The TRUTH About Service Dogs & ESAs

01/17/2025

Service dogs are specially bred and trained to provide independence, mobility, and companionship to their handlers. They have an important job, and proper etiquette is essential to ensure the safety of the dog and its handler. 🐕‍🦺

Avoid touching, talking to, or feeding the service dog while they are working. Distractions can create dangerous situations. You should always speak directly to the handler, not the service dog or those accompanying them.

Remember that not all disabilities are visible. Trust that the service dog provides vital support, even if you do not see the disability.

Your respect and understanding make a big difference in allowing service dog teams to navigate the world safely and confidently! Tap the link below to learn more about service dog etiquette.

https://www.vetdogs.org/AV/care-support/AssistanceDogEtiquette.aspx

01/17/2025

01/17/2025

Accessible vehicles should be affordable to those who they are intended for.

01/17/2025

Watching a video from Crutches and Spice by Imani Barbarin on TikTok and she reminded me that while I HATE this app, the PAGE it is important to my fellow disabled individuals. While our admin team may not be as active on this website going forward. We will still be here advocating and sharing memes.

01/13/2025

We used to have class! We used to have culture on this app! We could educate and have discussions with actual people! Now I’m sifting through tons of ads and Bot pages just to get the smallest peek at actual content from fellow users and friends.

Image description: AI  generated black-and-white photo of a classy 1940s woman sitting at a desk with a laptop and a martini, black lab at her side.

PS I’m so sorry about the use of AI here. I hate it, but it can also be convenient to get exactly the right kind of image I want especially when that image doesn’t exist in real life.

Edited to add a comment from admin, Crystal on another post

“Admin Crystal here. I know I've been less active here for a while. And Tiffany has kept this ship going which I am externally grateful for. I knew I could always trust her with it. But we are indeed tired.

The original page was started as The Truth About Service Dog Free Press. When Jon Sabin used the anonymity of pages to attack and harass anyone he deemed not disabled. This was generally a lot of handlers under the age of 30. Handlers with invisible disabilities. Handlers who weren't veterans who agreed with him. Handlers who were liberal. Handlers who were LGBTQ+. BIPOC handlers. Handlers who used breeds out of the Fab 4. Handlers who used funny and brightly colored working gear or dyed their dogs. Overweight handlers. Basically if you weren't white, old, physically disabled, a veteran, and/or a Republican he came after you. There was never any attempt at education from him. He would use people's photos without permission and attack them. Even body shame them when it had zero to do with their service animal. I made the page to be petty and expose people to who he really was. A man stripped of the right to train dogs for others. He had no business telling other people how to have service dogs when his "trained" service dogs were attacking children and other dogs. After we basically chased him off Facebook, we decided to change the page to what SDFP could have been. Education. We have made friends and allies. We have helped people on their journey to get a service dog. We have helped teach the general public about the laws surrounding service animals. Thank you to everyone especially those who stuck with us since the beginning. 💜”

01/12/2025

I have to be honest after losing our original page and trying to restart it, and just not having the energy or the desire to use this website/app anymore I am heavily considering deleting this page. It’s been fun educating and sharing funny, silly, memes while it lasted but I’m tired and Facebook is just garbage now.

01/03/2025

Our good friend came down to visit, and our boys are having a last hurrah before they retire. Jax and Levi working together at the beach.

12/13/2024

CBS 42's Sidney Spencer reports.

12/13/2024

Here is a fact: an HOA can in no way determine what type of breed a handler’s Service Dog is, nor can they legally question a handler’s disability.

We're dealing with an HOA that is actively violating a handler's rights, has been informed frequently by both our non-profit and the regional HUD office that they're violating the handler's rights, yet keeps insisting they have the power to "approve" of a handler’s Service Dog.

HUD has advised us to request an FHA investigation into this HOA - they're in the wrong, and there will be repercissions.

Access to housing with a Service Dog is protected under the Fair Housing Act, not the ADA, and is managed by HUD. Learn more at HUD.gov - search "Service Dogs."

12/11/2024

The ableist backlash that disabled actors and characters receive shines a huge spotlight on what disabled people face in their daily lives.

12/06/2024

For my fellow POTSies. Lol

👏🤣

12/03/2024

I absolutely love the movie… however I have been seeing a LOT of ableist comments regarding both the character and the actress themself. That’s not ok and CALL THAT SH*T OUT if and when you see it.

There are people out there upset that Nessarose, a wheelchair user, is wearing heels in Wicked.

“Why would a wheelchair user wear high heels?!”

Let me tell you, one of the biggest JOYS of being a wheelchair user is being able to wear a pair of stylish shoes and not have your feet hurt one bit. 😉

11/28/2024

I wish I had words to explain to all of you just what a big deal this photo is. It may look like just another picture of Flirty in a grocery store, but it is so much more than that.

I took this photo about 45 minutes ago. On the day before Thanksgiving, one of the busiest days to be in a grocery store in the entire year.

Eight years ago, before I got Flirty, it would have never been possible for me to go to the grocery store on the day before Thanksgiving. I would have ended up sobbing in a corner somewhere, having a panic attack.

This year, there was one ingredient my mom couldn’t find for a dessert that I make, so she asked me if could try to find it. So, I got Flirty prepped, and headed out into a hectic store. Not only did I find the ingredient I need, plus two other items I wanted, I did it all with only mild anxiety. Flirty was right there, ready to provide her blocking task if someone came near while I was grabbing something off a shelf. She did her grounding task for me, to keep me from dissociating and getting too anxious. As a result, I was able to get in, get what I needed, and get out with relative ease, compared to what a shopping excursion like this would have been like on my own.

I will be forever grateful for Flirty and the freedom and independence she has given me. This Thanksgiving, I am so very, very thankful for her presence in my life. 💜

[image: a grey mini horse, standing in front of a refrigerator case in a grocery store. She is wearing a black halter and leash, black blanket, black harness with rainbow trim, black vest, and black hoof boots. She has one ear pricked towards the camera, and the other ear slightly back so she can monitor someone else who was behind her in the aisle]

11/27/2024