When Talking About Service Dogs Gets Nasty

You know, I simply replied to a message on Facebook and some lady misconstrues everything, reading into what is not even there and reacts irrationally. My reaction may not be real nice, but it was nicer than her post was. I have been keeping my eye on her "appearences" in the community, Someone recently told me that she *un-friended this woman because she was sending nasty messages to her Facebook page, and it upset her.

Lisa: You're in Bangor?? We should meet up someday! I take agility from EMAC *.

Heather:

Will be moving soon to Oregon. We take agility from a training facility in Levant that trains service dogs... who certified Rosie and I 2 yrs ago as a service dog team after we passed our Public Access test.

Lisa:
Thankfully I know that SDs * DO NOT have to be cerified OR have a PAT *! and Mine are owner/trained. Well I guess it's a good thing u are moving.. you don't sound nice and am removing u as a friend on FB * . It's people like you that flaunt that YOUR dog is "certified" that give us owner/trainers and people that don't have their dogs certified a hard time with access issues! Thankfully, I didn't waste my money doing something the ADA * says i don't have to do!!!!

Heather: I worked quite hard at raising and training my own service dog which tells me that you really know nothing about me or my dog at all, but feel the need to judge me on nothing. Well I guess it's good you are removing me as a friend since you know nothing about me or my dog yet you feel I am being snooty.

I wasted no money on my dog, only the money I would have paid had I taken the same obedience classes with any dog I own, whether service dog candidate or pet. Infact, this dog trainer is one of the more affordable ones in the area. I raised and trained my dog from 9 weeks old. I later found a trainer that helped us get my dog her CGC * , and a couple years later he gave us a public access test. I was NOT expecting to be certified since they had said they would never certify a dog they did not raise and train themselves. Doing these tests helped me feel more confident about my dog's training and confident that she was learning from me all she should know to set a good example as an owner-trained service dog. I do not flaunt her certification because I KNOW she doesn't need to be certified, plus it gives the impression that someone else trained her and ignorant people like you assume that SD * s that are certified are not owner-trained. I think if anything I am setting a great example for owner-trainers and maybe if your dogs could behave that well you would not have the access problems that you have. It is the people that have SD * s that are not trained sufficiently that give owner trainers a bad name. NOT ME!

Heather: You also would have less access problems if you used one service dog like the rest of us do. I hear one of your dogs didn't behave the greatest at the Bangor State Fair this year.

*Definitions*

EMAC- Eastern Maine Agility Club

SDs- Service Dogs

PAT- Public Access Test

FB- Facebook (social internet site)

ADA- American's with Disabilities Act

CGC- Canine Good Citizen (Behavior test for dogs through the AKC- American Kennel Club)

Apparently this woman has a habit of going off at others and has been kicked off a number of lists, some of which I have been on.  Occasionally she sees me on a group on Facebook and tries to get in a couple of pot shots, but usually the moderator will cut it off before I even get a chance to see it.  I understand what psychiatric service dogs are, but I am really wondering what a service dog can do to help an individual who may have a mental illness, yes, but who is an irrational b---- to everyone.  She has 2 service dogs and neither of them seem to help her with the areas that truly affect her life (and everyone around her) negatively.  I am not sure what a dog can do to assist an attitudinal personality disorder.  Service dogs are usually used to help a person manage symptoms of a disabling Axis I major mental illness diagnosis.

I am being too harsh when I really don't know all the details.  However I feel  I've got to share this stuff somewhere! 

I created a little brag page for Rosie after seeing similar pages used in the AKC's weekly winners page.  They are kind of like advertising the dog, like an E-harmony type thing where the purebred dog can find mates.  No offense was intended in my description so please don't take any if you show your dog and or have a page like this for your dog.  I think they are great and love seeing them.