Assistance Dog or Service Dog?

Following on from a comment by Kim in response to my Confused? entry, I thought I would try and explain the difference in terminology here.

One of the common differences between the UK and USA is the terminology used to describe the dogs that help humans with disabilities. In USA it is commonplace to call those that are not guide or hearing dogs, service dogs. Although in the UK we do have guide dogs, hearing dogs and dogs for those with other disabilities, the generic term here is "assistance dog". Some still persist with "guide and other assistance dogs" but the generic term "assistance dog" is becoming more commonplace.

Whilst I can see the merit in calling those dogs which are not guide and not hearing dogs, service dogs, it would never work here. Principly because here in the UK "the services" usually refers to the armed forces and a service dog is one who is connected with the armed forces. For example, in parts of London, these signs are quite common.

In the news!

I got a call from a local journalist last week asking if I thought owning a dog or cat could be good for ones health! Here's the result.


Click on the picture for a fuller size to enable you to read the article.

I was telling a friend about this article, and the research that animals can be good for your health, and it reminded her of a recent article by Giles Coren in The Times recently, which is hilarious! Thanks Susan!

Confused?

It seems clear to me that it is little wonder that the general public are confused about assistance dog access sometimes. We're a generation who have been brought up collecting bottle tops for Guide Dogs but things have moved on. The law now clearly states that any person with a disability accompanied by an assistance dog trained to mitigate their disability should be treated equally.

So, it goes without saying, that shops would want to welcome all assistance dog partnerships doesn't it? Yeh, right! Literally, within five minutes in a town centre (Windsor) recently, we saw four different "welcome" or "not welcome" signs.

Come on Waitrose, you can do better than that, surely?

Lots of information on show at Starbucks, but no generic sign for assistance dogs!

Brilliant! Well done The King & Castle!

... and well done to Boots too!

Probably bad luck but uncomfortable nonetheless

We recently had occasion to take several journies using South West Trains,
and would you believe it, three out of the four trains we took, had the toilet closest to the wheelchair space out of order? Thumbs down!

For folks able to walk this isn't such a big issue as they can simply walk to the next carriage, but for wheelies it is a bigger issue. Thankfully, at the start of a three hour journey we noticed this and at the next stop the guard assisted us to move up the train to another area where the toilet was working. Phew! Thumbs up!

On the last leg of our return journey, the toilet was working, but alas it was one of the hottest days of the year and the airconditioning wasn't! Thumbs down! As soon as we boarded the train at the start of its journey we felt the difference in temperature, thumbs up to the guard who gave me his cup of cool water for Caesar, and then took his bowl and returned with a bowlful of icy cold water for him for the journey.

About three quarters of an hour into the journey, at the first stop, the train took on water for the human passengers too, trays of bottled water were made available in every carriage free of charge. Thumbs up! I've travelled on a few trains with broken airconditioning before now and only ever have I been offered water for Caesar and not myself ... well we are a nation of animal lovers after all!

Boy were we glad to receive this!