This is true -- Service dogs are allowed to be with the people they are caring for and helping and go anywhere with them.
If your dog is a therapy dog, there is no reason for you to have it with you in restaurants and other public places. It is not working in these places (service dogs are and help the people get to and from these places) ..... a therapy dog is just following like any other pet would do - including the ones that aren't allowed would so.
I know though that if you took a Therapy Dog into a restuarant or other public place, and it had it's vest on and you had a card saying it is a certified therapy dog - that most people would let you stay --- and the main reason for this is that they don't know the difference between a therapy dog and a service dog.
***** If you medically need (with a doctor's order) to have your dog with you for emotionally support --- it should be considered a "service dog" and you should have the right to have it with you wherever you go. And, of course, this doesn't mean that you have to go into detail with anyone about why you need this dog with you.
**** I called my sister about her therapy Bichon. She said that they were told during certification that certification did not mean they could take these dogs into public places where dogs are not allowed. They can take them only where they are invited --- nursing homes, schools, hospitals, etc. She can't understand how any of you could have really gotten therapy pet certification and could have been led to believe that you can go anywhere with your pet because of it. She said it was loud and clear in her classes that you should not do this. Being a therapy dog is a privilege and an honor - not a license to go wherever you want. And she agreed with me that many people don't know the difference between service pets and therapy pets and would let either stay. But, this, she said, is the part that people are taking advantage of.
Carol Jean |