When I was still in treatment for bipolar disorder, a service dog would only have helped me towards the end of my treatment. As it was, I had / have cats … their great skill is in reminding me when it is time for them to eat; and in being charming enough to cause me to overlook my allergies to them. I think the idea of being able to take dogs with all over the place isn’t just good for people with psych issues – the world is a better place with dogs in it. As long as the dogs are well-trained, and their people even more rigorously so, I see little problem with the idea of people walking in stores and such with dogs. Where I live, this is commonly done with family dogs. In restaurants, not so much; but last week, while walking in the local shopping mall, I saw at least five family (not service) dogs with their people.

The issue as I see it is not with the dogs; but with people / society. Dogs respond well to training, especially if the training is good. But people don’t train so easily. The system could be abused, or the dogs could be endangered due to improper screening or training of the people they are paired with, etcetera – and in pretty much any case where things go wrong, the dogs would become the victims. If our responsibilities to dogs in such cases could be met, I would have no problem with anyone keeping their dogs by them at all times. As the original author wrote, even though it was illegal to deny access to service because of his dog, despite his having had his dog registered and being aware of the outlined procedures for businesses to consider when a customer with a service dog enters their establishment, hotel workers were ready to deny service based on the involvement of a dog. The system is not yet where it should be – there needs to be more awareness and more training (which I think should be mandatory for anyone who would have a dog in general … the ‘license’ should not just be for the dog); and there should be no room or tolerance for abuse. I think people like you or the author of the Bipolar For Life blog, who draw attention to this, are doing people and dogs – and thus entire communities – a great favor 🙂

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