09/10/2026
Service Dogs
Last month’s article was a general article about the types of assistance dogs a person can find in the U.S. For this month’s article, I will focus on service dogs. Service dogs are the only assistance dogs that are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Service dogs are highly trained dogs that can cope with being in public settings as well as assist their handlers with specific tasks related to their disabilities. The qualities needed in a service dog are good-natured, biddable and easily follows training cues, calm, non-reactive to humans or dogs/other animals, and enjoys being with people. Service dogs can be any breed or mix as long as their behavior is exemplary in public, and they can perform the needed task. If the dog has a good temperament to be a service dog, the training includes gradual exposure to public settings and teaching the dog the task(s) needed to help the handler. Public access training should always start in places that are dog-friendly. Until the dog is considered a service dog, handlers should not take their dogs to locations that are not dog-friendly, especially since there are plenty of places in the KC area that are. When in doubt, check with the store or event first. Good public access goals are passing the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen and Urban Canine followed by working on other challenging components of public access assessments. Once the dog has accomplished all of the aforementioned benchmarks, then the handler and service dog-in-training are ready to venture into non-dog-friendly areas and establishments with a certified service dog trainer. At the same time that public access training is going on, the dog should be getting trained to perform tasks. A service dog should have great manners in public and be able to ameliorate his or her handler’s disability. Training a service dog can easily take up to two years. Service dogs should be housebroken and at no risk of eliminating in public buildings, be vaccinated according to state and local laws, pose no threat or disturbance to the public, remain on-leash, should not ride in store carts (not including dog-friendly stores), should not be on public furniture, and should be under the handler’s control at all times. Businesses can legally ask two questions: 1) Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? 2) What work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Staff cannot ask about the nature of the person’s disability, require documentation or special vests, ask that the dog demonstrate its task, or charge extra fees because of the dog. Staff can ask the handler to remove the dog if the dog is unruly, urinating/defecating, or causing other disturbances. Since service dog vests can be purchased easily, it can be difficult to determine whether a dog is indeed a service dog. Some people probably don’t realize what a true service dog is. Others are intentionally misrepresenting their dogs as service dogs when they aren’t. In Kansas, fraudulently presenting a pet as a service dog is a Class A nonperson misdemeanor under Kansas Statute K.S.A. § 39-1112. [1, 2] and can include jail time and/or fines.
