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Etiquette Around Service Animals
Here is how to behave around assistance animals who help people who are blind, disabled, or have mental disorders.
Dogs are amazing creatures that can be trained to do all sorts of things. As a disability advocate, I have seen dogs assist disabled people in many ways. We commonly associate service dogs as guides to the blind, helping their owners to avoid obstacles. These animals are also taught “willful disobedience,” which is disobeying the owner if the command puts the handlers in harm's way, such as trying to lead the dog into a busy street.
Types of Service Dogs
Hearing dogs
These dogs help people with hearing loss by alerting them to sounds such as a baby crying or a doorbell or phone ringing. They can also lead their handlers to the source of noise. Handlers can take cues from how their dogs react to their environment. For example, a dog may turn to look at something or stop abruptly, prompting the handler to do the same.
Diabetic alert dogs
These service animals can warn people with diabetes when their blood glucose is low (hypoglycemia) or high (hyperglycemia) before the levels become dangerous.
Epilepsy sensing dogs
These dogs warn people with epilepsy or family members when a seizure is coming. They are trained…
