Kelowna CNIB celebrates National Service Dog Month

September is National Service Dog Month, and CNIB is taking the opportunity to spread education and awareness about the dogs with jobs.

While service dogs can be trained to do any number of tasks, from retrieving objects for people with physical limitations to detecting an imminent seizure, many of the 4,200 clients CNIB service in the B.C. interior have service dogs.

Because of this, the agency is speaking up about the need for public education about these special animals.

First, people should know that when a service dog is in its harness, it is at work.

Distracting the dog, with food, affection, or even by talking to it, can be dangerous for the handler relying on it.

“I do understand that my guide dog, Yanni, is pretty irresistible,” Bobby Weir, a volunteer program coordinator with CNIB Kelowna said. “When he is working and in harness it makes navigation and maintaining our connection much easier if people pretend he is invisible.  If he gets distracted, he is the one that is reprimanded.”

The rights of service dog providers go beyond asking before you can interact with the dog.

By law, service dogs are allowed in any public space, on or in any mode of transportation, and cannot be discriminated against by landlords.

Unfortunately, complaints still come in.

“It’s insulting when I rely on Yanni for success in being independent and I’m told that we don’t belong,” Weir said.  “It is like asking someone sighted to remove their glasses or their eyes.  He is a part of me.  I once found myself stranded at an airport late at night because none of the cabs would take me with my guide dog.”

CNIB is working to increase public awareness and break down barriers that impede accessibility.