Things You Might Not Know about Service Dogs

I thought it might be fun to post some facts about service dogs that aren't real well known.

Did you know?

• Any breed of dog can be a service dog.  While golden retrievers, labs, and German shepherds are perhaps most commonly used, any breed can be a service dog, including small breeds.
• Service dogs can help people with many different kinds of disabilities, including visual impairments, hearing impairments, physical disabilities like trouble walking, autism, seizure disorders, and psychological disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia. 
• Service dogs are not required to wear any kind of special vest or harness.  Many do, some because the special harness helps the handler (like a special harness used for someone that needs a service dog to help with balance), and some just because it reduces the likelihood of access disputes when going into a public place that doesn't allow pets, but it's not required by law.
• Service dogs don't have any special rights under the law.  It's the person with a disability that has special rights, like the right to take their service dog into a store or restaurant.  It's a small but important distinction.
• It is a violation of federal law for a business owner or manager to ask a person with a service dog what kind of disability they have or to ask to see documentation proving the dog is a service dog.  They are only allowed to ask two questions: Is that a service dog required due to a disability?  And what tasks is the service dog trained to perform?
• It takes about 18 months to train a service dog.
• In most places, people with service dogs are required to obey laws that say dogs have to be on leashes and that people have to pick up their dog's poop.