The information posted by Dazzler is incorrect. You don't have a service dog just because you say it's a service dog. Unfortunately, that's a common misconception and it results in many, many people being denied access, because people take poorly trained, terribly behaved dogs out in public and when they're asked to leave, they start screaming about how it's a service dog and "you're not allowed to ask me that!!!!"
In order to have a service dog, you must first meet the ADA definition of a disabled individual. If you don't meet that criteria, you're not covered by ADA, therefore you have no rights under that law. From the ADA text:
"Disability means, with respect to an individual, a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual; a record of such an impairment; or being regarded as having such an impairment."
And, with regard to the extent of the limitations, this is the ADA definition related to that:
"The phrase major life activities means functions such as caring for one�ôs self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working."
IF you meet that basic criteria, then you are considered disabled under the ADA and entitled to protections, including the use of a service dog.
The next thing you have to look at is the ADA definition of a service dog. The ADA doesn't set any limits on what or how many tasks the dog has to perform, nor does it place limits ore regulations on the type/amount of training involved. This is the definition of a service dog under ADA:
"Service animal means any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not service animals for the purposes of this definition. The work or tasks performed by a service animal must be directly related to the handler´s disability. Examples of work or tasks include, but are not limited to, assisting individuals who are blind or have low vision with navigation and other tasks, alerting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to the presence of people or sounds, providing non-violent protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, assisting an individual during a seizure, alerting individuals to the presence of allergens, retrieving items such as medicine or the telephone, providing physical support and assistance with balance and stability to individuals with mobility disabilities, and helping persons with psychiatric and neurological disabilities by preventing or interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors. The crime deterrent effects of an animal's presence and the provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship do not constitute work or tasks for the purposes of this definition."
When you go into a public area with your service dog, there are 2 questions that the owners/managers can legally ask you:
1) Is this a service dog?
2) What work or tasks does the dog perform?
You can legally be asked to remove your dog, if the "tasks" it performs are emotional support, companionship, if the dog is not housebroken, if the dog is aggressive toward other patrons/staff, or if the dog is out of control.
In addition to the ADA requirements, you also need to look at your state and local laws. Some states offer additional protections, such as allowing people who are training their own dogs to have the same public access as working service dogs, and some localities will waive licensing fees for working service dogs. Also, some states require "dressing" your dog or otherwise identifying it as a service dog, while others don't. You need to familiarize yourself with those laws, so that you can make sure you're compliant with all the requirements, at all the levels.
Whether you like it or not, when you choose to utilize a service dog in a public location, you become an ambassador for all service dog teams. You have to be prepared to have people pointing and staring and asking if they can touch your dog and asking why you have him. If you think you can't handle those situations gracefully, you should reconsider using a service dog. What you do and how you do it becomes part of the public definition of service teams.
For that reason, even though the ADA training standards are virtually non-existent, you SHOULD hold yourself to a higher standard when it comes to training your dog and making sure his/her behavior remains appropriate in public. At the very least, you should graduate your dog through formalized advanced obedience classes, with an impartial evaluation by a experienced trainer. You should also take and pass the AKC Canine Good Citizen certification and seriously consider taking/passing the Public Access Test.
This site has excellent information on the minimum training standards a dog SHOULD have, from a moral/ethical point of view:
http://www.iaadp.org/iaadp-minimum-trainin
g-standards-for-public-access.html
By holding yourself to a higher standard, you help set an example that will cut down the ongoing reduction of rights to service animals under ADA. Effective March 15, the only service animals that will be recognized are dogs and a minimal provision that covers miniature horses. That is largely because people have been severely abusing the system, declaring that snakes, lizards, and hamsters were "service animals." In some cases, those animals may very well have been service animals, but the ADA reduced those rights because of the number of fakers. By taking the extra steps to insure you and your dog are high quality representatives of a service team, you will help protect all of our rights under the law.
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