Dogs, Service Dogs and Emotional Support Dogs

Dogs:

Not all of our properties are pet-friendly, and it will be clearly posted on the property page of our website.  Animals other than dogs cannot be accommodated.

If a dog is accepted in a dog-friendly property, there will be an additional fee and required Dog Agreement.

For those homes that do not welcome pets, our rules ensure a clean environment for those visitors and owners with allergies. Sneaking in a pet may cause severe discomfort for a guest or owner staying following the animal's stay. When reserving a property where pets aren’t allowed, the rental agreement will require agreement to the following:

No pets are allowed under this rental agreement without owner permission, paid pet fee, and the signed dog agreement.  Pets other than dogs are not permitted. Any violation of this clause will incur a penalty, the rental agreement will be terminated immediately, and guests must vacate the property immediately with no refunds of monies paid. If you are not prepared to pay the fee and vacate the property immediately, please do not bring in a pet.

These are some pet daycare and boarding facilities in our area that we can recommend:

Creature Quarters, 43 Atlantic Avenue, Surry, ME; Tel: (207) 610-2220; https://www.creaturequarters.com/

Go Doggie Playcare & Boarding, 62 Bridle Pathway, Penobscot, ME; Tel: (207) 326-4010;https://wedigdogs.wixsite.com/godoggie

Paws Wings & Things Kennel & Pet Sitters LLC, 24 Kindred Spirit Way, Bucksport, ME; Tel: (207) 902-1165; http://pawswingsandthings.com

The Difference with Service Dogs and Emotional Support Dogs:

Under federal law, all of our properties accept Service Dogs. A Service Dog is not a pet, thus the Pet Fee will be waived*.

The Service Dog must meet ADA qualifications and you will be asked to answer the following two questions when a property is booked:

1. Is your service dog required because of a disability?

2. What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?

EXAMPLE: “This service dog is trained to perform the task of [your response here] during a medical situation of the owner.” Fill in the blank to specify the trained task.

Your confidentiality matters and you are not required to reveal your disability in formulating your reply. 

Your Service Dog must be able to complete a trained task or work that is directly related to your disability. What does it mean to be individually trained? Individual training is the process by which a dog is specifically taught a behavior or task through rewards, praise or corrections. Natural dog behavior such as protectiveness, barking, licking or comforting an owner are not considered appropriate tasks under the ADA, even if those actions help the disabled owner. Examples of individually trained tasks include retrieving a phone, providing deep pressure therapy during a panic attack, or providing balance support on a staircase to prevent a fall.

What is considered work or tasks?

Work or tasks are chores or behaviors that a Service Dog performs, on command or cue, to help a disabled person with something that they cannot easily do for themselves. Work or tasks must also be quantifiable in some way, such as fetching a medicine bottle for someone about to have a seizure, opening doors or drawers for someone who has physical mobility issues or alerting on glucose levels for a diabetic. Examples of some things that would not be an appropriate physical task would be simply providing companionship, licking someone’s face, barking, guarding, protecting, or even tasks performed merely for convenience such as fetching the morning paper.

While everyone enjoys the emotional, social and safety benefits that a dog’s presence can provide, those benefits do not constitute trained tasks that would transform a disabled person’s dog into a legitimate Service Dog under ADA. This standard means that the ADA does not apply to many dogs that function as therapy, emotional support and companion dogs. Under the ADA, service dogs must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered, unless these devices interfere with the service dog’s work or the individual’s disability prevents using these devices. In that case, the individual must maintain control of the dog through voice, signal, or other effective controls. The dog must not be left at the rental property alone. This property does not charge the standard Dog Fee* for a Service Dog, nor is the Damage Deposit increased, however, the guest remains liable for any and all damage and additional cleaning caused by people or dogs.

WARNING: Those who pretend they are disabled, or that their pet is a Service Dog so that they may enter or stay in a hotel, house, apartment or condominium, or to exceed the boundaries of what is legal or ethical, are breaking federal law. In the State of Maine, the penalty is a fine of up to $1,000. There are legal options for traveling with your dog which you should consider.

* Our standard Dog Fee is not waived for dogs considered emotional support dogs or therapy dogs. Dog fees are waived for ADA Service Dogs only.

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