A PA’s “ruff” encounter with a “service dog”

I love dogs.  I grew up with dogs.  My family and I currently have two dogs – a greyhound and a Frenchie (see the photo of my two fur babies on the left).  Our family was super excited when our daughter’s school jumped on the new trend and added Ryker, a therapy dog, to the school roster [1].  

I’m a dog person.  

When a new patient presented to the office with her “service dog,” I didn’t think twice about it.  The dog appeared relaxed, lying on the floor next to the patient’s chair with its official-appearing vest on.  I entered the exam room calmly, warmly greeted my new patient, and slowly extended an open-palmed hand near the dog’s nose so it could smell me.  

I sat on a stool across the room to take the patient’s history (we were still masked and social distancing at the time).  After our conversation, it was time to examine the patient, so I approached her to look at her skin.

The dog growled at me.

Having cared for patients with service dogs in the past, I immediately knew this was abnormal behavior.  The patient explained that the dog had been trained to protect her.  She attempted to soothe the dog verbally, but the dog growled at me each time I attempted to get anywhere near the patient.  

I gave up.  It wasn’t worth it to get bitten or injured.

A colleague agreed to see the patient for a follow-up two weeks later, but the dog growled at him, too.  It obviously was not a trained service dog (apparently “service dog” vests are readily available for purchase on Amazon).  Our office manager told the patient that we couldn’t risk having dogs growling at clinicians in the clinic and that the animal was no longer welcome in our building.  The patient didn’t protest but has not returned to the office since.

After these events, I wanted to ensure our office wasn’t violating any law.  I couldn’t imagine a court of law requiring clinicians to care for patients accompanied by growling animals, but I wanted to understand the rules.

The American Kennel Club categorizes dogs that assist humans as service, working, therapy, and emotional support animals [2].  Each category is uniquely defined and has its own set of legal rights.

What rights does each type of dog (and their humans) have in your medical facility?  

APP Colleague will bring you the answers on Friday, July 14.

Nikki Rataj Casady, DMSc, PA-C
email@appcolleague.org