Just a question really, how come people online posting their service dogs often have them in prong collars? Is that legal in the US? I thought it was required to be a flat collar/ Y harness, or is that UK only?

Just wanted to share something sweet. I retired my mobility and medical alert boy a couple years ago as he was getting older and my health was better managed. Today I’ve been struggling with some sort of flare. I got dizzy and weak and asked my partner for “an assist” forgetting that was one of the words I used with him. Sure enough I heard paw steps behind me and he was next to me quickly though he did get a little distracted on the way. He followed me to the bed and made sure I was settled. I love my precious boy.

My assistance (uk) dog has been in training for 2 years now and is fully trained. he comes into school with me and up until now has been perfect. ignoring distractions, excited to work and see my friends, tasking efficiently. just overall excellent. He had suddenly just at as ted stopping. just pulling away and refusing to walk down the corridor with me. i can use treats but sometimes he just looses interest and he is just overall loosing the care for his little jobs. I don’t know if this is relevant but my mum sits in the library during school hours; maybe he wants her? i dont know, would love some help/advice!

I am a student and I am looking into resources to train my dog and get an ADI compliant certification. I almost bought an online program before realizing (after gpt told me) that it is not legally recognized by any airline. But it seems so hard to find anything around. Do you know anything? Online pograms seem to not offer ADI, but it can't be the case that i have to go to Princeton MA.

My service dog hasn’t been acting like herself today, and I’m hoping to hear from other handlers who’ve gone through something similar. She seemed really restless — she kept getting up and walking away from under the table, which is very unlike her. I tried putting her in her carrier to help her settle, but she still couldn’t get comfortable.

When we got to the parking lot, she immediately squatted and had a loose bowel movement. After that she seemed a bit relieved, but the whole situation felt off because she’s normally very steady and focused when we’re out working.

I’m keeping an eye on her and will take her to the vet if this continues, but I wanted to ask:
Has your service dog ever acted restless or out of character?
What did you do in your situation, and how long did it take for them to bounce back?

Just looking to hear others’ experiences so I know what to expect.

I am soon to be on the waitlist to get a service dog from Canine Companions for my PTSD (due to MST), i was hoping to hear of anyones experiences in how a service dog has helped them.

I have tried so many modalities of therapy and i just can’t seem to find anything that helps me. I want to be an active participant in my life again, not just go through the motions and survive it. I want to be able to take my kids somewhere or go to one of their school events without feeling like my heart is in my throat the entire time. I want to feel safe and happy outside my home again. I want to trust people and form real connections again. I want to be free of this shame and guilt and self hatred i constantly carry.

I know a service dog is not going to miraculously cure me of my trauma, but i’d really like to hear some success stories and some real ways that your service dog has changed your life for the better please.

Hi. My service dog and I are very familiar with extensive airline, travel and international travel. We are taking a route though that is going to Asia and considering a few different airlines that we have not flown before… I am wondering if anyone has experience taking Turkish airlines, Etihad or other airlines that successfully transported your service dog in cabin? I understand flying from the USA is more simple following the ADA act air transport requirements. My concern is once landing in Istanbul and then getting onto the second leg of our flight Weather the airline (Turkish), will accept the same paperwork for an owner trained service dog (without ADI certification).

Would appreciate any information if anyone has had success flying to, or within, Asia with service dog in Cabin and what airlines worked the best.

Has anybody found a gear that is close to the Onetigris guardian harness??? I really wanted the blue guardian and have not been able to find it second hand. I really want the y harness and saddle bags. At this point though, I think I need to look out of Onetigris. Yes, I know I could get a costumed one with pockets but the pockets would fit my equipment and meds, and I’m not sure how tight the pockets would be in a custom one. I also sort of like the tactile look. Let me know what brands you have sound that are tough or resemble gear in that style! ((Or if you would be willing to sell your Onetigris navy harness))

About two years ago, my service dog of 10 years suddenly passed away. Since then, I’ve been searching for a successor, and honestly, I’m at a loss for where to go from
here.

I feel like I’ve applied to just about every organization that serves my area and works with the disabilities I need assistance with, including medical alert and mobility. In some cases, I’ve even set aside the medical alert work and asked about mobility-only dogs just to broaden my options.
Unfortunately, I keep running into the same barriers: organizations either have their applications closed, don’t serve my area or needs, or require $20,000+ in funding.
I am financially able to care for a service dog once I have one. I can cover food, routine care, and veterinary expenses. What I simply cannot do is come up with $20,000 upfront.

Owner training also isn’t a realistic option for me. Given my medical situation, I would not be physically able to successfully train a service dog myself. I have an incredible medical care team, but there are limitations to what medical science can do. My service dog was able to provide assistance with things that medication, treatment, and other medical interventions simply cannot replicate.
Losing my service dog completely changed my life, and being without that support for the past two years has been incredibly difficult. I’ve tried so many avenues, and it’s becoming really hard to know what else to do or where else to look.

I’m not sure if posts asking for service dog organization recommendations are allowed here, but if they are, I would genuinely appreciate any suggestions, leads, or ideas. I’m open to organizations anywhere that might be able to serve
someone in my situation.

At this point, I’m just hoping someone knows of an avenue I haven’t found yet.

Hi all!

I live in a state that’s serviced by very, very few (2 waitlist, 1 high rejection rate no waitlist) ADI programs that work with mixed dx adult civilian PTSD, and all have unfortunately given me rejection notices without further explanation. It’s a bit frustrating, as I am more than willing to make needed changes and address lifestyle or housing concerns, so that a service dog may be on the table for me in the future. l cannot do this without knowing why, but none of these programs share that information with prospective handlers.

I’d also like to know if there’s any immutable factors preventing placement, as the strain of repeatedly having to prove I’m ‘disabled enough’ is something id like to avoid if ADI will never be on the table for me. (Yes, I know it’s neccesary. It’s still a lot, especially when you’ve had to fight to be believed for so long.) I’m certain they have a reason why they don’t share any of this, and would love to better understand if anyone is willing to explain.

Unfortunately this cycle has hit me pretty hard, I’m putting a service dog on the back burner for the time being. Time for even more EMDR and therapy, yay 🫩✌️
Maybe self training will be an option one day, I know I can put the work in and have the time, I know what tasks I need, I know my expectations are realistic, I know I can keep a wash, I have a sd proven breeder picked, I can afford maintenance care, but the cost of self pay trainer assistance with foundations / a partial pre-start is so much more than the cost of maintaining a pre-trained program dog that it’s not in the cards for now. Gonna see if my old training mentor can get me back in to do more behavior work and build my confidence back up while I save.

Edit- holy shit people really do downvote anything that’s from a prospective handler in this subreddit, goddamn.

Hey everyone! So I’m a member of the NFB and every November we have a scholarship auction and I agreed to create a dog supplies basket. So what should I include? Right now I’m thinking a box of poop bags, collapsible bowls, a few bags of treats, a couple of toys, and grooming wipes cause I have a bunch of travel size grooming wipes I could include and I’m also considering adding in my favorite travel mat as well. But is there anything I missed that would be good to include in a service dog themed basket that wouldn’t break the bank since I am a college student

My girl retired years ago, and enjoys her lazy life. Sometimes I'm in public (or home) and miss having an active SD for my PTSD. My girl stopped tasking at home and I never forced the issue. I KNOW I can do this on my own. I did before I got her, I did when she couldn't be with me, and have done so since she retired. But sometimes it feels so damn hard, especially in public.

Does anyone else feel this way? How do you get through it? I'm feeling a bit guilty too, and ashamed.

I had an interesting experience this week, it was my first time doing a drug screening (urine test) for a new job at a commercial facility (I’ve only ever done them at my primary doctor’s before) and my first time since I started working with my SD.

It shouldn’t matter but I am not a substance user and am about the most boring-looking non-confrontational person you could imagine. I got the distinct feeling that the staff at this facility have a lot of ‘spicy’ encounters and very little patience for the customers trying to pull a fast one on them, so I want to be empathetic. However…

I was quite taken aback when the collector refused to allow me to bring my dog into the bathroom, saying something to the effect that I could have trained him to piss in the cup for me and give a false result. I panicked and wasn’t sure what to do. This was not mentioned at check in or in any signage or policies leading up to the appointment. What ended up happening was I left him just outside while I peed, during which time the collector baby talked and pet him and fussed over how cute he was with her coworkers. He conducted himself well, he always does, but also caught off guard since he always comes in the bathroom with me.

I pushed back and said that I was pretty sure it was a violation of ADA to separate a dog and handler in this situation. She said “it isn’t, I checked”. Uh huh…

Needing to get it done and get on with my day, I didn’t feel like making a scene but this absolutely cannot be legal.

If y’all have advice or sources to back up my claim I’d like to follow up with the company and request that they provide better access and better training for their staff.

Thanks yall!

Hello everyone. I will be taking my SD on several cruises, and he needs a new life jacket. The one I have is for calm freshwater, so I need one that is restraint to saltwater, and more buoyant. The cruise lines don't seem to care what kind I have, as long as I have one. However I care and want one that is effective should it be necessary. With that in mind, hit me with what you use/recommend. He is a big boy - a 90ish pound full size goldendoodle.

Thank you 🧡

As mentioned other times here in Reddit do not fly this airline with a service dog in cabin. They are not accustomed to it unless a US bound flight. The website is explicit in stating everything is good provided the proper documentation provided and advised at least 48 hours before. However if not on a US bound flight the customer service department will likely give you the run around for days and ask you to complete a feedback inquiry and submit documents there at which point you will have to follow up via phone call to the Turkey office to actually get competent individuals and even then they will
Respond after 48hours with a non response.

Waste of time and terrible service and communication.
Avoid the stress and headache

I know several people have asked about this before, but because I have anxiety and PTSD, which is why I trained my little guy in DPT, I’m asking here in hopes to alleviate some of my anxiety. We are moving to Europe, and so I splurged and used all of my miles to buy a one-way ticket in Delta One. Delta usually only allows non-service dogs in comfort plus and economy. We’ve flown both of those classes several times before while he was training but he’s now going to make his first official trip as a psd. He small and so I carry him in a sac against my chest when we’re in airports. He is trained to do DPT on command but normally Im already holding him to keep my anxiety down and to prevent a panic attack. I’m worried because he’s small and cute the airline or others will think I’m just trying to pass him off as a psd and circumvent the rules Delta has for dogs not being allowed in first class. Any advice from more experienced psd flyers?

Hello all! I’m getting a new dog in two weeks. She’s 1.5 years old and apparently very good with children, other dogs, and cats. I want to train her as essentially a psychiatric service dog as I have anxiety and PTSD. I’m considering training her for blocking in public places as well as deep pressure therapy. I’ll take any advice I can get!

Hi, reading through many posts about flying and TSA I see people mentioning no metal slip leads, but I am having trouble finding these. Do people mean no metal at all, specifically the slip ring is often metal on any slip lead? Any recommendations or examples that you could share?

Thanks!

Hello beautiful dog people

I have been considering getting a dog for quite some time, and I have mid-high level hearing loss, and I never thought of those two as related.

I travel a lot, mainly within Europe and Turkey.
My hearing loss is not that serious, but it’s real. I miss a lot of signals, doorbells, horns, people calling my name, alarms, etc.

A dog would help me a lot. Not as much as it would to a blind person, but my quality of life would significantly increase.

Money is an issue. Certification in Germany can cost around 20–25k if the dog is externally trained, and around 5k+ if self-trained with an organization.

In Turkey, as far as I can tell, there is no clear official route for hearing assistance dogs.

So I’m considering getting a suitable dog, training it myself for hearing-related tasks and public access, and basically treating it as an owner-trained assistance dog rather than going through an expensive full certification process immediately.

My biggest practical concern is travel and access.

Does anyone here have experience with:

owner-trained hearing/service dogs in Europe?

Lufthansa or Turkish Airlines specifically?

being asked for certificates at airports?

taking a self-trained dog into workplaces, restaurants, hotels, public transport, etc.?

getting some kind of affordable certification later without spending 5–25k?

I’m mainly trying to understand how much the official paperwork matters in real life compared with having a genuinely trained dog.

Does anyone have similar experience?

Context- I just had to medically retire my service dog and I'm not planning to get another. But I was looking through here today and saw a couple posts relating to service dogs and food and was just curious. I also just see people irl and they are always shocked my dog isn't food motivated which I guess if they've only known food motivated dogs it might seem weird.

Does anyone have a food motivated service dog? How do you handle it? As I don't have a food motivated dog it seems like it wouldn't work to me but I'd be interested in knowing how that works.

I usually carry snacks in my car or backpack in case my girl is peckish but usually not as she eats a late breakfast and dinner. The only reliable time she ate while working is on hikes because we were morning hikers and neither of us like to eat in the first couple hours after we get up. Then I'll carry a couple cups of kibble with a little something tasty mixed in and she has a little picnic as I call it.

So there was the post about an 8mth puppy that eats things it shouldn't. It's a puppy obviously. And the person said they didn't think muzzle training would be beneficial despite the puppy being able to get things off the street. I'm thinking either be more vigilant or do some work with a muzzle as well. That's a huge vet bill waiting to happen if they don't break that habit. To be clear my girl isn't trained for a muzzle so I'm not saying it's necessary but in this situation seems like a good option.

And then the post about a museum asking a person not to give treats to a fully trained service dog while visiting. Makes sense to me but a couple of people in the comments were hard core about giving treats to the dog while working. I'm not anti-treats by any means but that seemed excessive to me if the dog can't go a couple standard working hours without treats.

Hi everyone!

Me and my boyfriend are going to Arizona to see j cole and we will be in town for a week. We are aware that we can’t leave his dog in the hotel room alone especially cause it’s just us two so I just wanted some tips as to what we can do to help her and some good hearing protection for her and what to bring to the concert for her. She is used to loud noise we have done a lot of desensitization to loud noises such as the movies theaters and she has flown before but I know this is going to be a new experience for my boyfriend and his service dog!

My 9 month old Golden Doodle is fabulous at centering both on command and as an alerting response. The only problem is he is not ready to be off-leash, so that means we get tangled sometimes.

Right now I'm using a Spark Paws handsfree leash. Unfortunately it's just about 1.5 to 2ft too short, the clips are not friendly for my poor grip, so unraveling is awkward.

Does anyone have leash recommendations that could maybe be the holy grail solution we need?

Thanks in advance!

Lately, I've noticed that my four-year-old Great Pyrenees has been having issues getting up and will get a visibly painful limp after walking too long. We got her from a foster who explained that the original owners claimed to have papers saying that she was a purebred, but she never saw them, and we have suspicions that she is more inbred than the usual for purebreds.

I have a vet visit scheduled to check out what might be happening. If she turns out to have hip dysplasia or arthritis, is it time to retire her? From what I've read, most service dogs retire at almost double her age, but if she's in pain and there's no way to stop it, I don't want to force her to go through that. She doesn't do any mobility aid tasks, just alerts, crowd control, and standing over me so that people don't step on me if I'm stuck on the ground.

EDIT: Thank you all for the confirmation, if the vet confirms that her condition is chronic I'll retire her immediately. On that note- what does the process looks like? She's my first service dog, so I'm not sure if I should gradually start bringing her to less outings to ease the transition or if it's alright for her psychologically speaking to be cut off of work all at once

This is just a curiosity I've thought of lately and wanted to ask actual handlers-- do you think your service dog would protect you if someone tried to attack you?

I know personal protection is NOT a service dog task and some need to know to make space for paramedics in an emergency. That would probably make a difference, I think, if your dog is somewhat used to you landing on the ground and waiting for strangers to gather and help. I know they're not SUPPOSED to protect you but I wonder if they would try, naturally, if it was actually called for? If you were getting mugged or something?