Luna the service dog
 

We spent a week and a half in Orlando, FL with my family doing Kennedy Space Center, SeaWorld, and many days at Disney parks. To say that Luna worked her ass off would be an understatement. She only got Thursday and Friday off (at a kennel) because we wanted her for the FLA meeting over the weekend. She was the only dog that worked every day (Thurs at Kennedy, Fri at SeaWorld, Sat at Epcott, Tues at Epcott and an "Arabian Nights" horse show, and Wed at Animal Kingdom and Epcott.

Here are the pics:

Taking a break on the bus inbetween areas at Kennedy:
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...r/HPIM1308.jpg

Luna in front of a moon landing newspaper with the headline "LUNA!"
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...r/HPIM1313.jpg

Luna and Zorro in front of a space capsule:
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...r/HPIM1294.jpg

Luna and Kiri waiting to work at Epcot:
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...r/HPIM1320.jpg

Luna at the entrance to SeaWorld:
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...r/HPIM1315.jpg

Plus one cute picture of Zorro with Chip and Dale during a Disney "Hodown" BBQ:
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...r/HPIM1323.jpg

Full album:
http://s118.photobucket.com/albums/o...Orlando-Astor/

Thanks for sharing :)

Look´s like you all had a good time :)

What kind of service can Luna do ???
It would be nice to hear, becose Vlcak´s are so lively that service dog is the last thing I would recomend someone to start train them to :p

Very best regards / Mikael

Luna is being trained / used for mobility assistance (like a 4-legged cane / walker). Right now the training is 75% exposure (getting her out and used to going places).

She did great - especially with the amount of work she did and the heat (low 90's each day, humid). The only disadvantage is that Disney Parks are not great for service dogs - Epcott and Magic Kingdom have very little shade. :(

wow! Is she really being used for weight support ('four legged cane' comment)? Other SD users have told me they don't do support work with a dog until they are fully mature two years and above, hip scored, and not for constant support either. Maybe light balancing work only.

Curious if you practice something else.

Either way, looks like FL has good SDiT protection! Good for SD users. :sooo_hapy:wolfie

Right now she's not doing any heavy labor (we left that to Zorro and Kiri). Sometimes we'll "practice" with Luna (act like we're using her but with little to no weight so she gets used to it - that's the other 25%).

My wife uses a service dog (Zorro and Kiri now) and we're very active in the community, I even put up a website for SD handlers and trainers to look up and review places on how service dog friendly they are.

Aaaa... Yes that is a BIG help, I did not even think about that kind of sevice, even if I did use/train Hronec for it to when I was trekking (se signatur photo ) Now he is bigger and I just got him a bigger bag :p

He did carry some of he´s own food :) but he was just 12,5 month old, so it was just about 4kg in the bag, now I think he can easy carry 10 kg...

Very best regards / Mikael

Haha, seems like I have a service dog either, with no separate training she is sooo good at carrying her bag :lol: No, seriously, could you tell more about what kind of training it requires? Is there something special people and dogs should know about it?

I really love dog bags - thay can carry their own food and also some more expensive things, that you would like to keep safe - wallet, photocamera, documents, keys, etc... And what company's bags do you guys use? JuliusK9? Manmat?

Vaiva.. In the USA, SDs don't require any specific training or certificate. The dog doesn't make the title, the presence of a disabled human does. As long as the dog can perform one task which mitigates a disability. If the dog isn't well trained enough yet for public access, it's (or should be) a SD in training (SDiT).

Hmm, this is surprising :shock: Thanks for explanation.

Yes, to me too, as I'm used to certification in other countries, but you know.. It is the USA....;)

Is a dog theraphy dog a service dog too? And maybe (isn't it an off topic? :roll:) somebody practices that with wolfdogs too?

A TD is not automatically an SD, unless they are handled by a disabled person and had a task that helps the condition. In other words, a dog can be both, but not automatically.

Normally though, a TD goes and comforts others, not the handler, and isn't necessarily task trained, just a nice dog that comforts people, and they aren't allowed the same access rights.

And yes! There are TD vlcaks. A few of Marcy's dogs are!

Could you explain what are these "access rights"?
Wow, maybe Marcy could tell more. With what kind of people/problems her TD wolfdogs are working? I had a nice seminar, mostly about working with children with CP and this seems really interesting, but maybe not for every csv :roll: Especially not with a very young one.

Access rights.. SDs in the US are considered on par with other medical equipment like a wheelchair and allowed almost everywhere within federal scope. Including airplanes, hotels, restaurants, stores, no pet housing, doctors, schools, etc. but only if the dog behaves well so as not to interfere with others.

They are covered by different laws but all are federal laws. States can have extra protection for SDs and SDiTs.

Yes, I guess it is the same in many countries, just it is more difficult to become a SD :)

For example with TDs, they are only allowed where they are invited, like a hospital, retirement home, hospice, etc. but they aren't federally protected to go in stores, hotels etc unless invited.

Of course, ten week old puppies aren't SDs as they clearly are not task trained not trained appropriately in public.. they are only potential SDs and don't have federally protected access rights, etc.

Therapy dogs also usually require insurance (or its highly recommended). Also, their training must be outside the realm of what a normal dog would do. For example, an emotional support animal (ESA) is not considered a service animal because what they're "trained" to do is basically be a good pet - which any dog will do (if treated well etc.), love their handler, etc..

But, there is also psychiatric (sp?) support animals which help with severe mental issues like post traumatic disorder and are considered service dogs (these are also the *only* ones that require documentation - usually a doctor's note / prescription).

Therapy dogs are not service dogs because they mainly just need to be friendly but they do require a PAT (Public Access Test) certification (in a nutshell an advanced CGC). As Yuki mentioned, they can go where they are invited (hospitals, schools, etc.)

Yes, 10 week old puppies cannot be service dogs but they can be in training (IMO extremely important to start as soon as you can - Luna's "training" started as soon as we got her but early on, until they can physically do the work, it is exposure, socialization, obedience, exposure, socialization, obedience, exposure, socialization, and obedience. :)

When she is older (and after her elbows and hips are checked) she'll start with the actual support and mobility assistance training.

Luna is doing extremely well with her training. She's a little stand-offish still but far better than we expected. She's getting the obedience down and her stamina! WOW! The only other dog that out-worked her was Kiri (but she's 4 now and has a well insulated coat). It was a hard week for all 3 of them and they all did well. (Yes, Zorro did well, too, but he's getting up there in years, he's 8 now so we probably have at least another 3-5 years of him now, most of that should be full time (he is the primary now).

We started to do this with Pollux, his physical build would be awesome for it (he's big and strong) but he washed out because he was way to skittish (we may give his training another go in a few months).

Of course, but whether you want to call it potential SD (I personally do, at ten weeks, because I don't think it's possible to gauge appropriate character at that age to even begin thinking about task training or public access training) or an SDiT, both still aren't federally protected and have access limited (or provided for) by state law. Some states are very SDiT friendly with laws that provide accomodation for them almost the same as full working SDs (like PA), others are not. In some states, SDiTs are not allowed any more access than any other pet dog, which can make public access training more difficult, when the only places you can go with an SDiT are places like PetCo.

In either case, SDiTs and potentials aren't protected under things like the ACAA of 1986 which grants access to full SDs to board airplanes free of charge in the cabin, etc.

It's easily abused though, since there aren't any certification requirements in the states. Most gatekeepers aren't familiar with what is an SDiT, what is an SD, what is a PSD, what is an ESA, and what is a TD. Most don't know what questions they are legally allowed to ask. And so it's easy for people routinely misrepresent their dogs to gain free travel.

But, since you're involved with the SD world as well, I'm sure you know all that.

Ok, guys, i allways thought my understanding in English is good, but now I start changing my opinion...
Could you please tell the simple requirements needed for a Servise Dogs in USA? Let's say if dog has to carry things in his bag, helping a person who finds it difficult to carry it himself? How do you train one? I understand a dog has to feel good with a bag on and has to be social. What else?
I am really interested in it.