{"id":1273,"date":"2019-09-13T11:31:56","date_gmt":"2019-09-13T16:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bryanisd.org\/textribune\/?p=1273"},"modified":"2019-09-13T10:10:28","modified_gmt":"2019-09-13T15:10:28","slug":"service-animal-talking-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bryanisd.org\/textribune\/2019\/09\/13\/service-animal-talking-points\/","title":{"rendered":"Service Animal Talking Points"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Talking points for being around a service dog or answering questions that students or staff might have. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>DO<\/strong>&nbsp;speak to the owner\/handler rather than the\ndog.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The service dog and her handler are a team. If\nyou want to talk to them, always speak to the person first rather than\nautomatically approaching the dog. Remember, the animal is working, and her\nhuman&#8217;s life could depend on her staying focused on her job.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>DON&#8217;T<\/strong>&nbsp;touch the dog without asking permission\nfirst.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Touching or petting a working dog is a\ndistraction and may prevent him from tending to his human partner. The dog may\nbe in the process of completing a command or direction given by his human, and\nyou don&#8217;t want to interfere.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Fortunately, most service dogs are trained to\nstay in work mode until they receive a release command from their handler.\nThat&#8217;s why many service dogs are able to ignore outside influences.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;DO<\/strong>&nbsp;treat the owner\/handler with sensitivity and respect<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Asking a service dog&#8217;s handler personal questions about his or her disability is out of bounds. It&#8217;s disrespectful and an intrusion of privacy. As a teacher, you are not allowed to share the student\u2019s name or the reason the student may have a service dog. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Assume the service dog team can handle things\nthemselves. If you sense they could use your help, ask first. And don&#8217;t take it\npersonally if your offer is rejected, as there&#8217;s usually a good reason.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>DON&#8217;T<\/strong>&nbsp;offer food to a service dog<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Food is the ultimate distraction for the working\ndog and can jeopardize the working team. Not only are food and treats a\npotential distraction, but many service dogs are fed a specific diet and often\non a specific schedule.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>DON&#8217;T<\/strong>&nbsp;assume a napping service dog is off duty<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>All dogs nap, including working dogs. When her\nhandler is sitting or standing for some length of time, it&#8217;s perfectly natural\nand appropriate for a service dog to catch a few winks. She&#8217;s still technically\nat work, however, so all dos and don&#8217;ts remain in effect.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>DO<\/strong>&nbsp;inform the handler if a service dog\napproaches you<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>If a working dog approaches you, sniffs or\nnudges you, etc., politely let the handler know. Resist the urge to respond to\nthe dog \u2014 the handler will correct the dog.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>DON&#8217;T<\/strong>&nbsp;assume service dogs never get to &#8216;just be\ndogs&#8217;.&nbsp; <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>When the dog is wearing a vest then the dog is\nworking. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Talking points for being around a service dog or answering questions that students or staff might have. DO&nbsp;speak to the owner\/handler rather than the dog. The service dog and her &#8230;<\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bryanisd.org\/textribune\/2019\/09\/13\/service-animal-talking-points\/\" class=\"read-more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">\"Service Animal Talking Points\"<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a>","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":1275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate-culture","category-leadership-updates","penguin-post"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bryanisd.org\/textribune\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/731\/2019\/09\/Service-Animal.png","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bryanisd.org\/textribune\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bryanisd.org\/textribune\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bryanisd.org\/textribune\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bryanisd.org\/textribune\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/233"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bryanisd.org\/textribune\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bryanisd.org\/textribune\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1274,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bryanisd.org\/textribune\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1273\/revisions\/1274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bryanisd.org\/textribune\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bryanisd.org\/textribune\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bryanisd.org\/textribune\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bryanisd.org\/textribune\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}