NPR has a great story on this subject (see link below). Turns out it's good for people to take their dogs to work. There aren't too many places where "normal" people can do that, but it's a possibility for people with psychiatric disabilities. Not only service dogs, but also emotional support animals, can be requested to accompany a person with a psychiatric disability to work in the U.S. as a "reasonable accommodation." See http://www.servicepoodle.com/useful-links-1/dogs-in for links to relevant .gov web pages.
You can read the National Public Radio Story at: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/03/30/149684409/take-your-dog-to-the-office-and-stress-less?ft=1&f=1128&sc=tw
Joanne Shortell, Maeve's Service Human
servicehuman@servicepoodle.com
www.servicepoodle.com
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call us using "call Maeve and Joanne" at http://www.servicepoodle.com/contact-us
Joanne and Maeve (her psychiatric service poodle) help people with psychiatric disabilities discover their rights to emotional support animals in no-pets housing without pet deposits or pet fees and their rights to service dogs
Hi Joanne,
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can be a person to help me or point me in the direction of someone that can. I adopted a dog that was already fully trained and trained him myself to be a service animal for my depression, anxiety and panic attacks. I'm still working on teaching him more tasks, but he knows boundary control for when I'm in in social situations that make me panic, and he knows deep pressure therapy when I am having an attack (since he's a big dog and has hip problems, he places one of his front legs over my legs, or places his head on my stomach or chest if I'm lying down). I immediately started seeing improvements in my mental health until my work decided to go to dog-friendly to no dogs including service animals (they are even keeping our clients who have service animals from bringing their service animals in the office with them). Now my service dog, whom I've trained to be with me 24/7 is having to be left at home for 8-9 hours a day and has developed separation anxiety, causing him to be destructive and bark throughout the day which has in turn caused my neighbors to complain to the landlord. So now, not only can I not have my service dog with me at work where I greatly need him, I might soon be facing the choice of eviction or giving up my dog. I haven't fought my employer on the matter, also, because they are a nonprofit and suing them would close them, and I'm an AmeriCorps Volunteer so I would likely lose my job and be forced to quit my service early. My mental health is worse than it's ever been because of this situation and my poor dog is being punished for doing nothing wrong. I'm at a loss and I don't know what to do here. If you can help that would be great.
I may be able to help you. Send me your contact info via http://www.servicepoodle.com/contact-us. Be sure to include a phone number.
ReplyDeleteJoanne