How Much To Care For Service Dog?

2022-01-06T18:31:03-05:00

Service dog. Those of you that have them how much to take care of it and does your job allow you to bring it to work?

Response by LTC Kevin B. made Jan 6 at 2022 6:38 PM

2022-01-06T18:38:11-05:00

SGT Ben Keen might be able to provide some insight here.

Response by SGT Ben Keen made Jan 6 at 2022 7:07 PM

2022-01-06T19:07:11-05:00

I've had Bolt now for over 2 years. They require time for potty, play, training, and typical dog things. I normally do 10 minutes of play and 15 minutes of training a day with her. But you can make your daily activities part of the training too so training is pretty much to work.

As far as your job, a trained service dog is classified as medical equipment and are protected by the ADA laws. Please note though, if your job requires you to be in a clean room like a surgical room or requires you to be in a space where it could be dangerous for the dog, they should work with you to reassign you to an area that's better for the pair.

Response by SPC Brian Jones made Feb 4 at 2022 4:09 PM

2022-02-04T16:09:25-05:00

I am lucky, I work from home now, so time with my SD is my own. When I was on campus with him I would take him out every few hours for a break and a long play session while at lunch. I also took my portable kennel just in case I needed to secure him for a short time.
Taking your SD to work, make sure you talk to HR and fill out the proper paperwork. This is normally called reasonable accommodations. If the company deems it not to be reasonable they can deny, but they have to have a valid reason.