Cooperation! Doctors, service dogs and allergies

Wow! It has been a really long time since we've posted here.

Kenzie is now 1-1/2 years old. A lot of things have gotten much better in that time. Some new things hav, of course, come up. Kenzie's latest thing is ignoring commands when we are out. We will be stopped at the intersection in the perfect position for Kenzie to push the button to cross the road. When we give the command Kenzie starts looking around like she is saying "la la la I can't hear you".

However, since coming into my life Kenzie has generally been a rock star while doing public access.  This means going somewhere that dogs aren't generally allowed. I usually have one or two medical related appointments each week. Kenzie has come to 98% of them over the past year. It really is the thing she's best at in terms of being a service dog.

There is only one thing I wanted to write about today, so if you were worried this would be 3-months worth of news, never fear! What I wat to write about is the frustration of not being allowed to bring Kenzie. She is fine to be left home in her crate for up to four hours every once in a while. If it's not hot and sunny, she can stay in the car by herself for a while. But it's not ideal because she's supposed to be getting the experience of going everywhere with us. The more socialization and the more places she is familiar with while in training, the better she will do as a service animal.

The weirdest part is the type of place where we are most often denied entrance are doctors offices. The first experience was at a walk-in clinic. After waiting an hour to get in and being moved to an exam room, I was told that the Dr. couldn't see me with Kenzie there. The same walk-in clinic has a second location. I called ahead the next time I needed a walk-in clinic and was told they had discussed the situation and the doctor mentioned above had an extreme dog phobia. We were welcome at the first walk-in clinic when that Dr. was not working and welcome to the second walk-in clinic anytime. So we headed for the second walk-in clinic. That visit went smoothly.

The next time we came back to that second walk-in clinic was a different experience. Kenzie is chatty, she likes to make a little noise. Usually people just chuckle when she does this. This time apparently it was bothering the receptionist. After a while the receptionist "suggested" that since our appointment wouldn't be for 45 min., we could go for a walk. Since I didn't have my scooter and walking is difficult for me I responded politely by saying, "no thank you we are fine." Given my response the receptionist then told me to take her out for a walk. Normally I would have discussed this with him but this day I was not feeling up to it. So I took Kenzie out. When I returned the receptionist told me the waiting room was too crowded and we could not stay there.

I have been to this same walk-in clinic since and had no trouble again. I also discussed with the different receptionist a general outline of the difficulties before. I tried to make it clear that I wasn't trying to get the person in trouble or to have that situation addressed [since by then it was months later] but simply to have the clinic check that all receptionist know the policy regarding service animals that was established after my first one hour wait for is the doctor with the dog phobia.

New doctor's office! Every three weeks or so I see the same doctor. After months of bringing Kenzie with me with no problem, suddenly one day there was a problem. A second doctor was working that day and he did not want a dog brought to the practice. Initially my Dr. was going to abide by his wishes since she was new to this clinic. Before my next appointment, she changed her mind and we decided the best course was to make my appointments when the complaining doctor was not scheduled to be there. One of the weird things about the situation is that a client who is blind also brings a service dog to this same office, but apparently the complaining Dr. doesn't have a problem with that.  Somehow the other patients' allergies are selective.

And another doctor's office. Often I only see my family doctor once a year. Last year I brought Kenzie with me. This year when I called to make the appointment I was told I couldn't bring her with me because many of the patients have allergies. Since my income depends on the form I was asking her to fill out I thought it was best not to argue on this occasion least.

This seems to usually be the excuse or reason doctors offices give for not allowing Kenzie, that many patients have allergies. I am not sure how that is addressed. Maybe it will be my next post. What I do know is that once a dog is certified it is illegal to deny a person with a service dog entrance and treatment in any situation short of surgery. Since Kenzie is not certified I have no recourse other than discussion and education. If that fails it is usually referred to West Coast, the service dog training organization, and they try to discuss and educate. Because the goal is willing cooperation the discussion needs to be calm and friendly. Some days I'm just not up to that either because I'm not up to any conversation or because I'm not sure I can keep up calm and friendly.

Sometimes I choose not to go to the place refusing Kenzie entrance which is what I did at the first doctor's office. Part of this is logistics. I was there on my scooter without my car. Short of going home there was nowhere to leave her outside of the clinic. Sometimes I choose to leave Kenzie, which is what I did at my family doctors today.  If I don't know to leave her at home ahead of time, the car is an okay option unless it is hot and sunny out.

It does seem strange to me that the vast majority of doctors I have seen since having Kenzie with me have not been supportive. A service dog is to increase the independence and well-being of a person who may be their patient, a person who faces significant challenges as a result of their health. While they may not have objected if Kenzie was certified, how do they expect a dog to be trained to become certified if they are denied entrance?

This hasn't been a fun entry. So I'll at least leave on a positive note. I have had about six appointments at VGH since having Kenzie come into my life. Sometimes staff needed to check the answer to the question of bringing Kenzie but the answer has, in the end, always been positive. I guess in this way having a huge organization with well defined policies makes life a little bit easier than dealing with individuals running their own environment and being able to make their own rules.