jenniferrpovey:
theatricallittlebitch:
draikinator:
dogs are so good
I’m so glad this shows different types of dogs as service dogs. So many people I know think service dogs MUST be breeds like labs, golden, or poodles. I saw a post not too long ago where a woman was accusing someone of having a fake service dog because their service dog was a Staffy and “that is very obviously NOT an allowed service dog breed.”
ANY BREED CAN BE A SERVICE DOG BREED. THERE ARE NO BREED REQUIREMENTS FOR SERVICE DOGS.
Right. The key is the appropriate temperament and size.
Where people get the idea that they’re all labs/goldens/poodles is because those are the most common breeds used by blind people (although GSDs also make great guide dogs). Why? Because a blind person needs the handle to fall at convenient hand height, and it’s easy to find a dog that’s the correct height in those breeds. Plus, there are established breeding programs with dogs being produced just to be service dogs (if you love labs or goldens and want an already trained dog, then it is sometimes worth contacting the service dog training programs, because they often have perfectly good dogs that washed out because, for example, they couldn’t focus well enough through distractions).
Mobility assistance dogs also need to have a certain size to them. There was somebody with a Siberian Husky as a mobility assistance dog at PhilCon. Nice size for the job, very well trained and well-behaved dog.
There was also somebody with a chihuahua as a service dog. I don’t know what the dog was trained to do, and it would have been rude to ask, but yes chihuahuas can be service dogs. They are excellent for medical alert and some psych.
If a dog is wearing a jacket or a marked leash, they are a service dog. It is nobody’s place to judge whether they “look” like one or are, you know, “the right breed.”