What Questions Can Business Owners Ask People with Service Dogs?

If someone tries to come into your business with a dog, how do you know if it's really a service dog?  What can you ask the person with the dog to make sure it's really a service dog?

These are actually two different questions, but we'll start with what you're allowed to ask.  There are two questions business owners and employees can ask people that come into their businesses with dogs.

1.  Is that a service dog?

2.  What tasks is the dog trained to do?

That's it.  You cannot ask why a person needs a service dog or what their disability is.  You cannot ask them if the dog is certified as a service dog or require them to show a certificate or other paperwork (that's because there is no official certification for service dogs, and because anyone can buy a certificate for their dog on the internet even if they aren't disabled and their dog has no training whatsoever, so showing you a certificate of some kind would be completely meaningless).  You cannot require that they have their dog demonstrate the tasks it can perform for them.

Asking anything other than those two questions above is a violation of a person's rights under the Americans with Disability Act.  If you or your employees violate the ADA, you may find your business faced with hefty fines.

Now, what if a person says yes, their dog is a service dog and that the dog is trained to perform some task for them, but the dog is not behaving like a service dog?  What if, for instance, it barks and growls at other customers, pees on your floor, licks groceries on the shelves, or otherwise behaves in an inappropriate and disruptive manner?

Then you can ask the person to remove the dog from your business.  Even if it is a real service dog, business owners do not have to allow service dogs that are disruptive.  A person with a service dog must have their dog under control in order to be protected under the ADA and allowed to take their dog into businesses where pets are typically not allowed.

If you must ask a person to remove their service dog from your business because the dog would not stop  barking or the dog peed on your floor or something like that, you must still allow the person with a disability to shop in your store.  However, the person will have to do so without their dog.  If there is a way you can facilitate this, then do so.  For instance, if the person was ordering a meal in your restaurant, offer to package the food to go and to bring it outside to the person when it's ready so that they can take their dog outside to wait but still receive their meal.

It's good to be reasonable when deciding whether or not to ask a person to remove their dog.  For instance, even a very well-trained dog could be ill and that could cause the dog to have an accident indoors even if he is housebroken.  If that happens, though, the handler should clean up the mess immediately and then leave with the dog.  Even a very well-trained dog might yelp if someone steps on his tail, but he should not bark repeatedly and should stop barking when directed by his handler.