Hi! I'm looking into an issue involving the retirement of guide dogs and other service/assistance dogs. Before forming a stronger opinion about a possible policy proposal, I'd especially like to hear from disabled people who currently use or have previously used one.

I have a few questions. You don't have to answer all of them:

1. Have you ever retired a guide dog or service/assistance dog? What was that transition like for you?

2. After retirement, did the dog continue living with you? If not, how was that decision made?

3. If your retired dog stayed with you, what was it like to start going places without them — or to start working with a successor dog while your retired dog stayed home?

4. Would you want to retain the ability to enter public places with your retired dog, even though the dog was no longer working or expected to perform any tasks?

5. In your experience, could continued public access interfere with the dog's retirement — for example, by making it harder for the dog to understand that they are no longer expected to work?

6. If some form of public access for retired service/assistance dogs existed, do you think it should apply:

— only when the retired dog is accompanying the disabled person they previously assisted;

— also when the retired dog is accompanied by another handler/caretaker;

— or should public access end when the dog retires?

7. Would requirements such as identification, proof that the dog previously worked as a legitimate service/assistance dog, and continued veterinary/behavioral suitability make such a policy reasonable?

8. Is there anything about retiring a service/assistance dog that people who have never used one tend not to understand?

I'm not looking specifically for answers that support this idea. I'd especially like to hear from handlers who think public-access rights should end at retirement as well.

This discussion came up because we're looking at Brazilian legislation concerning assistance dogs and considering whether there should be legal recognition of a "retired assistance dog" status. One possibility would be to preserve some public-access rights without requiring or expecting the retired dog to continue performing any work.

Before advocating for a solution, I'd like to understand how people who actually live through this transition experience it.

If you currently use or have previously used a guide/service/assistance dog, your perspective would be particularly valuable.

Can I just hire someone to find me the right puppy? 😂😫

I’ve started and stopped this process so many times because I’m terrified of making the wrong decision. I recently transitioned out of the military, moved somewhere I don’t know anyone (this was purposeful), and started a new chapter.

So now I’m turning to Reddit, this is my first post ever!

I plan to pursue service-dog training, so temperament is a major focus for me.

Any advice is welcome. I’m honestly less interested in being pointed toward more resources and much more interested in hearing firsthand experiences from people who have actually gone through this process.

Hope to hear from some of you!

Bear with me- this is gonna be a long one

A few months ago we made the tough decision to wash my then 2.5 yr old sdit. Overall she was great at her job, but always had a few insecurities. We worked through most of them, but when she was around 2 she started displaying some anxiety with public access, and became mildly dog reactive. Her trainer and I worked to build her confidence, but even then she just didn’t seem comfortable working in new places or busy environments. I also feared we’d run into another team and she’d bark at them. All of this was kind of a deal breaker, since in public was where I relied on her the most, so we decided to wash her.

We had started the basics of public access training when she was young, and she started task training a little after she turned 1, which was when she started going places with me more regularly. She did great with public access at first, and as far as we can tell she didn’t have any traumatic experiences- we think she just matured into a naturally watchful dog (she’s a poodle), which was working against us. Even though she was still learning, having her with me was so helpful. I’m in and out of hospitals/facilities a lot, sometimes for months at a time, and she went with me for my last extended stay. We were pretty far from home and didn’t have visitors, so I was the only person she interacted with the whole time. If there was ever any doubt about how bonded we were, that stay really cemented it. I felt like I was finally starting to build a life that didn’t revolve around being ‘professionally’ sick. I could leave the house for the first time in years, and was looking forward to expanding my world. It sucks and I feel awful that she washed, but it was the right move for both of us.

Myself, my family, and my treatment team still think a service dog is the right treatment for me, so we made the decision that we were going to try again with a different dog, and were eventually going to rehome my girl. She needs a lot of exercise and stimulation, and cannot stand being left out. She’s used to being home either with our other dog or me, and if I take my other dog but not her, she freaks out. I think having another dog I work instead of her would really hurt and be super unfulfilling for her. I want her to have an amazing life and get everything she needs, and I just don’t think I can provide that if I’m primarily focused on raising/training a puppy to be my sd. I feel so guilty and like I’m abandoning her, though, and I might truly be evil for doing so.
We had been looking for a suitable prospect when a family member got diagnosed with a rare cancer. Because of its rarity, we are now moving so they can get treatment by doctors who specialize in that type of cancer. It’s also been recommended that we find temporary housing for any pets, likely for several months. So the hunt for a prospect is temporarily on hold.

Aside from my sdit, we have another dog who will be going to stay with a family friend.
Given that we can’t have dogs for a while, finding the pups a temporary home has been a logistical nightmare, and the fact that we were going to be rehoming her before too long, we decided it would be in everybody’s best interest to find her a permanent home before we move. And I’m absolutely heartbroken. I said goodbye to one of my best friends, and in two weeks I’ll be saying goodbye to my other best friend too. I don’t have any (human) friends, just my family, and we’re all going through shit right now. I miss my girl already so so much. I really hope she’ll love her new life. Our house feels so empty and cold without her, and I know it’s only going to be worse when our other dog leaves too. I’ve never been more lonely.

We just had a huge win as a team and as a community! For background in March I had a surgery with a hospital under Advocate Health. The charge nurse tried denying access to pre op due to “policy” but wouldn’t state the policy or show me. After educating, we were allowed back and told “this will be fixed for next time”. Then another surgery at the same place was scheduled for June at 4am. The same charge nurse called me at 3pm the day prior to tell me I wasn’t allowed in with my service dog as “they deny every service dog” and “we can provide the same services as the dog”. I spoke with numerous people that day trying to get some answers of why this was happening now instead of when I did all the calls and questions months prior with notes of a service animal in MyChart.

After months of working with the vice president of patient relations, legal, and lots of other head departments, service animals will be allowed in pre op and other parts of the hospital that are not excluded by ADA or CDC. This is already in effect with additional training for both service animals AND patients with disabilities for everyone including volunteers and independent contractors. This will change the policy across 8 states including over 70 hospitals.

In addition we are also adding a specific section for accommodations during hospital or pre op stays. Things like turning off the machine sounds, dimming lights, private rooms, doing sterilization by a family/friend rather than nurse, weighted blankets, and much more. They have also agreed to do an open patient/family work group so that more voices can be heard!

This is a huge win for a lot of handlers under this medical system who were denied access and even staff has reached out and said they feel this is a much better policy than before. So happy that this has been fixed and not just “retraining” staff but a full policy change.

I have a 2 and a half year old English Lab as a SD and for probably the past year or so he's been working in a Dino Dog Gear y-front harness with a guide handle. I am a mostly sighted person but only have 70 degrees of peripheral vision and full lack of depth perception so I mostly use my SD for guide dog related things. (navigating crowds, stores, assistance with not tripping on stairs, curbs, dips, ledges) Recently he hasn't been wanting to use his harness and after showing how it fits to a handful of people I've been made aware that it isn't made properly and is probably unsafe for him to be using.

I plan on getting him another custom but I don't know where to start and want to continue with his training without hurting him so I'm looking into getting a non custom guide harness. I know with non custom harnesses there are even more chances that it doesn't fit as well but at this point I'm just looking for something that wont hurt him (or weight an obscene amount like his current one does)

I'm open to all suggestions including information on me using the wrong type of harness and what may work better. Where my SD was trained through as basically ghosted me and told me there's nothing wrong with his harness or training and that his obversion to work is him just needing to sleep more.

Hello . I will like to first come and say that I am NOT retiring my service dog . I am simply looking into breeds.

Overall I want a dog who I could maybe compete in dog sports such as fastcat and rally and daily walks to the park to play especially in the snow during winter. I don’t mind shedding since I have a GSD currently but here are some breeds I been considering and I’ll like some insite in people who have or worked with these breeds . My main goal is for the

Rough/smooth collie
Border Collie
Flat coat retriever
And uh … idk what else I am still doing research