I have been reading this thread with interest as I bring my dog to work on a daily basis. The main difference here is that I do not work in the Collections Department but through experience here are the rules we have established: 1. Before even bringing my dog (Luis) in I cleared it with all my staff and encouraged them to express any concerns.I know I am their boss but we are small and all have a comfortable working relationship so I felt their reactions were genuine. Other staff members with animals were encouraged to bring their dog if desired but these days had to be scheduled as to not have a full house and all the same rules you see below had to be maintained. 2. Luis is kept, for the most part to my office. He is not allowed in the Research Library (where our collections are stored), the restrooms, or the kitchen. Period. 3. Luis is only allowed in the exhibit area under my strict supervision and it is usually only to introduce him to school groups (this is always a big hit) 4. Luis is well trained (has in fact attended training classes), very rarely barks, and has a very suitable personality for interfacing with the public 5. When Luis is brought out to the public I am always sensitive to the reactions of the people he meets and if someone is uncomfortable we do not attempt to approach but rather make sure they have limited contact (in other words, I remove Luis from the area by proceeding with his walk or take him back to my office) Lastly, Luis was a distraction when he first started coming to work with me but you will find that, while he still gets attention, the newness of his presence wore off fast and he quickly became another member of our staff who often is the bright spot when someone has had a particularly bad day. Phyllis Davis Executive Director Amelia Island Museum of History 233 S. 3rd Street, Fernandina Beach, FL 32034 904-261-7378, x. 101 [log in to unmask] www.ameliamuseum.org From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jaki Waggamon Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2014 1:27 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Guide dog puppies in training and collections Angela, Thank you for your very forward thinking response. Your thoughts on this being an issue of organizing work seems very accurate to me. Additionally, I support the idea there is a lack of evidence supporting the idea that all the attention will go to the dog. My very first service dog in training attended the Ohio Museum Association conference with me in 2012. The puppy took no additional attention--he slept under tables the whole time. Again, significant lack of evidence. Thank you again for your thoughts on the matter. Respectfully, Jaki Waggamon On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 12:41 PM, Angela Kipp <[log in to unmask]> wrote: Dear all, maybe I'm a little far off the mark because I'm a collection manager in a science and technology museum which isn't a clean room even if we do our best to keep dust and pests out, but I am wondering: Is this not simply a question on how to handle the work? I guess most work won't be directly in the storage area, at least it shouldn't. I believe you have a separate room for packing things and doing the computer work. If staff is allowed to work with open hair there I see no real reason why a service dog in training shouldn't be allowed in those areas. You don't work with collection items on the floor (at least I hope so) so the dog hasn't really a chance to spoil anything, even if an accident happens. I would be cautious to let it into the storage areas (in fact, I'm cautious to let anyone in there without a good reason, may it be a puppy or someone from the royal family) but I guess this won't be necessary, because they are only accessed to get artifacts or bring them back there. A basic training for every dog is to "stay", even if his human is out of the room and it certainly is for service dogs. The puppy can stay at its place while the volunteer gets new work from the storage. So, by organizing work properly, I don't see a general problem. The assumption that most attention will go to the puppy for me lacks evidence. I'm more of a cat lover but for some time we had a close cooperation with the local police department with police dogs in training and I have a deep respect on the professional way those humans interact with their future colleagues. I guess it's the same with service dogs in training. This is a highly professional relationship that demands a high sense of responsibility and attentiveness from the trainer and in my experience this spreads to the general view on life and work. So for me, if I could chose between a volunteer who chose to take the responsibility of training a service dog and one who doesn't, I'd tend to take the one with the puppy. Best wishes Angela Angela Kipp Collection Manager TECHNOSEUM, Mannheim, Germany www.technoseum.de <http://www.technoseum.de/> Join the Registrar Trek at http://world.museumsprojekte.de/ Follow us on Twitter @RegistrarTrek Am 25.02.2014 17 <tel:25.02.2014%2017> :59, schrieb Norris,Erin S: Two things about guide dog puppies which haven't been brought up on list. The volunteer would be likely to pay far more attention to the puppy than the volunteer work she is supposed to be doing. As would everyone else. At best, it's unproductive. At worst, it has the potential for unfixable mistakes. The puppy, though well behaved, may also be underfoot a lot which is dangerous for both the puppy and people-potential for tripping. It's a puppy, not a certified guide animal. Would you allow the volunteer to bring children or someone for whom they were a caregiver to that environment? It is a workplace. Let me pose another question: who normally processes collections? Yes, service animals are covered by law and should be. But what sort of volunteer who uses a guide dog would be processing collections? Are they blind, wheelchair bound or otherwise mobility impaired, developmentally disabled, etc.? How likely is it that person will be lifting heavy boxes of materials or artifacts and processing them? Equal opportunity employment means exactly that, and should, but the person has to be able to perform the basic requirements of the job on offer. If an employee asked me, I would of course respond in saying service animals are allowed by law in most or all public settings. Sometimes cats are used as service animals but they are also notorious for urinating to mark territory, no matter their age. Is the archival storage and processing area a place to which the general public is allowed? A volunteer, who is an unpaid employee, should be made to follow the same rules as any other employee. No eating in the archives. No drinking in the archives. No pets or children in the archives. Again, this is a puppy in training, not a certified service animal. How do other employees and volunteers *honestly* feel about the situation? I think it's great the volunteer trains service animals but let's also think of the archive for a moment. We are stewards of historic materials for future generations. Putting the archives or the volunteer in such an awkward situation is a disservice to both. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the named individual. 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