u/Fragrant_Animal_3156

I’m genuinely confused about why so many comments on these posts end up focused on what disabilities someone is “allowed” to have a service dog for, or why they chose a certain breed.

I understand that these post about fake “service dogs” can be helpful and interesting to read. No hate at all. Yet, that’s entirely different from judging someone’s disability or dog based on assumptions.

Service dogs are medical aids for people with disabilities. While I understand the concern when someone is choosing to rely on their dog for absolutely everything, the purpose of a service dog is to help mitigate a disability. (This doesn’t mean ‘cure’ it.)

The same goes for breed choice. Personally, I think the Fab Four are great and I’m all for them, but that doesn’t mean other breeds can’t succeed in service work. If someone is able to properly own, train, and care for their dog, why judge them simply because it isn’t the breed you would have chosen? (I know this may come off contradictory to the sub, but there are genuinely posts like this lol)

It’s really not anyone else’s place to decide whether another person is “disabled enough” to need a service dog.
Service dogs can assist with a variety of disabilities. I don’t personally support nor condone tasks like counterbalance or putting weight on a dog, but if someone has PTSD, panic disorder, GAD, POTS, diabetes, or another disability that qualifies for a service dog, and their dog is trained to perform legitimate tasks that mitigate that disability, why does it matter which specific tasks they perform?

The important question is whether the dog is trained to do disability-related work.

this community is meant to discuss misbehaving pets being passed off as service dogs, untrained “service dogs,” and genuinely entitled handlers. It is not to breed-shame dogs that haven’t done anything wrong or question whether strangers are disabled enough.

Some of the comments come across as more entitled than the people being criticized. No offense intended. I’m genuinely open to discussion. I just think that if you’re going to comment on a post I’d keep it relative to the post and not what dog or disability the handler has unless they’re faking or self-diagnosing, which unless stated you don’t know. (And yes, I thought the IBS post was funny imo.)

Most of what I said here is stated in the community guidelines.. but I’m curious to hear what you have to say. I don’t have anything against this subreddit, in fact I think it’s entertaining. :)

Hello! I’m fairly new to Reddit, and I’d really appreciate some outside opinions. (Actually, I installed the app just to post this lol!)

I’ve been considering getting a service dog for a few years now, and after a lot of research and thought, I’ve decided it’s something I’d genuinely benefit from. I’m confident I can care for a dog (somewhat, decently confident) financially and physically, so that’s not my main concern.
The problem is my family, or it feels like that is.
I currently live with them, and while they gave me permission to have my own dog, they don’t really respect boundaries when it comes to animals. My mom, for example, tends to overfeed pets, hand out treats constantly, and doesn’t really understand training. They’re not bad people, but they don’t seem to understand how consistency is important, especially for a working dog.
Another issue is transportation. I work and can pay for vet visits, grooming, food, and other expenses, but I don’t currently have a car. I’d have to rely on my mom for rides to appointments, and she’s very reluctant to drive anywhere outside of work. Even when she has time, she usually says no because she’s worried about missing work or simply doesn’t want to go. A lot of her weekends are spent staying inside watching TV.
Part of why I want to do this is because I’ve always dreamed of working with animals. Someday I’d love to start my own animal-related business or organization, focusing on training and helping dogs and people. I know owning a service dog won’t magically teach me everything, but I think raising and training my own dog would give me good hands-on experience alongside constant learning.
At the same time, I don’t want to rush such a big decision just because I’m eager to move forward with my goals. I often feel stuck because I don’t have reliable transportation or much support from my family, and I’m worried I’ll keep putting my dreams off forever if I always wait for the “perfect” time.
If you were in my situation, would you keep saving money and move forward with getting the service dog, or would you wait until you had more independence, like your own vehicle or living situation?
I’d really appreciate any advice or perspectives.

Side note, due to my families lack of activities there’s really not much to do in my house at all. I don’t like scrolling the internet, I like my work—I do freelancing (which I get pretty good money from), so with nothing to do it gets really upsetting. I would like to do something that benefits me in more ways than one. (To clarify, I would benefit from a service dog. Haha just in case. :) thanks!