"Partners For Life:
A Service Dog's Tale"

University of Arizona
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Diversity Committee
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 Who benefits from a service dog?

Service dogs assist persons with a variety of disabilities including but not limited to:
  • spinal cord and head injury
  • muscular dystrophy
  • visual or hearing loss
  • post-polio syndrome
  • arthritis
  • seizure disorders
  • multiple sclerosis
  • AIDS
  • cerebral palsy
  • chronic pain

How did this partnership begin?

In 1990, the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed by the Federal government. Under this act, any place that serves the public, including privately owned businesses such as restaurants, hotels, retail stores, taxicabs, theaters, concert halls, and sports facilities, are prohibited from discriminating against individuals with disabilities.

A portion of the ADA requires businesses to allow people with disabilities to be accompanied by service dogs in whatever areas customers or patrons are generally allowed. While guide dogs for the blind have nearly national acceptance, other owners with disabilities and their service dogs often find themselves denied access or charged additional fees in violation of the ADA. This relates directly to a lack of understanding on the part of the public and the business community regarding the duties of service dogs and the functional limitations they assist.

The number of people with disabilities who use service dogs is increasing around the country. It is important that education about the ADA and service dogs be disseminated to reduce access problems for these partners. This is also important for business owners who may face litigation costs when they do not comply out of ignorance or misunderstanding of the law.

What are the benefits of a service dog?

Service dogs are individually trained to assist people with disabilities. Types of assistance they perform are:

  • Leading - guide a person with a visual impairment around obstacles or to destinations.
  • Sound Discrimination - alert a hearing impaired person to specific sounds such as alarms (smoke, fire, clock), telephones and doorbells, a baby's cry, or another person's voice, timers, or other unusual sounds.
  • Signal Alerting - warn of oncoming seizures. Although it is unknown how some dogs accomplish this task, trained dogs warn their owners of oncoming seizures enabling the owners to position themselves safely.
  • General Assistance:
    • Mobility - help a person balance for walking, pull a wheelchair, rise from a seated or fallen position.
    • Item Retrieval - obtain items dropped or otherwise out of reach or carry items by mouth.
    • Scent Discrimination - locate items, people, bathrooms, elevators, cell phones, escalators, or return path.
    • Miscellaneous - open/close doors and drawers, help a person dress/undress, carry items in a backpack, act as a physical buffer from jostling by others, put clothes in washer/remove from dryer, flush the toilet, and bark to alert others for help.

These special animals also offer psychological, emotional and social benefits to their partners.

Do's and don'ts when relating to service dog partners:

  • Do talk to the person about their service dog or other animals who serve - but avoid personal questions on a first encounter.
  • If you are afraid of dogs, do place yourself away from the service dog.
  • If the service dog barks, growls, or otherwise forgets its manners, do ask before taking action. The bark may be an alert signal used to warn its owner of an oncoming seizure or other event.
  • Don't pet the service dog without permission - it will distract the dog from its work. Also avoid whistling, barking, motioning or interfering with a service dog.
  • Don't feed the service dog - resist the temptation to offer treats.

Vision:  To affect positive change in the CALS community by valuing differences and building respect.
The University of Arizona is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution. The University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation in its programs and activities.


Content Questions/Comments: Billye Foster (billye@cals.arizona.edu) or Steven Crofts (scrofts@cals.arizona.edu)
Last Updated: 05/16/2005