Man who refuses to allow his service dog to be taken to his house sparks anger

A post about a man who said his friend’s diabetic alert dog (DAD) was “not welcome” in his home has sparked a storm of criticism on Reddit.

In a post that has received 9,900 upvotes so far, user AITAThrowawya8 wrote that his friend recently got a DAD. This friend wants to bring the dog to the user’s house whenever they host hangouts and parties. But the poster said: “I’m not a big dog person and I really don’t want him in my house. It’s a shed breed and I don’t want to have to deal with dog hair in my house.

“I told my friend that his dog is not welcome. I offered to pay for a surveillance device for him to use at my house, but he didn’t take that offer well and missed our Super Bowl meeting. AITA [am I the a******]?” the user asked.

More than 37 million adults in the US have diabetes, and in the past 20 years the number of adults diagnosed with diabetes has more than doubled, according to the latest figures from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recently revised website (CDC). in July 2022.

With diabetes being the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, according to the CDC, owning a guard dog could be a lifesaver for some people.

A study conducted in August 2013 among people with type 1 diabetes and published in the online journal PLOS One found that “trained glycemia alert dogs used with patients with diabetes significantly improve the well-being of the owner.” .

After being placed with the alert dogs, all participants reported positive effects, such as “fewer rescue calls, fewer unconscious episodes and improved independence,” according to the study.

The study also states, “Owner-recorded data showed that dogs alerted their owners to low and high blood sugar with significant, albeit variable, accuracy.”

The user on the Reddit post said, “I’ve spent the last 10 years in this house to turn it into a place for my friends, family and I to hang out… My house is the preferred destination among everyone else. I have amenities that others don’t have.”

He also said his children regularly play in his yard and that he doesn’t want them to encounter “dog poo and pee.”

Nick Leighton, the host of Etiquette Weekly Podcast Were you raised by wolves?told news week: “The gracious host puts the health and safety of their guests before the need for vacuuming.”

But “the main problem [in the Reddit post] is that the original poster seems to confuse service animals with pets. Service animals are working animals, not pets,” he said.

Sharon Wachsler is a certified professional dog trainer and owner of At Your Service Dog Training, which helps people with disabilities and their families raise/train their service dog.

Addressed to the Reddit post, Wachsler said news week: “There is a lot of confusion about this topic and relevant issues not addressed by the OP [the original poster] or many commentators.”

She said the reasons given for not wanting the dog in his home suggested he “really doesn’t understand the behavioral and training demands of a well-trained companion animal.”

A well-trained DAD would be “on duty” on a leash and settle quietly on the ground at his handler’s feet, she said. It would “not lie on furniture or blend in with social encounters”.

Wachsler continues: “I often say that a well-trained service dog should pass the ‘hidden dog test’. That means unless you look directly at the dog, you don’t know it’s there.”

Regarding the peeing and pooping in the yard, Wachsler said, “We train service animals to relieve themselves on command so the handler knows their dog is ’empty’ before entering a long event.”

But if the dog needs to relieve himself during the home visit, the handler would clean up behind the dog or take him to another part of the street to relieve himself.

As for dog hair, it can be greatly minimized by either “politely asking the handler to give the dog an extra brush before coming over” and/or providing a towel or mat for the dog to lie on, she said.

Wachsler also said that the poster “doesn’t have to be a dog person to allow your friend the dignity, independence, and personality to choose how to manage their chronic illness.

“Offering a different medical intervention demonstrates a real lack of understanding of what it is like to live with a chronic condition and how personal and life-changing the journey of partnering with assistance dogs can be,” she said.

Several users on Reddit criticized the original poster for not allowing his friend to bring his service dog.

In a comment that received over 34,000 upvotes, user idreaminwords said, “YTA [you’re the a******]. You need to stop equating your friend’s service dog with pets. This is a medical support device. Would you tell someone they can’t bring their wheelchair because you don’t want the wheels to leave dirt on your floor?”

User Gumdope said: “Service dogs are not pets. They will not eat crumbs off the ground or jump on children. They work,” in a comment that received 1,200 upvotes.

In a comment that received 1,900 upvotes, user APerfectCircle0 said, “It doesn’t really make sense tbh. If the dog sheds that much, it would be on his friend’s clothes anyway. What about pet hair on other people’s clothes who visit him? What about other people [people’s] Children? Are people allowed to eat inside? You might drop crumbs…”

news week asked the original author for a comment.

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