? for those with service dogs.

[Family Loves Disney]

We will have ds's service animal with us this trip. Someone suggested we take our service animal to Fort Wilderness's dog park to let him blow off some steam. I thought that was an ok idea. What have some of you done when you have taken your service animal to WDW. We are staying at POR, but to give Luke an hour or two to just be a dog would be great too.

 

[dclfun]

I took Skye over to the dog park once- it's kind of a pain to get there and once we were there, it was just a plain fenced in area with grass. There was no shade and it was very hot- but of course this was during the summer. It was nice though for my son to toss a frisbee for her, but we'd walked so far to get there that she was tired out and really didn't need to play or run much. I had to wonder though if there had been other dogs if we'd have had any challenges with aggressiveness. My dog is so submissive but she's had other dogs try to go after her anyway. The only dog park we go to now is one that is only for our neighborhood, is gated with a code, and all the dogs there go usually every day and know each other, all have had to show shot records and be deemed non-aggressive. I'm not so sure if I'd risk an unfamiliar park and unfamiliar dogs anymore. My SD is too precious.---Kathy

 

[Nicole&Becker]

We are actually staying at Fort Wilderness Cabins so the dog park will be fairly close for us. What most people do is to bring a long line or even one of those Flexi leashes and have the dog run around on some grass or someplace like that on the property of the hotel. Others also just let the dog run around in the hotel room or just relax in the room for an hour or so in the middle of the day. It really depends on how your dog unwinds best. Each dog is different.

One tip though is that it is likely that your SD will be getting more exercise than usual so might need an increase in their food and water while on vacation. So keep this in mind and offer the dog a snack in the middle of the day when you take a break, or offer a little more food with the evening and morning meals.

Good luck to you and don't be afraid to stick up for your dog's needs while there. Even if playing on leash in the grass, don't be afraid to tell people that he is a service dog and needs to unwind. Remember that if your dog needs a crate, it does not count toward your luggage count. Since a service dog is medically necessary their gear and equipment is also medically necessary. So keep that in mind.

Make sure your dog stays well hydrated while out in the parks. Bring a little collapsable bowl with you to the parks so you can offer water through out the day. No matter the time of year, it can get hot. So keep that in mind as well.

Good luck to you!!

 

[OneLittleSpark]

There are a lot of nice paths around POR, you could always go for a wander around those. There's a lot of open spaces away from cars which Luke could run around in. As long as you don't cause any problems for anyone (like him suddenly running out in front of a pedestrian or electric cart), I doubt anyone would mind him running off some steam in an out-of-the-way corner. Of course, do bear in mind that I don't yet have a SD (hoping to apply for one soon), and can only work from what I've picked up from others.

 

[dclfun]

There are a lot of nice paths around POR, you could always go for a wander around those. There's a lot of open spaces away from cars which Luke could run around in. As long as you don't cause any problems for anyone (like him suddenly running out in front of a pedestrian or electric cart), I doubt anyone would mind him running off some steam in an out-of-the-way corner. Of course, do bear in mind that I don't yet have a SD (hoping to apply for one soon), and can only work from what I've picked up from others.

It's actually Disney's policy that when on property, a SD must remain on a leash or in a harness at all times. This is not only for other guest's comfort but for the dog's safety. ---Kathy

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Totally right about the Disney policy of being in leash or harness at all times on Disney property (obviously not in the hotel rooms) The only time we let our dog out of harness (which is the stiff ones for guide dogs) was when he was going potty because he's trained not to potty in uniform so to speak, but he still was leashed, and when we fed him because the leash kept hitting his bowls. We did have a CM ask us to leash him when we were feeding him, but only the one time. When we feed the dog we try to find a place fairly out of the way and the time we were asked to releash him was the only time we feed him kind of out in the open.

We also found the dog didn't really want to run around much after all the walking in the parks. More often than not when we were in restaurants or back at the room, Racer would totally sack out, like full on snoring "I'm exhausted" sleep. We brought his tug rope and played a little in the room, but generally he was just happy to be relaxing. I'd guess it probably depends on your dog. What he really seemed to enjoy was little massages. We'd rub his shoulders and back legs, and a little down his back, just to loosen him up a bit.

 

[jmartinez1895]

It has already been posted, but I just wanted to pipe in anyway. I would not take our service dog to a "public" dog area because you never know if the dogs that are ther have had proper medical attintion and what kid of training they have had. Your dog is much to valuable and needed to run the risk of getting bitten or catching somehting.