Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities
ADA Pertaining to service dogs
- What qualifies a service dog
- A service dog is
- Any breed and any size of dog
- Trained to perform a task directly related to a person’s disability
- A service dog is not
- Required to be certified or go through a professional training program
- Required to wear a vest or other ID that indicates they’re a service dog
- Emotional support or comfort dogs, because providing emotional support or comfort is not a task related to a person’s disability
- A service dog is
If a business chooses to question a service dog’s access, they can only ask 2 questions.
- Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability
- What work or task has the dog been trained to perform
Asking any further questions, such as what is the person’s disability or for paperwork to prove the disability would not be in compliance with the ADA
Asking a service dog to leave the premises
A business can only ask a service dog to leave for very few reasons, even then, they must provide the opportunity to obtain goods or services without the dog.
- Reasons the dog CAN be asked to leave
- The dog is out of control and the handler does not take effective action to control it
- The dog is not housebroken
- Reasons the dog CAN’T be asked to leave
- allergies
- fear of dogs
Source: https://beta.ada.gov/topics/
Service Dog Etiquette 