Aaaah, the Bark Post. My favorite dog blog.
Today’s post absolutely cracked me up.
Fake service dogs are a big thing right now, as you know if you’ve ever laid eyes on this blog before, and my knee-jerk reaction to articles titled things like DIY How to Take Your Dog Everywhere is to get pissed and indignant, and before I’ve even clicked the link, I’ve crafted a nasty email to the author in my mind. I’m in the habit of brandishing the ADA, my sword and shield these days, before having a human conversation.
Life can feel really serious for folks with disabilities. We’re constantly defending our needs for accommodations and combating abuse of them by people without need. But this morning, I was pleasantly surprised, and wonderfully reminded that life’s not always so serious. Whether he or she knows it or not, the author addressed the real issue of silly people taking their dogs everywhere without the right to do it, and turned it into a hilarious joke.
The post is a step-by-step DIY for how to create popsicle stick dog-face fans so that you can always take Rover everywhere with you.
Hilarious, right? Who’s going to do that? But seriously, is it less ridiculous than dog strollers in shopping malls or entitled city dwellers carrying little yappy pups through Target while trying to shop for a new comforter? I don’t think it is. I think they’re about even.
Thank you, The Bark Post, for not sucking.
Help On Four Legs 
Ha! Gonna go get me some paint sticks.
I am sensitive to the same issue, but on a slightly different bent. I have agoraphobia. For the vast majority of my life I have been painfully phobic of open spaces. When I realized that a dog can closely eliminate that fear, I started my research for getting a service dog. Buying a service dog outright cost over $10k — but due to my agoraphobia, I couldn’t sustain a job well enough to save that kind of money. As the stress levels of my job started ramping, my coworkers didn’t have the energy to deal with my agoraphobia, which made my stress levels sky rocket and greatly diminished my quality of work.
Agoraphobia is not considered an “invisible disability” that warrants a service dog. I could not apply for getting a service dog from a dog training service with subsidized costs because my “disability” is not considered significant and so all other people would be prioritized over me.
So… I adopted a dog from a shelter for the purpose of being my service dog. She comes with her own issues, a large portion of that instigated by switching homes suddenly and dealing with a novice trainer (me). But despite these issues, she has DRAMATICALLY helped me to overcome my agoraphobia. After 6 years, I can honestly say that my agoraphobia is almost “cured” due directly to my dog helping me to build up my confidence and security to be “alone”. My salary has also tripled.
But, every time I go out with her, I am utterly terrified of someone confronting me — which would make my agoraphobia skyrocket. People wonder, what is wrong with me? And if they know anything about the ADA, they’d be like, “WTF? Agoraphobia isn’t covered…”. But when my dog is not _perfect_ we’re scrutinized. In people’s minds, I _must_ be faking it if my dog is not absolutely perfect and robotic, and they feel they can confront me for it.
I really wish dogs weren’t as prohibited as they are. I wish more people could take their dogs to more places. I don’t want to walk around with a vest on my dog screaming, “CRAZY LADY HERE. WATCH OUT FOR THE CRAZY LADY.” I don’t want to be scrutinized if i am _allowed_ to use a dog to help me or not. I really wish I could simply be considered a dog lover and then be dismissed and forgotten from people’s minds.
I absolutely agree with K.M.. Although I completely understand the frustration with the whole fake service dog phenomenon, I can’t help but think that this anger has more to do with misbehaved yappers and rude people than it does with individuals wanting extra companionship. My depression, for example, is in no way something that I need or merit a service dog for. However, some days the prospect of leaving the house and dealing with life is terrifying. I make it a habit to take my Milo with me anywhere that I can, and its wonderful. However as we all know those places are limited. My dog Milo behaves better than most adult humans out in public, and quite frankly I can’t see any reason why he shouldn’t be allowed there.