Appendix A

BEHAVIOR AND TRAINING STANDARDS FOR

 ALL SERVICE ANIMALS

 

 

For over 75 years, Assistance Dogs have worked successfully in public and won the public's acceptance by achieving high behavioral and training standards, that set them apart from pets and other animals.

In order to assure the comfort and safety of people with disabilities and the general public, high behavioral and training standards must apply equally to all service animals. ADI believes that all service animals intended for use in public, regardless of species, should be required to meet the same standards required of dogs specifically trained to assist people with disabilities. Any animal that can meet the existing standards for behavior, training, cleanliness, and public appropriateness should be allowed to work in public when accompanied by the person for who’s disability it was specifically trained.

These standards include:

PUBLIC APPROPRIATENESS:

* Animal is clean and does not have a foul odor.
* Animal does not urinate or defecate in inappropriate locations.

BEHAVIOR:

* Animal does not annoy any member of the general public.
* Animal's conduct does not disrupt the normal course of business.
* Animal works without unnecessary vocalization.
* Animal shows no aggression toward people or other animals.
* Animal does not solicit or steal food or other items from the general public.

TRAINING:

* Animal is specifically trained to perform more than one task to mitigate (lessen) the effects of its partner's disability; said disability being any condition as described by and covered under the ADA that substantially impairs one or more major life functions.
* Animal obeys the commands of its handler.
* Animal works calmly and quietly on a harness, leash, or other tether.
* Animal has been specifically trained to perform its duties in public and is accustomed to being out in public.
* Animal must be able to lie quietly beside the handler without blocking aisles, doorways, etc. *Animal is trained to urinate or defecate on command
* Animal stays within 24" of its handler at all times unless the nature of a trained task requires it to be working at a greater distance.  

Appendix B

ACCESS POLICY FOR PUPPY RAISERS

State and federal laws in the USA entitle disabled persons to have access rights with an Assistance Dog trained to perform disability-mitigating tasks. Such teams may legally enter stores, restaurants, and other places open to the public without needing to ask for permission.

Some of the states have passed legislation granting access privileges to trainers while they are engaged in training disabled clients and/or Assistance Dogs. 

It is the policy of Assistance Dogs International that state laws which give access rights to Assistance Dog trainers do not apply to a volunteer who is rearing a puppy for an ADI member program.

Program puppies who may someday grow up to enter formal training to become an Assistance Dog have the legal status of a pet while in the custody of a puppy raiser.

If a puppy raiser wants to take a program puppy into a business or onto public transportation for the purposes of socialization or training will be necessary to ask the management for special permission to do so. On those occasions, the puppy should be wearing an ID cape or vest issued by the program to which the puppy belongs. This greatly increases the likelihood permission will be given.

Puppy raisers may contact an airline to determine if it permits a “foster puppy” to fly in the plane cabin.  Most airlines consider foster puppies to have the same status as a pet and their policy requires the dog to be transported in a crate in the cargo hold.   

Puppy Raisers should not identify themselves to the airlines as the trainer of a Guide, Hearing, or Service Dog to claim eligibility to transport a program puppy in the plane cabin.  Labeling such a puppy an Assistance Dog or a Service Dog-in-training to get them into the plane cabin would not be ethical.    

ADI encourages puppy raisers to be community ambassadors for their programs and the Assistance Dog movement, educating merchants and the public about the benefits of Assistance Dog partnership and the fact that disabled graduates will have legal access rights.

If a request to enter the premises to prepare the puppy for his future career is denied, a prompt and courteous departure is the appropriate way to handle this fairly rare occurrence.

Puppy raisers are the backbone of the Assistance Dog field, making an invaluable contribution to lives of disabled children and adults by socializing and instilling good manners in future Assistance Dogs entrusted to their care.  This clarification of the legal status of these puppies is meant to acquaint newcomers with the etiquette involved in carrying out their important mission.

 

Appendix C

HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE A PET OR EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL FROM A TRAINED SERVICE ANIMAL UNDER ADA

Many people say they derive emotional support from a pet’s companionship. But ADI believes this relationship between an animal and an individual, standing alone, is not sufficient to cause an animal to be regarded as a service animal. If an individual with a mental, emotional or physiological disability wants access rights with an animal as an accommodation, this animal must be trained as required by the definition of a Service Animal published in the CFR in October 1991 by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines a Service Animal as a Guide Dog, Signal Dog or any other animal that is individually trained to perform tasks or to do work for the benefit of a disabled person. The U.S. Department of Justice illustrated what is meant by this training requirement, giving examples of tasks or work service animals are trained to perform, such as guiding the blind, alerting the deaf to specific sounds and pulling a wheelchair or providing balance support to individuals with a mobility impairment.

“Individual training” is the process of deliberately teaching the animal through the use of rewards and/or corrections to perform a task in response to a command or another stimulus such as the onset of a seizure.

A “task” is a certain desired behavior or set of behaviors the animal is trained to perform whenever needed to assist the animal’s partner in a way that mitigates his or her disabling condition.

If an animal has not been specifically trained to perform identifiable tasks to assist a disabled individual, it does not qualify under ADA as a service animal.