09/30/2026
For clarity - I have no issue with TRAINED SERVICE DOGS - two key words here…. . Dogs & trained.
This post is about the fashion of getting pups and expecting them to be emotional support animals as puppies - and assuming that every dog can do it!
Assistance / service task trained dogs are one thing (and not every dog is suited) but this fashion of EMOTIONAL SUPPORT PUPPIES being sent into schools at 10 weeks old to be the school emotional support dog is outrageous and needs to stop.
People buying pups and expecting them to cope with meltdowns / episodes of neurodivergent people is outrageous and needs to stop. It’s happening with 8/10/12/14 week old PUPPIES
Not EVERY dog can be an assistance dog & that’s ok. It’s a very tough job and not every dog will enjoy it.
Not even every dog from purposely bred, professionally trained specialist organisations will make it. So it’s unreasonable to expect that every pup sourced from any random place will be suitable.
Assistance / service task trained dogs are one thing (and not every dog is suited) but this fashion of EMOTIONAL SUPPORT PUPPIES being sent into schools at 10 weeks old to be the school emotional support dog is outrageous and needs to stop.
People buying pups and expecting them to cope with meltdowns / episodes of neurodivergent people is outrageous and needs to stop. 8/10/12/14 week old PUPPIES
People buying dogs and expecting them to cope and actually help just because they’re there. No training - not even loose lead walking and then banishing them to live in the garden (yard) coz they bark - actual case.
Even the new fashion of therapy with puppies- marketed as meditation / yoga / group healing/ trauma processing etc with puppies - I’ve seen clips of grown adults crying out loud into the fur of puppies , or “letting it all out” shouting and wailing whilst some poor pup is there with no support…. (Have to hand it to the “therapist” - great marketing, and a great revenue spinner- get paid for people to view the pup AND charge thousands for the pup that “broke down your barriers to healing”)
So I’ll say again PUPPIES are not there to emotionally regulate, take responsibility for, mitigate or support any behaviour, neurodivergence or emotional issues.
And just because a dog is a wonderful pet does not make them a good working dog.
I have no issues with TRAINED service DOGS, Provided they are appropriately selected & trained and have the temperament for the job. (If service dogs need to be in e collars and prongs to “behave” in public I personally think they’re in the wrong job) service dogs should be IMO, self confident, self contained, good impulse control, fit, be genuinely comfortable in the environments where they need to work. I love to see service dogs work, I used to train them, and watching a well matched partnership is an absolute joy.
Service dogs and emotional support dogs are very different things and i have major issue with puppies being thrown in a the deep end with no training and expected to cope. It’s unfair, it’s unreasonable and entitled. It’s a ticking bomb ….. and some poor child somewhere is going to end up with a face scarred for life, and the dog will be PTS.
It’s not ok and it needs to stop.
—————————————————————————
The entitlement is getting worse and it’s driving me crazy.
This month alone I’ve been asked about :
- buying a pup for a child with autism (but they didn’t want to wait for a charity)
- putting a pup into a school to help regulate “problem behaviours”
- certifying a pet dog so that they can get access rights
- rehoming a dog coz they bought it for a child with autism but “it doesn’t do anything & pulls on the lead” but they wouldn’t pay a trainer - they thought any dog would do 🤷♀️
Pet dogs are not working dogs.
I’m all for working dogs - but do it right.
You cannot just take a child and sit them in a psychiatrist’s chair, deal with issues and expect it to be ok just coz they’re sweet kind children.
Same with puppies - JUST STOP THE CRAZY PLEASE!
