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Cruising with small service animal


JudyShaw5
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There’s also a lot of talk about what constitutes a trained and fully/legally certified service dog (as opposed to internet purchased certificates) and an emotional support animal.  Big difference because emotional support animals are not covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act.  I think we’ve all seen cases where people have brought their small dogs on ships under the guise of being emotional support dogs. I’ve seen everything from these dogs being pushed in a small doll buggy to sitting on tables in the main dining room. 

 

I’m not saying that the OP is in that category of bringing a small emotional support animal, as I know some dogs do work for such things as diabetes, but they need to be aware of opinions regarding that situation. 

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Just FYI, Kitty, in case you don't know--there is no such thing as a fully or legally "certified" service dog. They are legally "qualified," but certified is a made up thing basically from Internet scam companies.

 

if you are a service dog handler, I apologize. I just think the terminology in this situation is becoming more and more important. My son has an owner (with guidance of a professional trainer) trained service dog. We have seen many, many a fake "certified" service dogs. 

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There is a definition of a service dog (only dogs are included) in the ADA regulations. Certification is NOT required, but the dog must provide physical assistance to the handler. Emotional support animals have no standing under the ADA, and should not be brought on cruises.

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On 12/25/2018 at 8:21 PM, momof3cruisers said:

Just FYI, Kitty, in case you don't know--there is no such thing as a fully or legally "certified" service dog. They are legally "qualified," but certified is a made up thing basically from Internet scam companies.

 

I agree that the US, unlike some countries, has no nationally established, legal certification process for service animals. The ADA guideline for public access, of course, is just that the animal is trained to perform specific tasks for his handler. It’s a well-known fact that people buy fake service dog vests from the internet and pay to get spurious papers so they can take untrained animals into public places.

 

But there is in fact an international certification and accreditation process for service dog training established by ADI, Assistance Dogs International. Many well-known American-based nonprofits that supply service dogs at no charge (such as Guide Dogs for the Blind, Canine Companions for Independence, etc.) are members of ADI and adhere to their detailed standards. https://assistancedogsinternational.org/

 

(By the way, these organizations also carefully screen the applicants to verify that they actually need assistance dogs through submitted detailed medical records, doctor’s statements, etc.)

 

Their trainer-employees within their own programs do in fact certify their dogs for public access (and test the eventual recipients’ ability to properly handle the dog in public) before they’ll release them to enter service. Many dogs (3 out of 4 frequently) don’t make it through the rigorous training and are offered for adoption.

 

So the term “certified” relating to service dogs is not actually a “made up thing” by internet scam companies. Such companies are purely stealing the term from the respected international training standards system that specifies exactly how qualified dogs must be before they can wear a program’s vest.

 

I am familiar with this because my Hearing Dog was trained by an ADI member organization, Dogs for the Deaf (now known as Dogs for Better Lives). She was tested and certified for public access before she was chosen to be my partner five years ago, and we were put through our paces as a team by her ADI-certified trainer.

 

 

Edited by Caribbean Chris
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