The law does not require expensive training. You can actually train the dog yourself. There is no certificate or proof of training required at all. There is no license requirement and a business owner is prhibited from asking you what your disability is for privacy reasons.
I have trained dogs all of my life. I showed german shepherds in obedience as a teenager. If you can teach a dog to fetch, you can teach them to bring you your cell phone, your medication, or your purse in an emergency or just to assist you in your everyday life. If you can train a dog to "speak" or bark when they hear the doorbell or the telephone ring you can train a "signal dog" which are great for the hearing impaired. My son is almost deaf in one ear and my standard poodle is trained to alert or bark when he hears cars, a forklift backing up and other dangerous noises that my son may not hear.
Obviously, the more complicated training like sensing changes in body chemistry, etc., is best left to professionals who know how to train this. I do not.
As for what effect it would have on the people with "real" disabilities" if more people made their dogs service dogs to assist them in their daily lives, I don't know what you mean by "real" disability? Are you implying that a person with a hearing loss or migraine headaches is not "really" disabled like a blind or deaf person is? If this is th case, I have to respectfully disagree and the law does too. There is no distinction made in the law for "degrees of disability" with the severity of the disability gauged to determine whether a service animal is allowed or not. This law is designed to help anyone with a disability, no matter no slight. We all deserve to live the highest quality of life possible even if we need a wheelchair or a dog to do so. |