Assistance Dog

On QV I have seen a small poodle in the public areas and it might be the same one as seen in the Queen's Grill restaurant with its owner. The person I have seen walking around with it appears neither blind nor deaf. The dog has a standard lead on it rather than a framework device. The dog has a small cover on it's back with no advertising on it. There have been one or to comments about it from passengers, as you might imagine.

In the Daily Programme today there is an item entitled ASSISTANCE DOG which states that assistance dogs support their owners medically and are allowed in public areas. Could someone please enlighten me what that means? Is it some comfort condition?

There are dogs trained for many things. Some can help an epileptic by alerting when a seizure is coming. Diabetics can be helped by a dog that is trained to detect low blood sugar. Some dogs are to help people with PTSD to help calm them. Many other reasons I'm sure.

The problems lies in the fact that anyone can go online and buy credentials and vests saying their dog is an assistance dog. Cruise lines really have no way of checking, or if they do, they don't.

Anyways, as always, dishonest people will always try to get away with things making it harder for the legitimate people with service or assistance animals.

There is no way to know if the poodle is truly a service animal, but often times you can tell by their behavior.

There are dogs trained for many things. Some can help an epileptic by alerting when a seizure is coming. Diabetics can be helped by a dog that is trained to detect low blood sugar. Some dogs are to help people with PTSD to help calm them. Many other reasons I'm sure.

 

The problems lies in the fact that anyone can go online and buy credentials and vests saying their dog is an assistance dog. Cruise lines really have no way of checking, or if they do, they don't.

 

Anyways, as always, dishonest people will always try to get away with things making it harder for the legitimate people with service or assistance animals.

 

There is no way to know if the poodle is truly a service animal, but often times you can tell by their behavior.

do you think this could be the explanation for the QM2 incident recently reported?

Apparently assistance animals are not only dogs but those little miniature pigs can be as well, in fact it seems almost any animal. We were on a flight once in the states and a lady had a pig that she sat in her lap and claimed that it was a

"psychological comfort" animal. Being NZers we were a little surprised but of course its a big world out there and who are we to judge...

do you think this could be the explanation for the QM2 incident recently reported?

Apparently assistance animals are not only dogs but those little miniature pigs can be as well, in fact it seems almost any animal. We were on a flight once in the states and a lady had a pig that she sat in her lap and claimed that it was a

"psychological comfort" animal. Being NZers we were a little surprised but of course its a big world out there and who are we to judge...

I'm pretty sure whenever there's a service animal on board a cruise ship they notify the passengers. I've been looking through some old daily programmes online and quite a few of them mention service animals being on board.

I have seen in the terms and conditions of several lines (not sure Cunard specifically) that only certified service dogs are permitted; therapy dogs, and service animals of any other type, are not; and that is it the passenger's responsibility to supply proof of licensed training and certification or the dog will be denied boarding. Yet the occasional threads from various cruises reporting yappy lap dogs that snarl at other passengers, leave puddles and piles about the ship and are fed from the dining room table show how much teeth the rule carries.

Read somewhere that you can get a phony Certification on the internet , to bring little Fluffy along .

Seem to see more and more of this onboard and the guests don't really appear to require Service :-(

Emotional support dogs, really!! What a ludicrous development that the Political Correctness movement has spawned. It isn't as if they are proper dogs anyway just rats with good PR. :)

Quite agree Capt'n .. By the way welcome back ! and continue to say it as it is !

;)

Just another American import :D

According to Cunard 'emotional support' animals are not allowed on Cunard ships.

https://ask.cunard.com/help/cunard/before-you-sail/PO_CU_assdog

Emotional support dogs, really!!

I know, it's the same as a child with a teddy bear. And aren't all pets that anyway ?

I mean, I could say that about my cat (she calms me down and reduces my blood pressure) but she still has to go into the cattery (i.e. Cat Hotel) when we go on holiday !

What about my Gold Fish ! It would be much cheaper if I could bring em with me, not to mention to keep me company on a B2B ...save me having to buy my next door neighbour an expensive gift for feeding em :D:D

What about my Gold Fish !

This is what you need :

This is what you need :

 

Why can't we have a like button...like they do on facebook :):):)

Hilarious ! love it :D:D:D

According to Cunard 'emotional support' animals are not allowed on Cunard ships.

https://ask.cunard.com/help/cunard/before-you-sail/PO_CU_assdog

On our westbound transatlantic last year there was an oriental lady with two small "fluffy" dogs. We saw them all around the ship and once heard her telling somebody that they "calmed her down". They seemed reasonably well behaved but I had assumed that they were there for her emotional support.

My OH was not impressed (but then he doesn't like dogs).

On our westbound transatlantic last year there was an oriental lady with two small "fluffy" dogs. We saw them all around the ship and once heard her telling somebody that they "calmed her down". They seemed reasonably well behaved but I had assumed that they were there for her emotional support.

 

My OH was not impressed (but then he doesn't like dogs).

It wouldn't have impressed me much either.:mad:

In almost 50 cruises I have never seen an assistance dog on board, and certainly no emotional support dogs.

A cruise ship, IMHO, is not the place for a pet and even less so, is an airplane cabin.:eek:

Assistance dogs, properly trained, I have no problem with.

The last time I saw the dog was in Charleston on the quayside where there seemed to be some discussion between the owner and a port official. Perhaps about taking the dog ashore. As I hadn't seen the dog for several days I was beginning to assume it had got off in New York. We are now two days into the transatlantic, and earwiging a conversation on a neighbouring table today, it was being suggested the dog was on the 3-month World Cruise. The conversation was suggesting how selfish it was to bring a dog on a ship for so long and how cruel it was for treating a dog this way. I couldn't agree more.

One problem with "emotional support" animals is the amount of bother they can cause other passengers. Even if the do help "calm" the owner, they may annoy a hundred or so other passengers - making their overall effect negative. Is a little calming for one passenger enough to offset aggravating many others?

My husband sat next to an emotional support dog on a plane recently. Packed plane. Empty seat next to him which was the dogs. Owner in next seat- tiny dog (hand sized- hairy chihuahua type) was on her knee the entire time including take off and landing. The dog was very nervous

The small dog hasn't been on all the way round, I think just since Fort Lauderdale. However, there is now a golden lab too. We saw it being walked round deck 3 when we were at dinner.

What w we're wondering was how they go on getting into the UK? are they chipped like in the EU, or will they go into quarantine?

On our last cruise (not on Cunard) there was a woman on board that had a dog. On the dog's back was a cloth saddle which stated that it was a service animal. That dog went wherever she went. Later we found out that the woman needed the dog with her because she was anorexic. I guess the dog made her eat and swallow her food? :rolleyes:

The small dog hasn't been on all the way round, I think just since Fort Lauderdale. However, there is now a golden lab too. We saw it being walked round deck 3 when we were at dinner.

 

What w we're wondering was how they go on getting into the UK? are they chipped like in the EU, or will they go into quarantine?

Even though a lover of well-trained quiet dogs, I don't fancy being the next occupant of a kennel. So, do these dogs share the stateroom with it's owner/keeper or is there a kennel on board, as is the case with QM2 I believe?

The distinction between a Service Dog (protected under US Law) and other assistance animals such as an "emotional support animal" or "assistance dog" is fairly clear; a Service Animal is defined as a dog individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability. Under the US ADA staff may ask two questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability, and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform. Staff cannot ask about the person’s disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation for the dog, or ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task.

It's not clear whether Cunard is using similar guidelines under UK or Bermuda law or whether they choose to be more liberal in their acceptance of a passenger's claim regarding the animal's necessity.

Even though a lover of well-trained quiet dogs, I don't fancy being the next occupant of a kennel. So, do these dogs share the stateroom with it's owner/keeper or is there a kennel on board, as is the case with QM2 I believe?

When we were on a TA, a few years back, we met an assistance dog - I didn't ask what she (her name was Polly) was trained for - but the couple who owned her told us that she stayed in their stateroom but that her box toilet was placed, a few cabins along, in a staff corridor. Apparently whenever she used her toilet they then rang the Kennel Master who came and cleaned the box. I also seem to remember that they were staying on, after Southampton, and going to the Norwegian Fjords, and then back to Southampton and New York, and they had been clearly told that they could not take the dog ashore in Southampton which, of course, meant they couldn't go ashore either. Polly was a LARGE dog, so no-one could miss her, and we joked that she could have been saddled up and used to give the children onboard a dog ride! I think, from memory, that she was a Newfoundland breed. I honestly can't remember if she wore any sort of "jacket" but if I can dig the photo out, that I took of her, I'll take a look.

On QV I have seen a small poodle in the public areas and it might be the same one as seen in the Queen's Grill restaurant with its owner. The person I have seen walking around with it appears neither blind nor deaf. The dog has a standard lead on it rather than a framework device. The dog has a small cover on it's back with no advertising on it. There have been one or to comments about it from passengers, as you might imagine.

 

In the Daily Programme today there is an item entitled ASSISTANCE DOG which states that assistance dogs support their owners medically and are allowed in public areas. Could someone please enlighten me what that means? Is it some comfort condition?

It is none of your business what the condition or disability is. This passenger does not need to disclose their personal medical condition(s) and disabilities to you or any other passenger.

People with disabilities and service animals have a right to privacy. While some disabilities that may require the aid of a service animal are easy to see, others may be invisible. This does not mean though that they don't exist. Nor does it mean that the person with the disability needs to defend and support his or her justification for the service animal just to appease the questions of others.

As for your request for enlightenment, the ADA does not require that service animals wear prescriptive clothing and badges that identify the animal as a service animal. While the ADA requires that a service animal be under it's handler's control at all times, this does not mean that the animal must be on a leash or harness. Voice commands are suitable also.

On one of our cruises a couple traveling with a service dog was the centre of attention nearly everywhere they went. We found it quite inappropriate that total strangers would ask us whether we had seen the dog on board and then provide us with a quick analysis of the gentleman's disability and need for the dog. I no more needed to know this information than I need to know why someone is in a wheelchair or why someone was traveling with a human companion. I can only imagine the stress involved for this couple of having to constantly deflect and respond to inappropriate questions from total strangers.