GREAT FALLS — Military veteran Dave Spurgat of Stevensville relies on his service dog Gromit for help with daily tasks, but untrained pets and public distractions are creating significant obstacles for the team.
Spurgat avoids pet-friendly stores to protect Gromit from untrained dogs. He started working with Gromit in public access four months ago.
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"I’ve flown complex aircraft in combat, that was easier than checking out," Spurgat said.
"If you do go in, you go in quickly. You get your business done and you get back out as fast as possible. No browsing, no shopping, you are in and out," Spurgat said.
A single attack from an untrained dog can ruin hundreds or thousands of hours of training.
"There is no spare service dog. If your dog is injured or worse, you are without the capabilities, the disability-mitigating tasks that the dog provides to you. You are doing without until the dog is healed or replaced," Spurgat said.
"Those distractions, reaching for a dog, petting a dog, or talking to a service dog can take them off of a life-saving task," Spurgat said.
Spurgat wants the public to view service dogs the same way they view a wheelchair.
"Respect the vest. We used to say service dogs were working dogs, don’t pet them. I would say let’s take that to the next level and ignore them. Don’t interact with a service dog. Not just petting them, but don’t talk to them, don’t reach out to them, don’t make noises at them. Pretend they’re not there," Spurgat said.
Spurgat found Gromit through K-9 Care Montana, a Livingston-based nonprofit that provides wounded veterans with service dogs.
David Riggs, founder of K-9 Care Montana, highlighted another growing issue: fake service dogs.
"There’s no one that sees fake service dogs more than TSA," Riggs said.
A law passed in 2019 makes it a misdemeanor to intentionally misrepresent a pet as a service animal in Montana.
"We have a self-training service dog law. Anybody can train a service dog. I think it’s important for people to follow the guidelines set forth by ADA," Riggs said.
While there is no official certificate or identification for a service dog, behavior usually makes them easy to identify.
"I always tell people, a great service dog, often times you don’t even know it’s there," Riggs said.
"It takes hundreds and hundreds of hours in public access to get these dogs desensitized to different environments," Riggs said.
Gromit handles things Spurgat used to have to watch out for, helping him stay focused.
"It’s an extraordinary benefit. It restores a lot of independence and confidence," Spurgat said.
Spurgat suggested businesses offer designated pet-friendly hours or a staff checkout lane to provide service dog teams extra physical separation from others.
The agency website states: "Our nation's wounded warriors have given their all to protect our freedoms and we at K9 Care Montana believe it is our turn to give them back their freedom. Every child challenged by autism has different obstacles in their daily lives. By providing them with service dogs it provides many different benefits that help them overcome those obstacles. A child that can connect with a dog can connect with the world."
For more information, click here to visit the website.
This article has been lightly edited with the assistance of AI for clarity, syntax, and grammar.
