Next week it'll be the Assistance Armadillo....

[Monterey Jack]

Is the Assistance Armadillo related to this guy...?

[Kit-Ginevra]

Did anyone else read 'revolving cast of 7 rats' and think 'is that like a tie rack sort of gizmo?'

[morgana]

No, but now I can't stop giggling at the visual . . .

[dalesys]

I ran across this description:

...the Emotional Support Honey Badger instead physically attacks and savages the absolute living hell out of the stupid idiot bothering you, thus removing the source of the anxiety.

[Buzzard]

I ran across this description:

...the Emotional Support Honey Badger instead physically attacks and savages the absolute living hell out of the stupid idiot bothering you, thus removing the source of the anxiety.

... I'll take three.

[katzklaw]

it is, in theory, possible to have an assistance parrot of some sort... depending heavily on what task is required. parrots are very intelligent. BUT.. trying to bring in 5 at once is excessive and an obvious ploy... and this also does not address the issue that apparently currently only dogs and mini horses can be "official" guide animals. BUT ANYWAY

... I have yet to see a housebroken parrot. [Source: Me, former bar owner]...

i had one. LOL. when i was a teen my parents had a gold capped conure who was trained to go on command. (i didn't like poop on the back of my shirts. lol) i used to go into (pet friendly) stores with her tucked under my jacket all cozy and happy, and she'd surprise people by popping out to sit on my shoulder... invariably the question was "is that a real bird??" But when she would come out, i would take her to a trash can and set her on the edge and tell her to do her business, and she would.

she could also play dead. but she was just a pet, not a service animal in any way, so i never tried to take her places that i wouldn't have been able to take my dog

[morgana]

I ran across this description:

...the Emotional Support Honey Badger instead physically attacks and savages the absolute living hell out of the stupid idiot bothering you, thus removing the source of the anxiety.

I could really have used one of these during one of my marriages, and at least three of my jobs . . . In the Health & Human Services job, I could have used an ARMY.

[Seanette]

Too bad the ESHB isn't effective against callers. OTOH, it would help a lot dealing with co-irkers and some higher-ups.

[Mental_Mouse]

i
i had one. LOL. when i was a teen my parents had a gold capped conure who was trained to go on command. (i didn't like poop on the back of my shirts. lol)

So that's how you "housebreak" a bird... that's impressive!

[Slave to the Phone]

Back in the day, I paper trained a lovebird. Birds are pretty smart and they like their freedom. Once my idiot bird got the connection between pooping out of the cage and then getting locked up, or flying to the cage to poop without the door getting closed, all was good.

I also had a friend who had a paper trained Amazon Parrot. Friend also had several cats and didn't worry about leaving parrot loose with the cats. From what he said, each cat had tried to take the parrot on. Once. Flying fur and blood happened, but not bad enough for vet visits.

[Seanette]

I'd heard parrots are quite able to defend themselves from cats.

[Racket_Man]

I ran across this description:

...the Emotional Support Honey Badger instead physically attacks and savages the absolute living hell out of the stupid idiot bothering you, thus removing the source of the anxiety.

I would like 2 please One for some of my co-irkers and one to take with me on deliveries.

[mjr]

Orange & Blue Apron stores seem to be dog welcoming. After all, they aren't serving/selling food. My brother in Colorado Springs takes his (very well trained) Banter Bulldogs and my daughter takes her year old Corgi here in Salt Lake. They have staff dog biscuit stashes and it seems some of the staff pack some in their aprons.

True, but I know some people are afraid of dogs. My wife is afraid of dogs over a certain size. My sister used to be terrified of dogs.

[earl colby pottinger]

Just Deserts

I was on a special test cruise of the Carnival Dream, a 21 day cruise for only $800. A lot of people were on-board because the long cruise was so cheap.

When I first got on the ship there were three people with service dogs. However unlike the two dogs that seemed to pay all their attention to their owners, the third dog which was a small dog that the owner carried around in a large purse was friendly with everybody.

When I talked to her, she said she got nervous attacks that the dog helped her with them. One thing I noticed was how friendly the dog would be to everybody who approached it.

Then one day - no woman or dog!

Then talking to some fellow passengers I found all her service papers were fake, and she had been put ashore to make her own way home.

Oh, yes, we were not back at New Orleans yet, that meant she would have to pay for her trip back from one of the Caribbean islands, and since it was not near the end of the voyage then any arrangements she made for after the voyage was also messed up.

And while I don't know what really happened, a number of countries have strong rules about bringing in animals, this must have made this an expensive trip for her.

[Minflick]

I'm a vet tech. I have worked with several DVM's who got their medical degree on Grenada. They all said there's one island down there that they are warned to NOT route their flights home through as the island will confiscate the animal, regardless of papers (or at least that's how I recall it, it's several years since I was told this) And sometimes that island is the easiest one to route through, but they can't, because they're flying with their pets to and from school and home (many people adopt an island dog and take it with them when they graduate, but also on summers home).