There have been a lot of talk about service dog certification. What is it and what is the contention all about? Learn the truth of this matter when you read this informative article today.
First of all, let us find out what a service animal is. A service animal is defined as an animal that is specifically trained to assist people with disabilities and medical conditions. Many of these dogs function as hearing dogs and guide dogs. A hearing dog would alert a deaf person of sirens, telephones, name call, buzzers, or whatever loud noise that merits attention. Guide dogs steer visually-impaired individuals to safer routes, busy streets and business establishments.
According to American Disabilities Act Recognition (ADA), these service dogs are not considered as “pets”, so they are allowed to accompany the disabled person in public places and establishments. Because the stipulations included in this act is vague, many people do not quite understand it and this has become an opportunity for many scammers to maximize.
The ADA only stated that disabled people are allowed to have service dogs, they never specifically mandated these animals to be certified. The government itself has no service dog certification facility that addresses this issue. Some people in guise of an official sounding organization approach individuals and offer their services to “certify” their service dog for a fee even though the law does not require it.
While a service dog certification is not required, some people still take the time and effort to certify their service dogs when their service dog training is completed. This is because having a dog that is acknowledged as service dogs will make it more convenient for the handicap to have them around. After all, some people have tried to pass off a regular dog as a service animal in some establishments (this is against federal law by the way).
What are some of the prerequisites of these certification programs? Evaluation for an official certification includes (but is not limited to) proof of the disability of the individual requiring a service dog; assessing the service animal’s obedience and socialization skills; and showing at least three tasks that the service dog can perform for the person with disability that he will be helping. Tags and harnesses are among some of the proof that will show that the dog is indeed a service animal.
Good service dogs are usually trained at a very early age. These dogs are taught not to be distracted by other people if he is in his job, and should obey commands without much trouble. There are many dog training requirements that these exemplary dogs should exhibit, but I will not further elaborate on these requirements in this article.
It’s good to have a service dog certification for your convenience, but remember that it is not a legal requirement so report any individual who tells you that it is. Share this information with other people to help raise awareness of this very important issue today.