad his dad
saw Lulu and became very excited who
decided to tap his son on the shoulder
and say look look as a puppy I bet if
you asked nicely
she’ll let you pet her the boy saw that
it was Lulu looked over rolls his eyes
said dad no that is a special helper dog
we have to give her space and not pet
her so she can help her person that kid gets it thank you
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