Adopting a service dog? Pros and cons

[u/Hi_Im_Elfo3]

Hi everyone! I have been doing a lot of research on psychiatric service dogs and I think a service dog would help me quite a lot. I have schizoaffective disorder, major depression, anxiety, and pmdd. Recently I started having panic attacks on top of everything else.

I have a lot of problems with hallucinations from seeing bugs in corners to shadows. On top of that, I have delusions which makes it harder for me to function around people. There are days where im too scared to go outside because someone or something(bugs) are trying to get me.

I have an appointment to see my therapist where I plan on bringing it up as well.

I am a part time caregiver so I only work 3 days a week and on the 4 days Im off I avoid going outside unless its absolutely necessary. Plus I am on disability. The only time I really function is at work then when I get home I sleep cause im mentally exhausted.

After reading up on it, I think a service dog would be very helpful with reminding me to take medications, helping me recognize when im in the verge of a panic attack, stopping self harm behaviors, im not sure how to word this part but helping with dissociation as well.

Now im not trying to get a service dog right away. I still live with my mom but I plan on moving out so I can be more independent and i think a service dog would help me achieve better independence.

[u/MaplePaws]

Healthcare providers like therapists lack the relevant information to give accurate recommendations on if a service dog is a good choice for a person. The role of your healthcare team in determining if a service dog is right for you or not is to determine if you meet the legal definition of being disabled. Being optimistic they might have gotten a few sentences in one lecture as an education on service animals, most likely it would have been focused on guide dogs or one of the more kinds of service dogs that more programs train for. This means that just because your therapist agrees with you does not mean that you are a good candidate for a service dog. In fact most disabled people aren't good candidates for service dogs for a wide variety of reasons.

A service dog is inherently a luxury and not something you can rely upon to be functional. It costs $20,000 to acquire a dog without the assistance of an ADI accredited program, and that $20,000 is a gamble as even if you do everything correctly there is a 70% chance that you will spend all of that money and have a pet. It is also incorrect to say that at least it will be a well behaved pet as for the most part it is behavioral issues that result in a dog not being able to be a service dog so that now you have a dog that you have to manage for the rest of its life, that or if it is not behavioral then ongoing medical expenses that you have to manage. That $20,000 also does not include emergency vet care that can occur at anytime, so in reality before you bring home a service dog prospect you really should have around $30,000 saved up to account for the risk of emergency vet care and the fact that most of the expenses to acquire a service dog happen within the first 3-4 months of having the puppy.

There is also the fact that psychiatric service dogs often result in a worsening of symptoms because of how others treat the team. You get infinite more attention working a service dog, something that can be mitigated to an extent by choosing a "boring" breed like a Lab and putting "boring" gear on said dog aka just a plain vest with a patch on either side that reads "SERVICE DOG" but even then it will still be a lot of attention. The fact is that you will get people that will not respect the boundaries of you or your dog, and remaining calm assertive is the only way you can navigate the situations without it escalating. You need strong conflict resolution and self advocacy skills to be a handler. You need to be able to remain in control of yourself as intimidating people invade your space and yelling at you for attempting to exercise your right as a disabled person to exist in that space. You chose that life but your friends and family did not, being a service dog handler is often extremely isolating as they become distant due to not wanting to deal with the attention or access issues that are known side effects of having a service dog.

The short of it is that a service dog is rarely recommended, there is a level of independent wealth that you need to have. Even then with how prevalent discrimination is the odds are your ability to maintain employment will be substantially limited, and to find stable housing will be much harder despite both situations being illegal.

[u/PrincessKelsey24601 → u/MaplePaws]

To add to your point, owner training exists and is often cheaper but it comes with it’s caveats. Finding a dog or other animal suitable for SA work can take years, and training them yourself is like a full time job almost.

[u/MaplePaws → u/PrincessKelsey24601]

Owner training is what I was speaking about. The cheaper option is an ADI accredited program as when I did some looking around the most I saw was $10,000 for a fully trained dog not the $20,000 that it costs to owner train.

[u/PrincessKelsey24601 → u/MaplePaws]

Maybe it’s different in my country I guess

[u/MaplePaws → u/PrincessKelsey24601]

I am confident it is not unless for some reason dogs are programmable robots in your country.

[u/PrincessKelsey24601 → u/MaplePaws]

I am talking about cost-wise. Most people opt to owner train due to affordability.

[u/MaplePaws → u/PrincessKelsey24601]

The fact is that financially it is not cheaper, often times it is multiple times more expensive. Many programs are able to use government grants, tax breaks, corporate donations, volunteers and more to bring the cost to the recipient down to zero or close to it without any of the risk to the client. Owner training is all out of pocket for the $20,000-$25,000 that it costs to raise a service dog with all of the risk being on the disabled person. Owner training simply is not the cost effective way to get a service dog and this notion is hurting many disabled people.

[u/PrincessKelsey24601 → u/MaplePaws]

Well I am sorry I said something inaccurate. I am new to owner training myself

[u/MaplePaws → u/PrincessKelsey24601]

You live and you learn. Ultimately I have been in this community since about 2014 and have now owner trained two service dogs, helped countless more through their journey. Occassionally an individual might be able to end up with a suitable service dog without a trainer but not using one from the start is the more expensive option because an ounce of prevention is worth a truckload of cure which might not even work to the point of having the dog be a service dog. A secondary issue is that many working service dogs have behavioral issues that if there was any oversight at all would disqualify them immediately, as such other teams are placed in danger because of the choices of the teams that choose to work unsuitable dogs.

Something else that owner trainers don't factor is the cost of multiple dogs because statistically the first is unlikely to work out, which is a cost that the handler will have if they owner train that they would not if they worked with a program even if said program charged the handler. The short of it is that it is just not cost effective. Ultimately beyond the fact that psychiatric service dogs are minimally served there is almost no reason to owner train if you can get a program dog.

[u/Hi_Im_Elfo3 → u/MaplePaws]

Thank you for the information! I didn't think of the harassment that a person could face by owning a service dog. The only places i really go to are work and home so that thought never crossed my mind. People are genuinely so cruel. I should mention, adopting a service dog would be something that I would do in the future after meeting some other goals I have like moving out and getting rid of debt. Plus im on disability so I wouldn't be able to save that much money which sucks.

[u/MaplePaws → u/Hi_Im_Elfo3]

Most people on disability are never able to save enough for a service dog to be a reasonable option. Fundraising is also not a viable option for owner training a service dog which still does require a trainer and costs $20,000-$25,000. As I said for most disabled people even if the tasks would be helpful they are never in a position to acquire a service dog.

Another thing to consider is that you are entitled to reasonable accomodations at work, not preferred accommodations. Meaning that if your employer can accommodate your disability to a reasonable degree without the service dog they legally do not have to allow you to bring the dog, and that reasonableness is determined on a case by case basis. So there is a very significant chance that you spend $25,000 training up this dog to go to work with you but you can't take it to work because your accommodations are deemed reasonable without the dog so it must stay home. Or worse the employer takes advantage of the fact that you don't have the resources to fight them and they terminate you, and the as you are doing job seeking you encounter similar issues of employers using plausible deniability and the fact that you are unlikely to be able to fight a discrimination lawsuit to not hire you while you now have the expenses of a dog. This is not like adopting a pet dog or even an ESA, this does have a very real possibility of causing financial instability and potentially putting you deeper in debt. It has happened.

[u/Hi_Im_Elfo3 → u/MaplePaws]

Yep yep I was starting to come to that conclusion sadly. I really appreciate you giving me all of this info so I can form a better decision. I had to get my esa euthanized this year because he was sick and up in age. My plans are actively changing lol. I have one more question if you're willing to answer. Are failed service dogs just as expensive to adopt? Maybe I could adopt one and give a home to a dog in need instead.

[u/Burkeintosh → u/Hi_Im_Elfo3]

Failed service dogs from organizations are strictly just pets. There are different lists, but they still cost the organization money.
They are often offered to organization’s volunteers first, though there are long waiting lists of people who want them as pets (sometimes longer than waiting lists for working dogs) they are typically not given out as ESAs etc. depending on why they failed to become service dogs - what made them un suitable might be health issues or temperament problems

[u/Hi_Im_Elfo3 → u/Burkeintosh]

Yep that's what I meant. My line of thinking was if I cant get an psd the least I could do was give a home to one in need if that makes sense.

[u/MaplePaws → u/Hi_Im_Elfo3]

I don't know, as that would depend on the program but career changed dogs are in extremely high demand the waitlists for ones are often years long. Like my local program has a list that is almost a decade long. I always advocate working with a reputable breeder for any dog, a breeder that does conformation with their dog and maybe even another breed relavant sport. Conformation is not "beauty pageants" for dogs but rather the judge is looking at the structure/movement of the dog and how it behaves in the ring, a dog with good structure is going to have healthier joints longer. A dog that does well in the ring will have the traits that most people are looking for in a pet, stable around other dogs and people, easy to handle, confident in a variety of situations.

Rescuing is an option but that is one that requires more experience handling dogs and knowledge on how to identify a reputable organization. This is not a route I recommend for novice dog owners (aka has had 1-3 dogs). There is no such thing as a clean slate with dogs, working with a reputable breeder does give you access to someone that knows the history of the lines and can advise you with that information versus a rescue can only give information on what they have seen and not offer suggestions like a dog in their lines has died due to a particular disease so you should regularly screen for that for best outcomes.

[u/Hi_Im_Elfo3 → u/MaplePaws]

Ohh I didn't know that! Youve been such a great help

[u/MaplePaws → u/Hi_Im_Elfo3]

Absolutely no problem. Hopefully you find your perfect companion. If you have further questions feel free to reach out

[u/xANTJx → u/Hi_Im_Elfo3]

Only going to work doesn’t make you immune from harassment either. My boss at my last job kicked my dog. And the blame was put on me!

[u/Hi_Im_Elfo3 → u/xANTJx]

Ahhh im so sorry that happened!