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Emotional support Pet

@jpseattle We’re an international forum. It’s an ongoing scam in the US, selling papers/vests/cards/etc., but?

Outside of the US? The EU, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, (off the top of my head), as well as several other countries in Asia, the Middle East, & Latin American DO require certification, by National agencies; although only about half that list refuses to recognize service dogs from other nations who were not trained & certified in their own country; and a handful of which require microchipping & active tracking of all service dogs at all times.
 
@jpseattle We’re an international forum. It’s an ongoing scam in the US, selling papers/vests/cards/etc., but?

Outside of the US? The EU, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, (off the top of my head), as well as several other countries in Asia, the Middle East, & Latin American DO require certification, by National agencies; although only about half that list refuses to recognize service dogs from other nations who were not trained & certified in their own country; and a handful of which require microchipping & active tracking of all service dogs at all times.
Oh wow... I had no idea. I know this is a huge business for the scammers in the US. I should look into more details if I need to bring mine overseas. Thank you for sharing those information. I am forever grateful for mine. He's been with me since he was 4 months old. He is 3 years old now.
 
And the training should be done by the owner and not some training facilities. You can have a trainer for the basic puppy train but the real training should be done by the owner because it is very specific to the owner and no one else.
I’ve trained some owner/dog teams very successfully for a range of physical and mental health conditions. It can be done with the right dog, depending on the nature of the person’s disability and their ability to learn how to interact with dogs.

It has never ever come close to the kind of training done by some of my country’s best service dog organisations. They are 2 completely different standards, with very different outcomes.

And that’s not even touching on the issue of disabilities themselves. I’m currently training seeing eye dogs, and I don’t think anyone would have a blind person trying to train their own dog. Same for hearing dogs. The bulk of autism dogs in my country go to kids under 8 years old who have severe disabilities - too young to train a dog, never mind their complete incapacity to do that. I’ve known some people who are wheelchair bound who have contributed to their dog’s training, but the bulk is done by someone else. Some folks with MS still have capacity to train their own dog, but most don’t by the time they need a dog. Folks living with cerebral palsy don’t ever train their own dog. I’ve trained some people with Ehlers Danlos syndrome who have trained their own dog themselves, but they’ve always had a secondary handler…

Suffice to say…some people can definitely train their own service dog.

Most can’t.
 
I’ve trained some owner/dog teams very successfully for a range of physical and mental health conditions. It can be done with the right dog, depending on the nature of the person’s disability and their ability to learn how to interact with dogs.

It has never ever come close to the kind of training done by some of my country’s best service dog organisations. They are 2 completely different standards, with very different outcomes.

And that’s not even touching on the issue of disabilities themselves. I’m currently training seeing eye dogs, and I don’t think anyone would have a blind person trying to train their own dog. Same for hearing dogs. The bulk of autism dogs in my country go to kids under 8 years old who have severe disabilities - too young to train a dog, never mind their complete incapacity to do that. I’ve known some people who are wheelchair bound who have contributed to their dog’s training, but the bulk is done by someone else. Some folks with MS still have capacity to train their own dog, but most don’t by the time they need a dog. Folks living with cerebral palsy don’t ever train their own dog. I’ve trained some people with Ehlers Danlos syndrome who have trained their own dog themselves, but they’ve always had a secondary handler…

Suffice to say…some people can definitely train their own service dog.

Most can’t.
Yeah, sure. It can be done.
 
Yeah, sure. It can be done.
To be honest, the post that I pulled that quote from was full of misinformation. It particularly concerned me that you stated owners should train service dogs themselves, because that’s not only (obviously) untrue for most people who need a service dog, it leads to dogs who are very definitely not performing a medical service being passed off as a legitimate service dog.

That is probably what most irks the general population about the service dog industry, and has a huge negative impact on people who have a genuine need, and a properly trained dog.

But, all of the following statements are untrue, inaccurate, or wildly misleading about service dogs/
There is no such thing as service animal registry anywhere in the world

And no one is required to pay for having a service animal.

And the training should be done by the owner and not some training facilities.

You can have a trainer for the basic puppy train but the real training should be done by the owner because it is very specific to the owner and no one else.

You don't need to look for a specific breed or anything.
These statements may well be true for an emotional assistance dog. But definitely not for a service dog.
 
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