Second-grader’s guide dog banned from school – The Boston Globe
Hailey Manduca has only one close friend: a golden retriever-Labrador mix named Indy.
The Scituate second-grader, who suffers from a rare disorder that causes her bones to break easily, has poor balance, cannot roughhouse with other children, and needs help climbing stairs. “Nobody wants to play with her, because she can’t do what other kids do,” Hailey’s mother, Cheryl, said yesterday. “Indy is it for her.”
Hailey Manduca has only one close friend: a golden retriever-Labrador mix named Indy.
The Scituate second-grader, who suffers from a rare disorder that causes her bones to break easily, has poor balance, cannot roughhouse with other children, and needs help climbing stairs. “Nobody wants to play with her, because she can’t do what other kids do,” Hailey’s mother, Cheryl, said yesterday. “Indy is it for her.”
Indy, short for Independence, has been Hailey’s service dog since last August and follows the 8-year-old almost everywhere she goes. Everywhere except school.
Scituate school officials have barred Indy, saying that on the few occasions Indy has visited Jenkins Elementary School, the 2-year-old dog has growled and barked at students and teachers.
“The dog was poorly trained and aggressive,” said Mary Ellen Sowyrda, a lawyer for the district.
And lawyers are never wrong. MY guess, the dog barked once and that was that for the pooch.
I’m sorry to sound callous, but it doesn’t sound like this “guide” dog was trained the same way seeing-eye guide dogs are. I have never heard of a seeing-eye guide dog growling at anyone else or doing anything other than blending into the background when “on-duty”.
This dog sounds like one that her parents bought her and had trained, but is not an “official” guide dog, if there is such a thing as an official guide dog. 🙂
Dog s are supposed to growl and bark, chances are that the dog growled at some kids making fun at the girl.
Dave,
You may want to read thentire article, just follow the link. It sound like this dog did come from a traing service, as its trainer runs one.
Awww poor kid. Cute dog.
I like this dog… and because of the T-shirt story I’ve decided to ignore all relevant facts and come out in support of the kid and her dog.
Though I am normally a supporter of educators, today I observe “To Hell With School Officials Day”
Give the girl her dog and don’t mess with her because that dog will defend her!
And sometimes we have to wonder why this is such a litigious society. The American Disabilities Act allows disables persons to use service dogs free from harassment.
Oh no! A dog barked at them! The humanity!
As a legally blind person who has several friends who use Guide Dogs I can tell you that they both bark and growl however the threshold is much higher than ordinary dogs. The dog had a reason. The other people should try leading the girl’s life for a while in comparison to having a dog bark at them occasionally.
An aggressive laborador?? Surly they jest.
The “muzzle” that was required which is referred to in the Globe is actually called a “halty.” It is simply a single band around the dog’s muzzle used in training, as it is gentler than a choke collar. Most service dogs are trained using a halty.
I vote for the kid and her dog over the school officials.
This could have been fixed without the school board having a duck. Just retrain the little girl and the dog. It isn’t all that unusual for a service dog and handler to have to go back to school Particularly, since the handler is only 8 years old and probably isn’t re-enforcing the dog’s training the way an adult might. Barking and growling at the school, does sound like the child doesn’t have the dog under control and the situation needs to be addressed.
If the dog in the picture is the actual dog, there might be something else at play here, like Cocker Spaniel, which could explain part of the problem. Those ears look a tad long for it to be a Golden/Lab mix. A Basset Hound would look at that dog and think, “wow, nice ears”.
That is ridiculous, Everyone loves dogs.
That head is far more Cocker Spaniel than Lab/Goldie, plus the smaller size. The dog just needs some retraining to keep the aggression down. They can get a bit possessive. A rowdy play ground may be a bit much for the dog. Kids and many adults don’t understand the proper way to approach an unfamiliar dog. Far be it that this couldn’t be a learning experience. It’s probably not in the end of year tests.
Being how this is Mass. here….either the district found out Haily’s parents are Republican or the dog is….: )
But seriously, after reading the whole article I smell something fishy, and it’s not the dog….it smells like fishy school officials. These dogs are very well trained, if it growled and/or barked, it had a reason to do it.
These animals are protective, thats what they are trained to be (not aggressive)
Anyone who spends any time around 7 or 8 y/o kids know that they are excitable, and can be wild and noisy. They can also be very cruel and nasty to someone who is *different*, especially the boys. I would be willing to bet that there-in lies the problem.
I get the feeling that the district decided that it was to much a liability risk for her to be there and are hoping the parents do home school the girl.
It sounds to me like the school needed a bit of training about how to handle the service dog, too. This would be an incredibly difficult environment for even the most well-trained service dog. An 8 year-old handler surrounded by other kids. An adult handler can usually request that other people not feed, pet or otherwise distract his/her service animal. Imagine a playground full of kids who are not restricted from distracting the animal from his job.
Some owners of ‘dog training’ services are trying to increase their profits by claiming just about everyone needs a ‘service dog.’ However, much of their customers do not have a medical need for that. There’s no evidence the child even benefits from having the dog with her, other than perhaps psychologically. It is also becoming increasingly common for people who just like taking their dogs with them everywhere to claim the dogs are ‘service’ animals.
Once again, a practice that is a good idea if executed properly is being abused.
I fully support the school system in this situation. If that dog bites a child, it will be held responsible.
#14…Podesta…..Yep….your right Podesta, she looks like a little faker….maybe they should lock her ass up in the county jail.
You made a valid point about service dogs being used wrongly, but then you got carried away as usual when you stated this girl dosen’t need one. Try reading the main article agan where several reasons are given as to why she needs the dog.
School officials go overboard every chance they get, and this is no exception.
Seems like I am not the person who did not read the article. She needs a human aide, Joshua. The school has offered to provide one. A dog is not really suitable to provide the type and degree of help she needs.
#17, Podesta,
No, I don’t think you read the article. She uses the dog as a crutch while climbing stairs. The dog also pulls her wheelchair when she is tired. To top it off, the dog is a companion to a young girl in a very tormented body. Now how many of those “services” will the teaching aid do.
The school is wrong, the school will lose in court. The taxpayers will get an even poorer school system simply because part of the budget had to pay lawyers.
#17…Podesta…..if you had read the article, you might have noticed that the school said she must have a *person* or human aide, not the dog because of the growling/barking.
This school is run by another of those little Hitler/Stalin types. It will lose this one big time and deservedly so. As Mr. Fusion said though, it’s a shame more dollars are wasted because of stupidity and rigidness.
The school system will win. It is doing the right thing by not exposing hundreds of other children to risk of injury by allowing that animal on its premises. Indeed, if I lived in that jurisdiction, I would represent it without a fee. Their case is that good.
It is unfortunate the child has a condition that is now screenable by genetic testing. Parents have been able to choose whether to give birth to children with dwarfism for more than a decade.