Fake service dogs make life tougher for truly disabled

The lady was calling from a government office.

“There’s a Chihuahua in here and it’s barking and it just lunged at a child. Do I have to let the dog be in here?”

Susan Luehrs gets calls like this all the time. Luehrs is founder and program director of Hawaii Fi-Do, the only accredited service dog program on Oahu. People call her from shops and offices and restaurants wondering if they can ask someone to take their dog outside. What if it’s a service dog? What if the person has a disability that isn’t obvious?

“Businesses don’t know what to do,” Luehrs said. “They’re afraid of getting sued.”

She told the lady to get the Chihuahua out of there. If it’s threatening to bite a child, it is not a properly trained service dog and nobody has to put up with that.

Dogs seem to be everywhere these days, in a lot of places where they never were before. In theaters. Grocery stores. Department stores. Coffee shops. Carried in purses and pushed in cute little strollers. Somehow the societal norm that kept pets at home while their owners went to the mall has broken down.

And then there is the proliferation of vests, signs and other canine outerwear that is supposed to keep challenges at bay by suggesting they’re service dogs protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

For the record, you do not have to let dogs into your restaurant. You do not have to let dogs into your store. You do not have to let dogs into the movie theater.

Service dogs are different, of course. Under the ADA, businesses that serve the public must allow people with disabilities to bring in their service dogs. But not all dogs are service dogs.

How to tell the difference?

“There are only two questions to ask,” said Jim Kennedy, the executive director of Hawaii Fi-Do. “You can’t ask, ‘Are you disabled?’ You can’t ask, ‘What’s your disability?’ But you can ask, ‘Is this a service dog?’ and ‘What specific tasks has this dog been trained to do?’”

“An emotional support dog is not a service dog,” Luehrs said. “Really, any animal can give emotional support. A service dog performs tasks that assist a disabled person. Disabled, not lonely.”

Laws do not require service dogs to have ID cards, carry certifications or wear vests. In fact, people can buy the vests online and some do so they can dress up their dog and take it anywhere they want.

But the consequence of these imposters that are not trained or properly socialized and are thus poorly behaved in public is that people with legitimate disabilities and legitimate service dogs are getting questioned more often.

Luehrs has a master’s degree in education and is a retired special education teacher from Kahuku High School. She started working with service dogs when she brought them into her classroom.

She founded Hawaii Fi-Do in 2000, training service dogs to assist the needs of individuals with disabilities that affect muscle control, balance or mobility. Each dog is trained to help a specific person with their specific needs. For example, a dog can be trained to help a person get in and out of a car, pull a wheelchair, pick up a cane or provide stability while walking.

Volunteers foster the puppies at home and begin training when the pups are 3 days old, before their eyes and ears are even open. The dogs are given for free to people with disabilities, with priority going to military veterans.

Hawaii Fi-Do is a nonprofit that is funded through grants and donations and with support from the Aloha United Way.

Her dogs go through rigorous screening to make sure they have the right temperament, are in excellent health and can tolerate a wide variety of experiences. They are trained to focus only on their handler and to not engage in distractions around them.

“What drives me crazy is dogs in shopping carts,” Luehrs said. “If I see that in a store, I go right to the manager. There are health laws! People are going to put food in those carts!”

Restaurants are particular areas of abuse.

“Dogs shouldn’t be on chairs. Dogs shouldn’t be fed from a fork. Dogs shouldn’t be running around and barking and the wait staff shouldn’t have to step over the dog,” Luehrs said.

The big tell between a true service dog and a faker is the animal’s behavior.

A trained service dog will lie quietly underneath the table, not barking, not interacting, not begging for table scraps. “When we stand up to leave and a dog emerges from underneath the table, people go, ‘Oh! I didn’t even know there was a dog under there!’ ” Kennedy said. Kennedy’s wife is blind and works with a guide dog.

Hawaii Fi-Do has been offering free educational services to restaurants, hotels, big-box stores — pretty much anyone who asks — on how to identify fake service dogs and how to accommodate legitimate working dogs.

Kennedy is hoping to enlist the help of family and friends of those who are gaming the system. People know if someone in their family is bringing their dog everywhere and pretending it’s a service dog. “If they can find a way to sensitively talk to them about the downside of what they’re doing, that would be a big help,” he said.

“People who are truly disabled get pissed off when others try to pass off ‘fake service dogs’ just so they can have their pet with them anywhere,” Luehrs said. “It’s like parking in a handicap space — abusing an accommodation that was meant for someone who needs it.”

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.