What's the worst that could happen?
 

I've had my little Krishna for about two weeks now and I have a purse style carrier that I use to take the little guy everywhere - so far he's been to the grocery store, the deli, Costco and Walmart plus a whole bunch of other places where he is welcome.
My questions is what is the worse that can happen if I get caught with him? Do they simply ask you to leave? Or can I get fined or something? We haven't got kicked out of anyplace yet, but I'm sort of curious.
Thanks,
Julie

i do the same thing with bentley..he goes EVERYWHERE! i think the worst the could do to you would just ask you to leave.

I agree, I think the worst that can happen is they will ask you to leave.

Ecxept if there is a sign that is clearly posted at the entrance that says "No Pets" I know my son's school has a "no pets" sign in front and someone brought their dog after school for a sporting event and was warned by someone that if a Police Officer catches them they could get fined. Not sure if its true or not, but I try not to bring mine with me any place it is clearly posted.

My brother taught me the greatest stratagy in life PLAY DUMB - it is my brother's philosophy on everything, and it gets him everywhere!! I will take this to my grave!

If you get caught, just say - Oh, I'm sorry I didn't realize dogs weren't allowed. They'll just ask you to leave. Good luck!

I agree. Bandit went everywhere with me, and I never once had someone say anything. (Except for how cute he was!) Tucker is going to go everywhere, too, once he's older and had all of his shots. You shouldn't be fined, they can only say leave the building. Thanks to Paris and Britney, the world is used to little dogs going everywhere :)

ya know i dont ever see those signs! b/c i look for them like at wal-mart or any type of store for that matter... i dont even see them at resturants... i know i'm probably horrible ..but i take bentley out to eat with us alot..i dont like leaving him by himself.. he's so good in his carrier tho..he doesnt bark or anything..he just goes to sleep or chews on his toys

lol teri88! That's the first useful thing that Paris and Brittany have done (at least as far as I'm concerned) :D
Krishna's gone into a couple of restaurants, too and he's been real good so far.
Playing dumb seems like a good strategy. Don't know if I'm young enough to pull it off anymore, but it never hurts to try.
Julie

They will probably ask you to leave. I went to a Duane Reade drugstore recently with Sophie during one of our walks. Even though I was holding her, the security guard told me no dogs allowed. I told him I would only be a minute to buy some baby wipes for her and that I would hold her and not put her down (which was my intention anyway). He still said no, but the store manager was standing nearby and heard me. I was surprised that the manager said yes, I could come in. On my way out after making the purchase, the security guard apologized to me...even though he was RIGHT to tell me I couldn't bring her in...but I told him it was OK, he was just doing his job. I don't know about your municipality, but dogs are usually not allowed in any establishment that sells food...and Duane Reade sells packaged food items (cookies, candies, and the like). I know I shouldn't have tried to get around the rules, but no harm done. So nothing bad will happen, you'll just be asked to leave.

when sebastain and jasmine were smaller i took them everywhere also the grocery store would say you know i'm supposed to tell you they cant be in here but then my daughter started working there so i didn't bring them in anymore. I ran into Walmart to get a curtin rod and had both of them some guy came up to me right when i grabbed my rod and said i had to leave i said well i just want this cant i just purchase this and leave he said no put the dogs in the car and come back YEAH RIGHT so i didnt get my rod that day

At worse they will kick you out. However, I believe if you are at an establishment that serves or sells food(i.e. resturant, grocery store) and the health inpsector catches you with your dog, they can shut the place down costing the place hundreds and thousands of dollar.

I got busted a few weeks ago trying to enter Walmart with my
little guy. While I do respect laws I think that a simple sign at
the front door would be very helpful to say the least. All I said
to the guy at the door is it's your loss because my little dog causes
a lot less damage and problems than some of the people you let
come in here and he is probably cleaner too.

Wal Mart is really strict about no pets! That was the only place Gracie ever got kicked out of! I've heard of other people getting kicked out of there too with their tinies!

:yeahthat: :yeahthat:

Rini, I cant believe that about the fabric store!! I always taken mine there and the craft store too. I have however been told I couldnt come in to Best Buy which I thought was dumb seeing that I had just left Circuit City!! I was in the restaurant business for years and it is a violation of health laws if animals are in the restaurant. With the exception of real service dogs.

My philosophy is...." It is easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission"

......Go for it.

you should be fine most places. If you have a small dog, most people are forgiving. I just left Baskin Robbins and before I came in I asked if it was ok, and they said that it was fine because Chewy's cute and I was holding him. As long as they are in the carrier, people are comforted by the fact that they won't pee on the floor. BTW, nothing can happen to you legally.

Hi, I also take my baby with me everywhere in a purse-like bag. I've taken him to Bloomingdales, Macys, boutiques, the subway, buses, cabs, Staten Island ferry, basically everywhere. lol. Not once was I told to put him away. I have been told by people to be careful because I could get fined. But they never said how much the fine would be. But don't worry, since it's a trend I'm sure that they'll give you a warning first.

I know that some members here are, for some reason, opposed to yorkies as service animals, or opposed to disabled people taking advantage of the service animal laws, unless the person is blind or deaf, but the fact is that the more people who train their animals to be service animals the more it benefits us all. Business owners right now are by and large ignorant of the law which makes it so hard for a person with a service animal to go to public places without harassment. I first found out about it because I read an article in my local newspaper about a disabled man who always had trouble taking his service dog (a lab, I think) into restaurants with him when he was feeling well enough to be out in public, which wasn't often. He actually had to have a couple of restaurant managers arrested civilly for barring him from entering with his dog.

The law was designed to make people's lives more normal and it is recognized that dogs have an ability to do this for us. This is an animal friendly forum and yet some people on here seem to feel that training a dog to help you live a more normal life as the law allows is somehow the wrong thing to do. I cannot figure it out.

All of my dogs are trained as service animals. It is quite easy to do in most cases and has been a great bonding experience for us and has helped me, my family members and my dogs. My dogs get to go everywhere with me and it is legal and not a violation of the health ordinances or anything else! What could be better?

I would never sugest that someone use the law in an unlawful way. The fact is that the majority of us have long term conditions that qualify as disabilities under the law. Whether you are hearing impaired, sight impaired, are a diabetic, have epilepsy or other seizure inducing conditions, have migraine headaches, are on medication, or whatever the case may be, the fact is that your little yorkie can be trained to assist you and if this is done, they then qualify as a service animal and must be allowed into all public places just as a person in a wheelchair must not be denied access due to the chair. Accomodations must be made.

We are talking about little yorkies here too, not the typical lab or retriever that's trained as a seeing eye dog or to pull a wheelchair. Our little guys are so small and usually no more of a disturbance than a small baby would be.

Anyway, I have never heard of a service animal that wasn't real. They are all real and, as I have offered before, and many of you have taken advantage of, I will assist anyone who wants to find out how to make their yorkie or other dog a service dog. Just PM me.

I guess the only place I feel guilty about is the grocery store (I would feel sooo terrible if I got them shut down) so I left Krishna to nap with my hubby today swearing to him the little guy would settle down in 5 minutes at most. I got back home from the grocery to find neither had got a nap. Apparently Krishna spent the whole 45 minutes looking for his Mommy :D Poor hubby. He's such a softie though. He spent the whole time trying to reassure Krishna it was okay and that I would be back soon. I'm not sure which one it was harder on!
I did buy a really nice purse carrier from Celltei - they didn't have the one I wanted and offered to custom make it. It looks like a large purse and you wouldn't know Krishna was in it unless you knew to be looking for him. The black mesh has window covers, but the mesh is so dark you have to get your eyeballs up to it to see in so as long as he remains as good as he has been we are set.
I do need to find a good front carrier or sling type carrier for hiking or walking in open places where it is safer to carry him. Anyone have any good suggestions for me?
Thanks,
Julie

Ok,Let me rephrase, in the restaraunts I managed we only allowed seeing eye dogs into the restaurant,(we never had a hearing impaired person come in with a dog). That is what i meant by real service dogs. The rest of this post I will not respond to. However, I do not have any problem with yorkies being used as service dogs, and I never said that.

[QUOTE=I do need to find a good front carrier or sling type carrier for hiking or walking in open places where it is safer to carry him. Anyone have any good suggestions for me?
Thanks,
Julie[/QUOTE]

Julie- I saw this carrier on Trixie & Peanut's site and love it.. its the sling style you were talking about!

I just bought that at the dog show and it's great! The puppies feel so secure and they are right snuggled up to your body. There is a strap to hook to their harness so it is very safe!

Love that!!

Not to pick on DivaPup, but this is exactly what I was referring to when I commented earlier that most business establishments are ignorant as to what the law actually says and most people have the misconception that it is only for seeing eye dogs. This is not the case. Any dog who is trained to aid a disabled person in any way to lead a more normal life qualifies under this federal law and it takes precedence over any local or state ordinances or health codes.

Too cool, huh??

That is wonderful Kim! I love having a product review of something before I order it! Thank you so much for posting! Now I will definitley be calling T&P to place my order! How many pounds does it accomodate?

Bentley goes everywhere in this...
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21...5/bagfront.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21...85/bagside.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21...n85/bagtop.jpg

it zips up completely like a purse if you want it to.. i usually undo the side zipper and let Bentley put his head out... everyone is always like omg ! your dog is so cute..i wont tell that hes in the store... but if i get the feeling people are going to get upset..i just zip it up.. he can still see out the front side and top of the bag!

Hey cool! Thanks for the bag recommendations. I'm off to go check them out now!
Julie

I am not feeling picked on but I do have a couple of questions. I know Cossette of the doggy boutique has a severe disability and her little yorkie had to go away to school for awhile. Not unlike a seeing eye dog or hearing impaired. What kind of training did your dogs have to go thru?
I know it is quite expensive to train a service dog, I have a neighbor that has service dogs, (tho they are search and rescue with FIMA and are not allowed to eat in the restaurants). But I have on many occasions talked to the puppy raisers at the pet store and tho I cannot remember how much, it was up in the thousands of dollars to train the dogs before they can go to their new homes. I guess my only problem would be if people started taking advantage of the law so they can take their pet places. I worry about how that will affect the people with "real" disabilities? Thank God I do not have any, but if Rio were my service dog I better hope he doesnt see a squirrel at a crucial time LMAO!!

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.