Posted by Service Dog Headquarters on Sep 22nd 2025
Faking a Service Dog is Now Punishable by Law in Some States
Faking a service animal might seem like a good idea, but it's a selfish one. We are adamant about making bad examples of celebrities who glorify the behavior, like Logan Paul with his dog Kong (1) due to the fact that they are putting people in danger, not just getting a free ride with their dog. Not to mention, Logan has shown us over the years he is not equipped to own an animal and very easily replaces his because they are never trained, just sacrificed. That's a story on its own, but we must digress.
We don't just blame Logan Paul, but a rise in the popularity of fake service animals has been noticed not only by handlers, but by trainers and people all across the nation. This is partially due to the ease of access to legislation and the ADA becoming more spoken about as knowledge spreads on the internet. Unfortunately, some are abusing the rights and laws other citizens that are disabled may have in effort to make their standard of living EQUAL to those who have an able body.
Many people like to pretend that their dog is a service animal so they can bring their dog anywhere with them. However, if your dog is a pet dog, leave him where you keep your pets. Your dog might be very well behaved, but it will still act like an animal around another animal, like a service animal. Dogs are dogs, and a misbehaved dog is a distraction to a well-behaved dog. Yes, we are trained to try and avoid it but we shouldn't have to actively avoid going about our day so our medical equipment will work properly because you want to bring your dog into a store. We have to stop what we're doing to ensure our service animal is protected from whatever it is your animal that's not under your control is doing and we have to maintain that our animal will not react to it. This is difficult as you can tell, because if it wasn't, you wouldn't have to fake that your dog was a service dog and he would just behave as such.
Fake service animals are becoming easier to spot because unfortunately people who break and abuse the law only listen to parts of it. Fake service animals make it difficult to train real service animals in a public setting as well. One service animal needs to learn how to behave around humans while the other animal is just being an animal. It makes it hard to even train an actual service animal in the first place, let alone handle one that is fully trained. Every dog has a bad day, but you can always tell.
For example, a service animal should most likely not be in a purse, a stroller or a carrier. However, this can be utilized as a common training technique when socializing during training or for no contact alerts, though its more common to see a fully trained service dog on its own paws.
A dog, service dog or not, should never be putting their feet or another region on a cart that is also used to shop for food. It's a sanitary issue which is why even Service Dog Handlers do not carry their trained Service Dogs around in a cart. If your dog cannot walk on its own, it cannot provide that well of a service to you.
A service dog does not need to have a vest stating it is a service dog in fact the vests are mostly for us, as the Handler, with high hopes that people know how to read around us. No matter how many do not pet patches we invest in though, no matter how many times we write do not distract, most people don't read the vest - they just see that there is one. Once a medical emergency happens, people then look at the best which is why some of us choose to have our Medical emergency listed on the dog instead. There is no right or wrong answer on how to vest your dog in fact your service animal does not need a vest at all, that is the law. Your dog does not need any markings that state that it is a service animal, but it does have to be on a leash or under strict vocal control so at any time it can be recalled and must listen to the recall. It is not an accessory, it is a disability apparatus.
We are aware anybody can buy a vest that says anything and we have an article coming out about how big companies are profiting off of Service Dog Handlers and the disabled while actively hurting them in the very near future. That vest does not buy you the ability to skip all the training and the actual necessity for the dog. There's a reason that when you go to show us your alleged registration card, Service Dog Handlers roll their eyes and then once again, can guarantee that you aren't a real handler. Unless it is a simple ADA access cards like this you should not have a card.
Generally, guinea pigs and rabbits can't be service animals. Large birds are not service animals. You do not have a service lizard. The only exception to the rule of a service dog in most states actually a small pony, and that's mostly in very southern states where you see small ponies walking around and is less common the more northern you travel however still miniature horses can be a service animal in all 50 states however it must be housebroken. The influx in saying something other than a service animal is a service animal is also not very helpful, especially in education.
Service animals are specifically trained to assist a disabled party whether it be a medical alert or mobility or more.
Keyword: Trained
In some states, such as Alaska, a service animal is defined as "any animal that is task trained to mitigate the handlers disability." (4) This suggests cats, miniature horses and other forms of service animal can be used in those states as long as they are trained to perform a task that aids the Handler in their daily activities, assisting the disabled party to give them a better quality of life. Training is the key here and even with miniature horses and cats, the animal must be task trained and housebroken. The goal is to assist the Handler without causing any disturbance to those around you. Simple as that.
Missing an alert due to being distracted could be devastating, medically, for the Handler. Dogs hold trauma as well, having incredible recall in memory. So if a service animal is attacked, it can become aggressive or anxious in public, which also will prevent it from doing its job. The one playful dog fight with you, could be a horrorific life-changing experience to a disabled party.
Poorly trained dogs also leave a bad taste in the mouths of business owners that we then have to visit with our real service animal. They are automatically going to assume we will be as disruptive as you are and we are treated as such.
Not to mention we're also constantly checking each other in a community that can go toxic very quickly if somebody is not doing the right thing with their service animal, they get caught on camera, and sent to the community. We are aware of this.
Think about all the pressure that is.
Now ask yourself "why is it hard for people with service animals to leave their house" and why it's not just a free ride to bring their doggie along.
They're being stared at by the owner of the establishment and possibly stopped at the door before they even entered. They're being watched by other people who are trying to distract and kiss at and pet the dog even though there are huge signs that say not to do so. Lately people have been trying to get attacked by dogs because the payout is supposedly large and in this economy that's frustrating, even though our dog won't attack, it's frustrating that people try. They're always concerned that there's somebody else monitoring them and the behavior their dog displays, so they can be ridiculed on the internet via what should be their own support system. It leaves you feeling anxious and like all eyes are constantly on you, which is a terrible feeling. Some with service animals don't even bring them into certain stores. So, they put themselves at risk of a medical emergency to avoid the hassle.
Replacing a service dog is not cheap. There are barely any free places that will hand you one pre-trained. It takes years to properly train a service animal and good breeding to have a decent one. After breeding, classes, gear, training, upkeep and vet bills, you're looking at $10,000 per service animal out of the low amount of money that they can make as a disabled person in the first place. Oh, and, absolutely none of it is covered by medical insurance, which is why Service Dog Headquarters exists today and we intend on growing out our gear supply.
$10,000. That's the price of a cheap car or a down payment on a house for those not paying attention.
Granted, you may have rescued an animal and your dog may be very well behaved around the people that it's used to being around. However, if it attacks a service animal or a $10,000 piece of medical equipment, it's very hard to replace that medical equipment. It's more than likely that they will also put down your dog for attacking the service animal, which as you know it is hard to replace your non-trained dog because they're a member of your family. What to your dog might seem like just rough housing and playing around and will be forgotten, might prevent that service dog from working in that store or around other animals in the future because of the behavior of your “well trained” pet, and not many even think about that.
In accordance with the law, a service animal is a piece of medical equipment. It would be looked at as if your dog attacked someone's wheelchair. Not very nice, right?
Finally, stores such as Frys and certain motel/hotel chains in some states have been welcoming service dogs, but educating on Arizona's HB 2588 law (2) which allows individuals misrepresenting their animal as a service dog to be fined up to $250 per violation, and to be removed from any store that allows service animals and not pets.
While this law was enacted in 2018 and is not yet enacted nationwide, we feel it should be. Being disabled isn't a free ride and we really don't get any benefit from being sick which is why most of us still try to work. If you are able bodied and have every ability to access the world, leave your dog at home. You don't need him there.
Download Arizona's HB2588 here.
The truth is, your dog doesn't belong in a store. It's unfortunate if you're upset that somebody else has their dog in a store but they also have to suffer from medical alerts and emergencies, seizures, Medical testing, cardiac alerts, blood pressure problems, fainting, some of us can't see properly, some some of us can't hear properly… and as jealous as we are that you're perfectly able-bodied and you don't have to worry about having a seizure, or fainting, whatever it may be - we can't take that benefit for ourselves just because we want it. So please, don't do it with your pets and our rights to our medical equipment.
A great display of this law at work was released in an informative reel made by Demon.Dog.Duo on Facebook, a service dog team that posts reels on topical education and living as a handler almost daily to their social medias and Youtube. The team remains calm while demonstrating the difference in their video of a pet being removed from a Fry’s location that had the law posted. Their service animal behaved exactly as they should have, but this could have been a dangerous situation for the both of them due to an out of control pet.
Demon.Dog.Duo also makes an effort to point out a lot of the experiences that service animal handlers have reported statistically.
Please watch that original video here, pause to read if you need to: Demon.Dog.Duo's Video Reel
You can always write to your state and suggest they look into HB 2588 and make it a law in your community, protecting those who need it most from those who take the most advantage of them.
About Demon.Dog.Duo
You can follow Demon.Dog.Duo all across social media for more service dog education and to keep up with the team!
Yes even on the Tube!
Special thanks to Demon.Dog.Duo for fact checking and accuracy. We love when the community helps keep each other educated.
Sources:
- We Warned You About Logan Paul - Blunt Media - Natural News- https://naturalhealthycbd.com/blog/servicedogs-delta-logan-paul
- Arizona Legislation - HB2588- https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/53leg/2r/bills/hb2588s.pdf
- Demon.Dog.Duo - Reel - https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Cign
- Alaska Service Dog Law - Service Dog Standards - https://www.servicedogstandard.com/state-laws/alaska