Jerry Seinfeld once said,”On my block, a lot of people walk their dogs and I always see them walking along with their little poop bags. This, to me, is the lowest activity in human life. Following a dog with a
Jerry Seinfeld once said,”On my block, a lot of people walk their dogs and I always see them walking along with their little poop bags. This, to me, is the lowest activity in human life. Following a dog with a little scooper. Waiting for him to go so you can walk down the street with it in your bag. If aliens are watching this through telescopes, they’re going to think the dogs are the leaders of the planet.”
Everyone knows the term service dog. Service dogs have become very popular the last decade. Service dogs are as common as apple pie. There are service dogs for every ailment under the sun. The Americans with Disabilities Act cannot discriminate from a blind person to a mentally ill person and those in between.
The oldest form of service dog is the service guide dog for the blind, usually a German shepherd. However any breed of dog can be trained to guide or serve. The ADA allows for numerous kinds of services provided by dogs. 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.
There are now many PSD dogs. (Psychiatric Service Dogs,) not to be confused with PTSD. You need a confirmation from your doctor or psychiatrist that the dog is instrumental for your mental health. In many cases, the dogs work better than the best anti-psychotic medications. Dogs really are healing and for some people, a matter of life and death.
If you see a dog wearing a service vest, do not pet that dog, that dog is working for that person, and not there for your entertainment. That dog needs to be focused on the person with the disability. Remember, people with service dogs are not portable petting zoos in the same essence you would not want someone going up to your child or significant other and touching them without permission. It is also proper etiquette to not ask the person with a service animal what there disability is, unless of course that information is politely volunteered.
There was the recent incident where U.S. Airways Flight 598 from Los Angeles to Philadelphia had to make an emergency landing in Kansas City, Mo., after a service dog twice defecated in the center aisle, because the smell was making passengers ill. Was that dog truly a service dog?
There are people abusing the system of service dogs, since anybody and their brother can buy a vest on the internet that reads “service dog.” I believe most people with service animals are legitimate, however there are always a few who abuse the system, just like the people who have handicapped parking stickers who are not handicapped. I never let that bother me, because I believe in karma, and karma will eventually come and bite them in the buttocks.
Similarly, and to have some fun, I, too, am a service. I am a “service human” to my dog. Why not?
I am going to start wearing a vest that says “service human.” I can see it now, my dog walking me with a leash and plastic bag in hand just in case I decide to do my business. She will also be able to teach me the proper greeting of smelling another in that special place.
Now, I just need a note from my dog’s veterinarian qualifying me as a service human! I am hoping eBay has the vests, if not, there’s always Amazon.
• James “Kimo” Rosen is a retired professional photographer living in Kapaa with his best friend Obama Da Dog, Rosen also blogs as a hobby www.dakinetalk.blogspot.com
