Service Dog Admission

[servicedogfriend]

Hello Everyone,
I have a psychiatric service dog and I am planning on bringing him to Walt Disney World. He is a fully trained and behaved service dog. I would like to know a few things before I go though. Do I have to bring any papers or identification to the entrance? Will cast members even question my dog at the entrance if he is wearing his vest? Will I have to enter from a special place or will I go to the front entrance like everyone else? Are the cast members friendly towards service dog teams? Will they be familiar with what a psychiatric service dog is? I would greatly appreciate any help anyone has about my questions. Thanks!

 

[JennMouse32]

i dont even know what that is.. and ive done papers on therapy animals...​

 

[SueM in MN]

Follow the link in my signature to the disABILITIES FAQs thread (or look for it near the top of this board). In post #3, you will find some links that will be helpful, including a link to the WDW website's pages for guests with disabilities.
There are also some links in the thread to past threads about service dogs.

 

[servicedogfriend]

A psychiatric service dog is a specific type of service dog trained to assist their handler with a psychiatric disability, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. I would encourage you to research these dogs and the wonderful work that they do.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I was looking at http://www.iaadp.org/psd_tasks.html and I think the key question as to being allowed to bring the dog in would be "What specific kinds of assistance would the dog be able to provide in the Park envrionment?"

 

[Stag]

Many people aren't familiar with psychiatric service dogs, but that won't affect your ability to bring your pup in the park with you and you shouldn't have to explain it to anyone. You do NOT have to provide any identification or paperwork and you should be able to go right in the front entrance without any problem at all. Me and Boo have never had a problem just breezing by most gatekeepers because she's fully harnessed up and her patches say "service dog" on them.

The only questions a gatekeeper can ask is "Is this a service dog?" and "What tasks is the dog trained to perform?" Anything else is illegal.

Jenn, therapy and service animals are two different things. Service animals are individually trained to assist an individual with a disability, therapy animals are brought to hospitals, schools, et cetera to brighten other people's days. Psychiatric service animals are for people with things such as severe anxiety/agoraphobia, Post-Traumatic stress disorder, Bipolar disorder, and things like that.

They perform tasks such as: (This is part of MY dog's task list, YMMV)

Alert to rising anxiety levels
Basic guide tasks-- to my mom, my dad, my car, and store exits
Basic grounding tasks, using deep pressure therapy
Alert to people coming up behind me
Physical blocking work, she moves between me and the nearest person to provide a barrier
Bark for help
Traffic work to assist with disorientation
Alert to people calling my name, again because of disorientation
Wake-up in the morning at a certain time by jumping on/licking
Sensory assistance, by nudging hands with head when anxiety levels rise to keep me petting her, licking my hands, laying on my legs/feet, leaning into my legs, on my chest, or sitting in my lap. This also assists with my "cold spells" where I shake horribly.
Medication reminder
"Go see" basically tells her that I need her to do a room sweep. She'll go investigate the source of a sound or a dark room and come back to me if it's all clear.

 

[jmartinez1895]

As long as you let the CMs know that he is a service dog they should not give you any trouble. This link has information writen by a person that has taken a service dog to the park and I thought it was very good info. http://allears.net/pl/service.htm The only time you will need to bring any paper work is if you are flying. Because it is a psychiatric service dogs airlines require a letter from your doctor stating the need for assistance.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

I think the disABILITIES post Sue posted has the ADA definitions link that talks about the differences between a service dog and an emotional support dog. With a psychiatric dog, it'll come down to the difference of "My disorder causes me to put myself in unsafe situations, such as walking into oncoming traffic and my dog prevents this" vs "Crowds make me anxious and my dogs provides comfort"

 

[Stag]

Actually, the difference is task training. If crowds make you anxious to a disabling level, you can still have a SD as long as it's task trained; i.e. just being there and you hugging it doesn't count, but if the dog is trained to, say, alert, or get help, or find someone for you, etc. etc. then it's still a legit service dog. There are plenty of people I know who have disabling anxiety but who don't walk into oncoming traffic or anything, but, like for myself, it's a choice between not leaving the house without a "service human"... this means not going to school, not hanging out with friends, I can't hold down a job... not without my dog, anyway.

 

[christymarie]

Having a service dog for my son and reading many posts on the main board I would suggest making sure your dog is well marked as a service dog (harness/vest/etc) There seems to be a growing concern with smaller dogs in strollers and bows attending Disney as "service animals".

I want to quickly state (don't flame me yet) that being a small dog or having a bow or special stroller means that you do not have a legitimate service dog. That said, however, if you can make your dog appear more service like it would be helpful, I believe, to the general public and may cut down on confusion.

 

[jmartinez1895]

I want to quickly state (don't flame me yet) that being a small dog or having a bow or special stroller means that you do not have a legitimate service dog. That said, however, if you can make your dog appear more service like it would be helpful, I believe, to the general public and may cut down on confusion.

Not to "flame" you, but many people do have legitimate service dogs that are small. We use a larger dog just because of the stigma that small dogs are not service dogs, but there are a few small dogs in my sons support group ( for people with epilepsy) that have small dogs. If a small dog taht has been fully trained to be in public areas and it can pickup on a seizure coming ( or any other medical condition for that matter) and alert the owner so that they can take medications or get in a safe position then they should receive the same access and respect as a large breed.

 

[Stag]

Christy...

Again, you have been misinformed. Actually, there are MANY small breed service dogs used for many things, most often as medical alert or psychiatric service dogs but I know of two that do mobility work as well, picking things up for their owners, etc. Putting a bow on your dog does not NOT make it a SD. There are also many small breed SD owners who will use a purse-type carrier, usually clearly marked with "service dog" on the side.

Riddle me this: I put bows on my dog's ears and holiday bandanas or collars on her for the different seasons... does that make her not a service dog?

 

[SueM in MN]

Christy...

Again, you have been misinformed. Actually, there are MANY small breed service dogs used for many things, most often as medical alert or psychiatric service dogs but I know of two that do mobility work as well, picking things up for their owners, etc. Putting a bow on your dog does not NOT make it a SD. There are also many small breed SD owners who will use a purse-type carrier, usually clearly marked with "service dog" on the side.

Riddle me this: I put bows on my dog's ears and holiday bandanas or collars on her for the different seasons... does that make her not a service dog?

I think Christy got messed up with trying to avoid double negatives.

I have read other posts by her and I think what she meant it to say was the opposite of how it is being read. I think this is what she meant to say:

I want to quickly state (don't flame me yet) that being a small dog or having a bow or special stroller does not mean that you do not have a legitimate service dog. That said, however, if you can make your dog appear more service like it would be helpful, I believe, to the general public and may cut down on confusion.

I think the part she was meaning was possibly going to get flames was the suggestion that making the dog appear more service like would be helpful.

My own observations:
1) One of my youngest DD's friends has a SD that is a little white dog that fit in her lap. He often wears bows, but also wears his service dog vest. He provides assistance for her mostly with alerting other people because she can send him for help if she needs something.

2) On our last trip in October, we saw 2 dogs that were undoubtably service dogs from their behavior and 2 that were very probably not service dogs - again by their behavior.
One of the 'probably not dogs' was riding in a stroller with a screened cover. He/she was growling and lunging inside the stroller at people as his/her owner passed people on the path. The other 'probably not' dog was one my DH saw at the DVC Member get together. He didn't notice the woman bring the dog in, but was sitting close by and saw her take the dog out of a bag sneakily. The dog jumped up on a couch and the woman almost sat on it in her haste to hide it. There were snacks served and the dog shot his head out from behind the woman to steal snacks from her. So, if those were SDs, they were very poorly trained ones (and someone with a legitimate SD would be unlikely to hide it).

3) We have a SD in training for DD. He had his vest on (it is red and has at least 1 inch high letters) and was walking in next to her (she was in her wheelchair). As we entered Walmart, the greeter said "Is that a Service Dog? Because if it's not, he can't come inside." So, a vest is sometimes not even noticed.

 

[Stag]

Oh! Sorry, Christy! Gotta love those pesky double negatives...

Usually you can tell pretty quickly which dogs are not SDs and which ones are solely by their behavior, and like Sue said, sometimes the vest isn't noticed. My dog works in a purple guide harness/vest hybrid with no less than THREE patches that say "Service Dog" on them-- see icon-- and I still get told "You can't bring that dog in here!" sometimes. 99% of the time all I have to do is point to the vest and say "She's a service dog," and I get an "Oh, I'm sorry!" in reply.

I distinctly remember one story, however, in which a woman with a small, yappy Yorkie got access into the parks by telling the CMs there that her dog had seperation anxiety and she couldn't leave him alone...

 

[christymarie]

I think Christy got messed up with trying to avoid double negatives.

I have read other posts by her and I think what she meant it to say was the opposite of how it is being read. I think this is what she meant to say:

I want to quickly state (don't flame me yet) that being a small dog or having a bow or special stroller does not mean that you do not have a legitimate service dog. That said, however, if you can make your dog appear more service like it would be helpful, I believe, to the general public and may cut down on confusion.

I think the part she was meaning was possibly going to get flames was the suggestion that making the dog appear more service like would be helpful.

My own observations:
1) One of my youngest DD's friends has a SD that is a little white dog that fit in her lap. He often wears bows, but also wears his service dog vest. He provides assistance for her mostly with alerting other people because she can send him for help if she needs something.

2) On our last trip in October, we saw 2 dogs that were undoubtably service dogs from their behavior and 2 that were very probably not service dogs - again by their behavior.
One of the 'probably not dogs' was riding in a stroller with a screened cover. He/she was growling and lunging inside the stroller at people as his/her owner passed people on the path. The other 'probably not' dog was one my DH saw at the DVC Member get together. He didn't notice the woman bring the dog in, but was sitting close by and saw her take the dog out of a bag sneakily. The dog jumped up on a couch and the woman almost sat on it in her haste to hide it. There were snacks served and the dog shot his head out from behind the woman to steal snacks from her. So, if those were SDs, they were very poorly trained ones (and someone with a legitimate SD would be unlikely to hide it).

3) We have a SD in training for DD. He had his vest on (it is red and has at least 1 inch high letters) and was walking in next to her (she was in her wheelchair). As we entered Walmart, the greeter said "Is that a Service Dog? Because if it's not, he can't come inside." So, a vest is sometimes not even noticed.

Oh for Gosh sakes. I am soooo very sorry!!! Yes, I ment it to read like Sue mentioned above. Believe me I should be flamed for how I actually wrote it. Please forgive me for any shock or hurt feelings I accidentally caused. I feel terrible.

Thank you, Sue, for defending me.

Going to go hide behind a rock now.

 

[Stag]

Oh no! Please don't feel bad. We all do it sometimes. Me... more than most.

Like I said, those pesky double negatives, always causing trouble...

 

[SueM in MN]

Oh for Gosh sakes. I am soooo very sorry!!! Yes, I ment it to read like Sue mentioned above. Believe me I should be flamed for how I actually wrote it. Please forgive me for any shock or hurt feelings I accidentally caused. I feel terrible.

Thank you, Sue, for defending me.

Going to go hide behind a rock now.

NO problem!

Now, come out from behind that rock!

 

[christymarie]

Sue, you haven't seen my post about the fingerprint scans. I'm looking for an even bigger rock now.

Maybe some sleep will help.....

 

[SueM in MN]

Sue, you haven't seen my post about the fingerprint scans. I'm looking for an even bigger rock now.

Maybe some sleep will help.....

I need sleep too.
I already fell asleep in front of my computer. I need some coffee

 

[servicedogfriend]

Thank you to everyone for your information. My service dog does have a vest along with patches. He is extremely well behaved so I don't think there will be any confusion there, I'm just nervous about any confrontation at the entrance but I guess it will be pretty easy. I guess I just really wanted to know if I had to go to guest services or if I could just go straight to the normal turn styles like the general public.