Service dog experiences

[Disney_Princess83]

Those buckets are reused and are not sanitized between guests...

I assure you, they ARE washed between guests.

 

[stitchlovestink]

I assure you, they ARE washed between guests.

Well what happens and what is 'supposed' to happen often are two very different things. DD has been a CM at WDW and worked and many of the hotels and I heard the stories firsthard. So I will believe her first any day...sorry....

 

[Gracie09]

I assure you, they ARE washed between guests.

Washed does not mean sanitized

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Please do NOT do this. That is disgusting for the people who will be using those buckets after you. Hotels don't disinfect them. For the same sanitary reasons dogs can't eat off plates/utensils in restaurants - except those are actually washed in hot, soapy water (but if your dog touched them, they'd have to throw them out) - do not use ice buckets and similar things for your dog. It is also entirely inappropriate from a service dog etiquette point of view.

I guess I'd better not tell you how my husband used our hotel room's ice bucket when he was immobilized from a knee injury during a winter visit to Yellowstone.



I stay in hotels quite frequently and they always provide new plastic liners (usually clear bags) with the ice buckets. I would think if you are that concerned, you'd wash your ice bucket before use. While you should carry your dog's own dishes, I don't have a problem with using what's at hand.

I disagree with the poster who said ice buckets are washed between guests. Not at most hotels!

The restaurants I frequent all wash their dishes! What difference does it make if a dog or a person used them if they are clean? Have you ever visited a restaurant kitchen? Clean dishes should be the least of your sanitary concerns.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Is there some context in which this comment is appropriate thing to say to anybody, ever?

If you another reason, picture the next person who gets that bucket has an allergy to dog saliva. It could turn out like feeding an allergic kid peanuts. When I check into a hotel it is completely unreasonable to expect dog saliva in my ice bucket.

Believe me, there are much more disgusting fluids lingering in hotel rooms than dog saliva.

 

[SueM in MN]

Ok - I think the subject of dog saliva, ice buckets and other body fluids has been discussed enough.

Any further discussions of those subjects will be deleted.

 

[coachyo]

I founds this thread through a search and was hoping for a little more discussion than using ice buckets for food and water. (You all can make your own decisions, I'll bring bowls)
My daughter has a SD, well we had him for the 1st 12 months and right now he is at finish training and returns in a few weeks. We are planning a trip for July '14. Milo is currently a 14 month old, 75 pound Golden-Doodle with a great disposition and very faithful to my 18 yr. old DD. His main duty is seizure response for her. If you have had any experiences we would love to hear about them.

When we get to a ride can we just do rider swap when it is not appropriate for him to ride? (We will have 4 in our group)
Are there rides where they won't even allow him in the que?
Are there any shows he can't go into?
Any issues using disney transportation?
Is there 1 park that is better than another to have a SD with you?

What should we be thinking about that we are not?

We would appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks,YO

 

[disney david]

I founds this thread through a search and was hoping for a little more discussion than using ice buckets for food and water. (You all can make your own decisions, I'll bring bowls)
My daughter has a SD, well we had him for the 1st 12 months and right now he is at finish training and returns in a few weeks. We are planning a trip for July '14. Milo is currently a 14 month old, 75 pound Golden-Doodle with a great disposition and very faithful to my 18 yr. old DD. His main duty is seizure response for her. If you have had any experiences we would love to hear about them.

When we get to a ride can we just do rider swap when it is not appropriate for him to ride? (We will have 4 in our group)
Are there rides where they won't even allow him in the que?
Are there any shows he can't go into?
Any issues using disney transportation?
Is there 1 park that is better than another to have a SD with you?

What should we be thinking about that we are not?

We would appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks,YO

No issues with any Disney transportation he can go on buses,boats,monorails perfectly fine they won't be any problems going on any of them.

 

[goldeneyez]

I too found this through a search as my ds is going to be getting a SD before our next trip to DL in July '14. Since I won't have alot of experience taking an SD to a theme park, I was happy to read about the dog boots and collapsible bowls recommended.

Is there anything else that someone who is new to the SD world should know about taking him/her to DL? Where is the kennel located? Is it close? My son's SD is mainly for autism, but because of a new dx, is getting trained for wheelchair help as well. Any information would be more than helpful.

Thank you

 

[LockShockBarrel]

I founds this thread through a search and was hoping for a little more discussion than using ice buckets for food and water. (You all can make your own decisions, I'll bring bowls)
My daughter has a SD, well we had him for the 1st 12 months and right now he is at finish training and returns in a few weeks. We are planning a trip for July '14. Milo is currently a 14 month old, 75 pound Golden-Doodle with a great disposition and very faithful to my 18 yr. old DD. His main duty is seizure response for her. If you have had any experiences we would love to hear about them.

When we get to a ride can we just do rider swap when it is not appropriate for him to ride? (We will have 4 in our group) If I remember correctly with the dog you will usually have a rider swap option but there's ton of rides he should be fine on as far as having room. Rides he will not be allowed on at all would be any of the roller coasters, Soarin, ToT, Mad Tea Party... I'm not sure about Astro Orbiter and Dumbo since we never bothered with them.
Are there rides where they won't even allow him in the que? The dog should be allowed in all the queues but there will be rides that it'd be easier to have someone sit outside with him when you can. Our dog was a guide dog and we had some CMs that didn't understand we couldn't separate and go through the queue one at a time so I always remember the dog being allowed through. There will be certain points where you might go through a different part of the line in order to board with the dog (like where you'd go into particular rows at shows or rides where you'd have the dog in a spot usually intended for wheelchairs) I'm not 100% how they'll handle your situation because its not a dog for vision but I can't imagine it will be too different
Are there any shows he can't go into? Again, if I remember correctly, you can't do Flights of Wonder but I could be wrong. The shows tend to be more of an individual issue where it would be up to you to decide if the dog could handle a lot of noise and dancing around them like at Festival of the Lion King.
Any issues using disney transportation? No, the dog is allowed on it all. The best way we found was to slide the dog under a seat when possible or back him into the front facing seat and then sit on the aisle. It left an "empty seat" but then he wasn't getting hit by people walking by or in the way of bags and strollers.
Is there 1 park that is better than another to have a SD with you? No one park is really better than the other, but there are different considerations. It tends to be the same considerations for humans like less shade at AK or long distances between things at AK and Epcot.

What should we be thinking about that we are not?

We would appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks,YO

My answers are up there in bold.

 

[cooper14]

I founds this thread through a search and was hoping for a little more discussion than using ice buckets for food and water. (You all can make your own decisions, I'll bring bowls)
My daughter has a SD, well we had him for the 1st 12 months and right now he is at finish training and returns in a few weeks. We are planning a trip for July '14. Milo is currently a 14 month old, 75 pound Golden-Doodle with a great disposition and very faithful to my 18 yr. old DD. His main duty is seizure response for her. If you have had any experiences we would love to hear about them.

When we get to a ride can we just do rider swap when it is not appropriate for him to ride? (We will have 4 in our group)
Are there rides where they won't even allow him in the que?
Are there any shows he can't go into?
Any issues using disney transportation?
Is there 1 park that is better than another to have a SD with you?

What should we be thinking about that we are not?

We would appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks,YO

Your dog can go anywhere that your daughter can go. I have been to Disney probably 15 times with my sd. You might want to keep in mind that there are fireworks at Disney every night. My dog doesn't like fireworks so we avoid them. When you ride on the buses keep in mind that people don't look down when they are moving on the bus so you need to pay attention so your dog doesn't get stepped on. I use a scooter and carry a collapsible bowl for his food and water. I am amazed that your dog is fully trained in just 2 months. If I were you I would have a vest that says "PLEASE DO NOT PET" on the dog. Since he is a seizure dog you don't want him to be distracted. When we first brought Cooper to Disney people would just come up and pet him and I even had young kids pulling fur off of him. Be prepared, you will have a lot of responsibility bringing a sd to Disney. One other thing is that your dog needs to be able to go to the bathroom on command. They have designated rest areas for dogs and they are not allowed to relieve themselves where ever they want. Good luck !!!!

 

[Gracie09]

There are certain rides that a dog is not allowed on, service or not. Usually the big roller coaster rides - rockin roller, expedition everist etc

 

[3disneykidz]

Can anyone share any experiences with your service dog, good or bad at WDW?

we had great experieces the last three years we have taken our daughter's service dog.

We call ahead when booking a room to let them know we are bringing him wiht us and that he will be staying in the room. At the resort when Crosby is on a down time and out for a walk he doesnt' wear his jacket. I in the past carried the jacket with me but last year when we went I never did and was never asked about him and why he was there.

once at the park we went to guest services to one get a map of where the break places were for dogs as they are only one or two per park. We also got a guest assistance card b/c my daughter cannot wait in long lines.

Disney Cm are great they made sure Crosby was ok to wait if needed and out get him water. At restaraunts they brought him bowls of water.

The characters and cm's were all great when approaching Crosby and my daughter.

We did ride swap as Crosby when he first went on rides he pooped on Toy Story Mania and Nemo. So we (dh and I) banned him from going on any other rides.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

we had great experieces the last three years we have taken our daughter's service dog.

We call ahead when booking a room to let them know we are bringing him wiht us and that he will be staying in the room. At the resort when Crosby is on a down time and out for a walk he doesnt' wear his jacket. I in the past carried the jacket with me but last year when we went I never did and was never asked about him and why he was there.

once at the park we went to guest services to one get a map of where the break places were for dogs as they are only one or two per park. We also got a guest assistance card b/c my daughter cannot wait in long lines.

Disney Cm are great they made sure Crosby was ok to wait if needed and out get him water. At restaraunts they brought him bowls of water.

The characters and cm's were all great when approaching Crosby and my daughter.

We did ride swap as Crosby when he first went on rides he pooped on Toy Story Mania and Nemo. So we (dh and I) banned him from going on any other rides.

I see that you're new so please don't take this as a personal attack. I just wanted to touch on a couple things here for others that aren't used to dogs in Disney or that are also new.

A service animal at Disney is required to always be on leash or in harness. The only times the dogs I was with were out of harness were when they were eating or going to the bathroom as it's how they were trained (you don't poop in harness!) I wouldn't advise anyone to walk even through the resort without a harness or whatever identifying article the dog wears (if there is one) because it opens the door for issues. A service dog, in a situation like this, should always be kept in the on duty when out and about within the resort as far as I see it. Far fewer people are going to question what's going on if they can see it's a service animal rather than getting in the argument "Why is their dog here? I want mine here!!" Just because a question isn't presented at the time doesn't mean it can't and won't happen.

There is definitely more break areas for dogs than 1 or 2. They've recently added some that you don't have to get CMs to bring you to so perhaps that's what you saw on that maps. If I remember correctly the goal is to have them all "on stage" but maybe when you were there they only had a few.

The CMs are not obligated to feed or water your dog. We had a couple offer water but never took them up on it. It's easy enough to use water fountains, or ask for water at the counter service restaurants.

 

[Disneykidsdad]

I see that you're new so please don't take this as a personal attack. I just wanted to touch on a couple things here for others that aren't used to dogs in Disney or that are also new.

A service animal at Disney is required to always be on leash or in harness. The only times the dogs I was with were out of harness were when they were eating or going to the bathroom as it's how they were trained (you don't poop in harness!) I wouldn't advise anyone to walk even through the resort without a harness or whatever identifying article the dog wears (if there is one) because it opens the door for issues. A service dog, in a situation like this, should always be kept in the on duty when out and about within the resort as far as I see it. Far fewer people are going to question what's going on if they can see it's a service animal rather than getting in the argument "Why is their dog here? I want mine here!!" Just because a question isn't presented at the time doesn't mean it can't and won't happen.

There is definitely more break areas for dogs than 1 or 2. They've recently added some that you don't have to get CMs to bring you to so perhaps that's what you saw on that maps. If I remember correctly the goal is to have them all "on stage" but maybe when you were there they only had a few.

The CMs are not obligated to feed or water your dog. We had a couple offer water but never took them up on it. It's easy enough to use water fountains, or ask for water at the counter service restaurants.

We have been to WDW 3 or 4 times with our daughter and her service dog. You have a few things wrong. Yes...a service dog is required to be on a leash at all times in WDW. But they DO NOT have to wear their identifying vest or whatever the particular service dog organization provides. When we are in the parks, we keep the vest on our dog but if we are taking him out in the morning or at night for a potty break, we don't always put his vest on. In those situations he does NOT have to be "on duty" as you call it.

 

[tinkerpea]

I see that you're new so please don't take this as a personal attack. I just wanted to touch on a couple things here for others that aren't used to dogs in Disney or that are also new.

A service animal at Disney is required to always be on leash or in harness. The only times the dogs I was with were out of harness were when they were eating or going to the bathroom as it's how they were trained (you don't poop in harness!) I wouldn't advise anyone to walk even through the resort without a harness or whatever identifying article the dog wears (if there is one) because it opens the door for issues. A service dog, in a situation like this, should always be kept in the on duty when out and about within the resort as far as I see it. Far fewer people are going to question what's going on if they can see it's a service animal rather than getting in the argument "Why is their dog here? I want mine here!!" Just because a question isn't presented at the time doesn't mean it can't and won't happen.

There is definitely more break areas for dogs than 1 or 2. They've recently added some that you don't have to get CMs to bring you to so perhaps that's what you saw on that maps. If I remember correctly the goal is to have them all "on stage" but maybe when you were there they only had a few.

The CMs are not obligated to feed or water your dog. We had a couple offer water but never took them up on it. It's easy enough to use water fountains, or ask for water at the counter service restaurants.

That poster maybe new to posting on the boards but clearly is not new to taking a service dog to Disney,

They are actually doing nothing wrong by having the service jacket off on the dogs down time when in the resorts, they did not say the dog was un-leashed just that no identifying jacket was on.

They are giving advice based on their experiences which is what this thread asked for.

Your doing what you feel is best for you, but the post unfortunately came across as what you do is correct and what they are doing is wrong which is not correct, and it should be done your way? Which I'm sure isn't how you wanted it to?

 

[LockShockBarrel]

I am well aware of what I said. The reason I said it is because both in the parks and at the resorts I've run into both guests and CMs that questioned the dog. We did the same thing as the other poster as far as walking the dog that we had at the time without his harness, just on his leash at the resort and had guests flipping out that we had a "pet" and a CM questioned us as to whether or not it was a service animal. At the parks we always went way out of the path of other guests to feed the dog because it was easier and quieter. The dogs always ate without a harness on because they knew eating in harness was off limits but we of course kept a leash on. Again more than once a CM came over to remind us that if he had a harness or blanket, it needed to be on. We explained why we took it off and said it was going right back on as soon as they were through eating. Two of those times the CM hung around to make sure of it. I would imagine a newer user or member of the boards could interpret what the PP said as far as walking around the resort as including food courts, gift shops and all that as "around the resort", then I still maintain the dog needs to be "working" to be in those areas.

 

[coachyo]

Thank you all for your comments.

I am really getting good info and understand better that Disney is accommodating and won't be an issue.
I realize WDW is just like every place else some people know what they are doing and others don't.
The CM who was acting as though your dog had to have a vest was out of line. You are not required
To have any identifying materials on a SD. I agree that it is usually better to get out of the way to feed or water
As you can get too many unwanted distractions. We have an 18 month old Golden Doodle who if I must say is very cute and
We get lots of questions everywhere we go just because they want to get friendly so they then can ask to pet him.

Do all of you use boots in the summer months?
Anyone have a brand they really recommend for the hot weather in Florida in June?


Thanks again everyone and GO BRONCOS!

 

[lauriko]

I've just been getting used to these boards, but saw this thread and was intrigued to see what experiences other people have had at WDW.

I am a Puppy Raiser for an organization and have taken the last 3 puppies that I have raised to Disney. It's such a great training experience! Here are some things that I have found to work:
~Before leaving for your trip, get your pup used to wearing booties of some kind. We use Mutt Lukks since they are easy to stuff into a backpack. If your dogs doesn't get used to those, then we have used Musher's Secret to put on their paws. The pavement in the parks can get VERY hot in the warmer months. I usually will press my hand to the ground to check the temperature. If my hand burns, then the boots go on!
~Again, before leaving, get your pup used to large crowds and loud noises. Very important! Many dogs are well trained, but some aren't used to the masses at Disney. I have seen some working dogs in Disney balk about the simplest things that could've been worked on before even leaving for your trip. It saves a headache later!
~Carry a backpack of some sort. The less that your pup has to carry, the better for him/her. There's a lot of walking involved in the parks and the added weight of bowls and such is hard on a dog. I usually have a sling backpack with me that contains clean up supplies, water, bowl, boots, a small towel, hand sanitizer, a meal for the pup, and any extra equipment that can be folded up.
~I definitely agree with everyone about the "no petting" rule. I allow the characters to interact with the puppies, but other people in the parks are not allowed to pet.
~As for rides, we have used rider swaps on some of the more fast-paced rides so that the dogs don't have to get stressed while on them. Please don't take the dogs on Toy Story Mania...it's really stressful for them and the whipping about is rough even on us humans!
~I was just in Disney last September and was pleased to see that they have moved the potty areas to the inside of the parks. They are small, but it's so much nicer having them inside the park than having to go behind the scenes to locate them. The Disability maps have them clearly marked on them and if I remember correctly there are about 4 per park.
~The transportation has been very accommodating and I usually have my pups lay under the seat that I am sitting on. Since most of the time it's standing room only on the buses, this has kept them out of the way and not getting stepped on.
~We've also used the Best Friend kennels. I leave the pup there on the day that we plan on going to the Animal Kingdom. We try to plan that day for the middle of our trip so that the pup gets a day of rest.

Take lots of breaks during the hotter parts of the day and just keep an eye on your pup for the cues that they give you. They're very good about letting us know that they have had enough! My puppy, Pip, was tired of meeting all the princesses, but I was having so much fun!

Hope this helps!

 

[coachyo]

Lauriko, great 1st post!

Welcome to disboards. Thanks for your info I will look for those booties. Do they ever really get used to walking in them or do they always look like Pluto walking around?

The kennel for AK day is something I plan to do for him too.

Have a great day. I'm gonna start another thread but what flying experience do you have with your SD?

Thanks, YO

GO BRONCOS!!!