If you have a PTSD service dog, remember your responsibility

This is our dog Harry. He is more of a guard dog than service dog because we trained him to just be a normal dog. While he does fine on walks and at the vets, we don't take him places with us because frankly, I doubt it would end well. We tried it when he was younger but at 80 lbs, this 3 year old takes tantrums and sulks. Forget the dog park for this guy.

Harry is also a Momma's boy. No one comes near me. He is my "baby" and I adore him but I have a responsibility to other people. It is one I respect as much as I want them to respect a dog like him. Harry was adopted from a shelter. We later found out that he is Rottweiler-Rhodesian Ridgeback

Hound Group; AKC recognized in 1955. Ranging in size from 24 to 27 inches tall at the shoulder and 70 to 85 pounds. Lion hunter; guard dog

I am a huge supporter of PTSD service dogs and value the fact they were trained to get veterans out in public again. It is reprehensible turning veterans away when they have them. I approve of businesses being subjected to protests and publicity when they refuse service because of service dogs. On the flip side, we don't seem to talk much about the responsibility of the owners to the general public.

If your dog cannot behave in public, then take him for retraining otherwise you are defeating his purpose of calming you down.

As for papers, would it hurt you to carry them when things are getting out of control and showing someone the proof your dog is trained would calm things down?

There are a lot of people buying a vest and pretending their dogs are like yours. Do you really want to put up with that? After all, training a PTSD service dog is very expensive and you not only value your dog, you have shown how much you love them, so don't let a liar put your dog in the same category as their dog.

Proliferation of Service Dogs Leads to Conflict
Valley News Staff Writer
By Maggie Cassidy
Sunday, September 21, 2014

White River Junction — Elroy Litchfield, a Vietnam War veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder, recently acquired something that he believes will prove a tremendous help in coping with his condition: a five-month-old dog named Mischief who’s being trained to recognize Litchfield’s early signs of an anxious episode — “getting ready to blow up,” as he calls it — to help prepare the vet and try to calm him down.

Mischief will also be able to help comfort Litchfield in case he experiences an episode.

That explains why Litchfield became upset earlier this summer when a bus driver for Advance Transit prohibited him from taking Mischief aboard. The bus driver informed him that other passengers had complained about Mischief’s behavior on previous rides — the dog had pulled on its leash, jumped on bus seats and on other people, according to the driver.

Litchfield and Advance Transit officials quickly ironed the matter out. Advance Transit Executive Director Van Chesnut says that there is no question that service dogs are allowed on the bus, but only as long as they are kept under control.

In fact, such conflicts are likely to become increasingly common these days, as the use of service dogs grows and the variety of disabilities for which they are used expands.
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