Assistance Dogs

DEAR ABBY: I am 18, disabled, and work with a service dog. I would like to offer people a few tips on interacting with service dog owners. Perhaps it will lessen some of the daily frustrations all handlers deal with:

DEAR ABBY: I am 18, disabled, and work with a service dog. I would like to offer people a few tips on interacting with service dog owners. Perhaps it will lessen some of the daily frustrations all handlers deal with:

A service dog for sleep disorders? Dr. Mary Rose says it is a new way to treat an age-old problem. Rose is a dog lover and a sleep specialist with Baylor College of Medicine.

Diabetes used to take over Rebecca Farrar's life, with hospital visits a weekly, sometimes daily occurrence. But since the arrival of Shirley, the yellow Labrador-golden retriever dog, she's stopped collapsing completely.

We all know the benefits of animal assisted therapy dogs. Taken to the next level, psychiatric service dogs are being incorporated into care plans more and more and the benefits of emotional and mental health service dogs are now being recognized.

When Madison police pepper sprayed and Tasered Stephen Bottila last month after he refused to leave a McDonald's restaurant with his service dog, it was just the latest skirmish in an ongoing battle.

'Ovelle, get your lunch." Ovelle walks to a refrigerator, pulls it open and gets her lunch bag. She gives it to Julia Gambassi, who puts it on a table. "Plates, Ovelle." Ovelle sets the table with paper plates and sits down to wait for her lunch of beans, apples and carrots. Nothing special -- except that Ovelle is a dog.

Guiding Eyes for the Blind in Yorktown Heights, NY has found a use for these gentler-tempered dogs: to help children with autism. Heeling Autism is their pilot program to provide additional training for these gentler dogs to work specifically with autistic children, as well as their families.

Rock'O, Kayla and Alma are at the vanguard of a new wave of service dogs trained to handle things their humans cannot. From alerting owners to an impending seizure to helping people with psychiatric or memory conditions (including Alzheimer's) stay stable and safe, service dogs are helping an ever-broadening array of people live more normal, independent lives, just as they have helped hearing-, seeing- and mobility-impaired people for decades.

However there does seem to be some confusion about the different jobs and services dogs can provide. We see them wearing vests with patches that read "please pet me," "please don't pet me," "working dog," "therapy dog," assistance dog," and even those that say "in training." But what do all those vests and patches mean and what's the difference?

Bobge takes Koda everywhere, including classes at Cuesta College. The dog, a 2-year-old boxer, is more than a pet to Bobge, though his job is an unusual one. Some dogs help the blind. Some dogs help the deaf. Koda's purpose is less obvious: He is an emotional support dog, which is exactly as it sounds.

James McCrackyn entered Chautauqua Elementary School Monday morning much as he has for the past couple of years — except this time, he was tethered to a golden Labrador named Comet. As the slight 7-year-old strode into Geri Wilson's multi-age classroom, the teacher broke into a huge smile.

A woman who was barred from bringing her dog into the Cowlitz County Hall of Justice is suing the county, accusing it of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. Melanie Brown of Ryderwood says her dog Odessa is a service dog because she uses it to steady herself.