Dogs at Pop

[connie254]

We just came back and the number of dogs at Pop and at the parks was a lot. First of all, my son is scared of dogs, is 26 and autistic. He doesn't have a problem with well trained service dogs because they do what they are suppose to do and the person responsible for them makes sure of it. The walkways to and from the main building don't allow someone who is scared of a dog and it's owner to get past them. I saw at least two dogs in the food court with no signs on them indicating they were service animals, with the owner giving them a long leash to move around. But what really got me was the following incident and I did report it to the resort manager for him to forward it to whomever it was appropriate. He called while we were at Epcot and did offer us fastpasses to Illuminations but we didn't stay for it because it was too cool for us. I wasn't looking for any monetary compensation, just want it from happening to someone else.

We were on the bus to Epcot. One group got on first with a child in a modified wheelchair/stroller and a large dog (possibly a Golden Retriever, I'm not sure of the breed). We sat in the furthest seat away from the dog without going passed it. The dog was laying on the floor right next to the child and seemed fine. Once the door closed to the bus and it started moving, the dog got up and repositioned itself in the same area. My son was then aware of it but he was okay. He was seated to my left, the "mother" of the child and the person holding the leash was to my right. The dog was to her right. The people across the aisle mentioned the dog moving, and the mother stated the dog never moves from the child's side. I started talking to the mother about their trip, when the bus paused to get through the security gate. The dog immediately stood up and went straight for my son's face, wanting attention. My son tried to back up and had nowhere to go. The mother had let go of the leash apparently and tried to get the dog to back off. I tried to calm my son the rest of the bus ride. At Epcot, the bus driver told everyone to get off at the back of the bus since they were exchanging drivers and I asked to be let off the front since my son was scared of the dog.
Don't tell me to have my son get use to dogs when I have to deal with this. He will be spooked by dogs because of this incident for a while. This dog had a sign on it that said "Do Not Pet Service Animal". Easily bought on Ebay.

 

[Amy&Dan]

That is really unacceptable and I'm so sorry you and your son had to deal with this.

I am personally not happy with this decision of Disney's regarding dogs. I find it unacceptable that dogs are allowed in food courts and we all know many dog owners are very remiss with cleaning up after their dogs.

I love my dog, she's family to us. But I know not everyone shares my love nor should they have to. Especially if they are fearful or allergic.

 

[Hisgirl]

I am so over people taking advantage of 'service dog' opportunities to not leave fluffy at a kennel back home. When I was there two weeks ago, I saw a couple near Splash, and she had her little 'pet' dog who wasn't even pretending to be a service animal. No halter, no tag, not signs, no nothing. The real service animals are obvious and appropriately outfitted and many have on protective booties for hot asphalt. So over it. I'm so sorry your son had to deal with this, even though it sounds like it may have been a real service animal. (however, I also don't understand why every disease and disability now needs a dog. Don't get it at all)

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Just so everyone is aware it is illegal for service dogs to have a sign/tag (if they have one it means its a fake service dog) and they are not required to wear a vest but many owners will put one on for public awareness.
Also emotional support animals are not service animals.

 

[HopperFan]

Your description of the behavior is not how a service dog would behave. POP is not a pet dog hotel and should not be hosting non-SERVICE dogs. Hotel management will try to pacify you so you do not report beyond them what occurred. You need to write to Disney and tell them of your experience.

 

[connie254]

I am so over people taking advantage of 'service dog' opportunities to not leave fluffy at a kennel back home. When I was there two weeks ago, I saw a couple near Splash, and she had her little 'pet' dog who wasn't even pretending to be a service animal. No halter, no tag, not signs, no nothing. The real service animals are obvious and appropriately outfitted and many have on protective booties for hot asphalt. So over it. I'm so sorry your son had to deal with this, even though it sounds like it may have been a real service animal. (however, I also don't understand why every disease and disability now needs a dog. Don't get it at all)

I'm not convinced it was a service animal. When the owner stated the dog never would leave the child, she never said or hinted the reason why. The fact that it wanted attention from a stranger (my son), gave me the impression it wasn't a service animal.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Also I'm wondering if owners of dogs at AOA were bringing them to POP to wander around which would be totally unacceptable.
Personally I hate the new policy of letting the family pet be at certain resorts especially when you can walk from said resort to another non dog resort.
Dogs at the campgrounds might be ok but in hotel rooms? No.

 

[connie254]

Your description of the behavior is not how a service dog would behave. POP is not a pet dog hotel and should not be hosting non-SERVICE dogs. Hotel management will try to pacify you so you do not report beyond them what occurred. You need to write to Disney and tell them of your experience.

What is the proper email to report this?

 

[danikoski]

What is the proper email to report this?

I believe this is the one:
wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

 

[HopperFan]

Also I'm wondering if owners of dogs at AOA were bringing them to POP to wander around which would be totally unacceptable.
Personally I hate the new policy of letting the family pet be at certain resorts especially when you can walk from said resort to another non dog resort.
Dogs at the campgrounds might be ok but in hotel rooms? No.

And this would be one of the issues they need to get control of ... so this "test" gets fine tuned. Taking a dog to POFQ or POP or BC etc should not be allowed. They already stated that dogs will not be permitted in the food court, but according to OP and other reports, this is not being enforced. Disney has so few rules for these dogs, the least they can do is enforce the ones they have. Guests who have dogs are picking those resorts to stay in; they need to also respect the guests who picked non-dog resorts so they wouldn't have to deal with the pets/emotional dogs.

This is why it is important to EMAIL corporate Disney so they know what resorts are not following the rules. Until corporate makes it an issue, all a manager will do is try to keep you happy with some goodies.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We just came back and the number of dogs at Pop and at the parks was a lot. First of all, my son is scared of dogs, is 26 and autistic. He doesn't have a problem with well trained service dogs because they do what they are suppose to do and the person responsible for them makes sure of it. The walkways to and from the main building don't allow someone who is scared of a dog and it's owner to get past them. I saw at least two dogs in the food court with no signs on them indicating they were service animals, with the owner giving them a long leash to move around. But what really got me was the following incident and I did report it to the resort manager for him to forward it to whomever it was appropriate. He called while we were at Epcot and did offer us fastpasses to Illuminations but we didn't stay for it because it was too cool for us. I wasn't looking for any monetary compensation, just want it from happening to someone else.

We were on the bus to Epcot. One group got on first with a child in a modified wheelchair/stroller and a large dog (possibly a Golden Retriever, I'm not sure of the breed). We sat in the furthest seat away from the dog without going passed it. The dog was laying on the floor right next to the child and seemed fine. Once the door closed to the bus and it started moving, the dog got up and repositioned itself in the same area. My son was then aware of it but he was okay. He was seated to my left, the "mother" of the child and the person holding the leash was to my right. The dog was to her right. The people across the aisle mentioned the dog moving, and the mother stated the dog never moves from the child's side. I started talking to the mother about their trip, when the bus paused to get through the security gate. The dog immediately stood up and went straight for my son's face, wanting attention. My son tried to back up and had nowhere to go. The mother had let go of the leash apparently and tried to get the dog to back off. I tried to calm my son the rest of the bus ride. At Epcot, the bus driver told everyone to get off at the back of the bus since they were exchanging drivers and I asked to be let off the front since my son was scared of the dog.
Don't tell me to have my son get use to dogs when I have to deal with this. He will be spooked by dogs because of this incident for a while. This dog had a sign on it that said "Do Not Pet Service Animal". Easily bought on Ebay.

~I've seen plenty of service animals adjust themselves multiple times when they are to lay at their owner's feet so that wouldn't be an issue. I remember one getting up 4 or 5 times at a Cracker Barrel one time--did the normal up and circling motion that you often see with animals. The dog was a golden retriever if I remember correctly.

~The sign isn't an issue either as far as the dog wearing it because it is common enough for service dogs to have that either on the leash, the handle of the leash or the vest itself if the owner chooses to have that. And you have no idea where they actually got the sign.

~What would be the issue is the dog getting up and going to another person other than their owner for attention. Now that in itself doesn't mean it wasn't a service dog because sometimes service dogs you know still act like dogs wanting attention but majority do not get that easily excitable enough to essentially break protocol as their job is to stay on task. The owner also needs to maintain constant control of the service dog. It's possible though I suppose that it was a newer relationship between the intended recipient (I'm assuming the child in the stroller/wheelchair) and the service animal but still.

That last point is where I would lean towards the dog not being a true service animal though.

 

[connie254]

~I've seen plenty of service animals adjust themselves multiple times when they are to lay at their owner's feet so that wouldn't be an issue. I remember one getting up 4 or 5 times at a Cracker Barrel one time--did the normal up and circling motion that you often see with animals. The dog was a golden retriever if I remember correctly.

~The sign isn't an issue either as far as the dog wearing it because it is common enough for service dogs to have that either on the leash, the handle of the leash or the vest itself if the owner chooses to have that. And you have no idea where they actually got the sign.

~What would be the issue is the dog getting up and going to another person other than their owner for attention. Now that in itself doesn't mean it wasn't a service dog because sometimes service dogs you know still act like dogs wanting attention but majority do not get that easily excitable enough to essentially break protocol as their job is to stay on task. The owner also needs to maintain constant control of the service dog. It's possible though I suppose that it was a newer relationship between the intended recipient (I'm assuming the child in the stroller/wheelchair) and the service animal but still.

That last point is where I would lean towards the dog not being a true service animal though.

I did ask how long they had the dog-the woman said September. So that is seven months.

 

[connie254]

I did write to Disney with the email danikoski gave. I'll post what they reply.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I did ask how long they had the dog-the woman said September. So that is seven months.

Gotcha.

Personally speaking I've no knowledge on how long the bond/relationship may take so I don't know if 5 1/2-6 1/2 months (Depending on when they got the dog in September it could be 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 months if looking at today's date) is not long enough, just long enough, or def. long enough for behavior like you experienced to not have occurred.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

By law you can ask 2 questions if you'd like to know if its a true service dog...
1. It the dog required for a medical reason/disability?
2. What task is it trained to preform?
If the person hesitates its very likely that its a fake or if they say its for emotional support its a fake.

 

[fhtpdw20]

Not only report this incident but boycott until the policy is changed. My trip is a few weeks away. I do not like what I have been reading about the pets. I was given all the assurances in the world when this was implemented that the CMs would have extra training and policy would be strictly enforced. If I have any issues, Disney is going to lose 3 future week-long plus trips and a few long weekends. I will not vacation in a kennel.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

By law you can ask 2 questions if you'd like to know if its a true service dog...
1. It the dog required for a medical reason/disability?
2. What task is it trained to preform?
If the person hesitates its very likely that its a fake or if they say its for emotional support its a fake.

If some stranger came up to me and out of the blue asked questions like that I probably would hesitate but that shouldn't mean the other person instantly brands me as someone with not a true service animal.

I'm also fairly certain it's only covered entities that can legally ask those questions. I don't think a stranger on a bus can legally ask those questions for determination of service animal or not. I also believe it's supposed to be asked only if there is no obvious aspect that would lead someone to think they may not be a service animal. It's talked about in resources when there is a wheelchair, etc which falls under obvious. A dog on a bus may not be able to actually carry out their task.

*Just providing info.

 

[Melissa Perez]

He doesn't have a problem with well trained service dogs because they do what they are suppose to do and the person responsible for them makes sure of it.

I am so sorry that you and your son experienced this. I really feel like you hit the nail on the head here. I'm a dog lover but with a well trained service dogs it's almost (I said ALMOST!) like you don't notice them - they are too focused to even look for attention/eye contact from others.

I was just there and saw this cute little poodle service animal bouncing around everywhere. I couldn't believe for a second it had been trained at all. It frustrates me that people take advantage of this but I am so glad you shared your experience because this is *hopefully* how things get changed.

 

[Moliphino]

Not only report this incident but boycott until the policy is changed. My trip is a few weeks away. I do not like what I have been reading about the pets. I was given all the assurances in the world when this was implemented that the CMs would have extra training and policy would be strictly enforced. If I have any issues, Disney is going to lose 3 future week-long plus trips and a few long weekends. I will not vacation in a kennel.

This situation has nothing to do with the pet policy, as the dog was a service animal (real or not). Service animals have always been allowed anywhere.

 

[Scifidiner]

Dogs don't bother me nearly as much as some of the people at WDW now. Last time I was there I saw more bad tattoos than a biker bar....