In reply to Dr. Rakas's question about service dogs in labs:

I forwarded this message to my daughter who is herself disabled and uses a service dog.  In spite of that, she holds two AA degrees, 2 BS degrees, and 2 MS degrees and teaches science, math, and special education.

Here is her reply.

Alan

Alan H. Hall, M.D.

Medical Toxicologist

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Alan Hall <oldeddoc**At_Symbol_Here**gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Feb 7, 2023 at 9:57 PM
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Service Dogs in Labs
To: Dru Hall <ziedruhall**At_Symbol_Here**gmail.com>

I'll forward this on.  THANX!

I figured you could better answer this than I could.

Love,

Dad

On Tue, Feb 7, 2023 at 8:43 PM Dru Hall <ziedruhall**At_Symbol_Here**gmail.com> wrote:

I would recommend instead of labcoat using a dog raincoat with hood coverage to try and avoid fur and skin exposure to moisture.  Think about the tall dog booties that go up the legs vs the paws only kind for the same reason.  Wash time will be highly dependent on cost type, some coats are extremely hydrophobic and will need a lot of time like huskies, Belgians etc.  Some will be easy to wet and reach skin like Golden's, Labs.  Remember fur thickness and length willing also be a consideration.  

For the noises I would say it will be an individual matter, most service dogs are pretty unflappable, but if the dog responds show them the source of sound, show them nothing bad happens and use whatever method of positive enforcement handler prefers to allow for habituation.

Hope this helps some.

Love ya

Dru

On Tue, Feb 7, 2023, 6:05 PM Alan Hall <oldeddoc**At_Symbol_Here**gmail.com> wrote:

Dru,

How would you answer this question?

Love,

Dad

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Margaret Rakas <mrakas**At_Symbol_Here**smith.edu>
Date: Tue, Feb 7, 2023 at 2:44 PM
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Service Dogs in Labs
To: <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**princeton.edu>

Good afternoon,

We are in the process of accommodating one service dog in a geosciences laboratory, where  there will be some use of mostly lower hazard chemicals (buffers) and a few higher hazard (2-5% aqueous HCl solutions, for example).  The dog's PPE will mirror that of the students, labcoat, close-fitting 'doggles', booties.  We also expect to have another service dog later in the semester in a chemistry lab.

In the protocol for the geolab, if there is a chemical exposure I specified a 15 minute period in the safety shower, since that is what would be standard treatment for a human.  I was asked by the lab supervisor whether there was another standard for dogs, which is why I'm turning, yet again, to this fabulous 'hive mind'.  Would 15 minutes under the shower be the standard, treating the outer fur first then making sure water got to the lower levels and skin?  

Also, if you have had a service dog in chemical-intensive or an instrumentation lab (where there might be occasional noises as the LN2 or Argon dewar releases gas to reduce pressure buildup, for example)--were there any local animal irritant, noise or action that you found was a surprise and needed to be acknowledged and/or dealt with even though you'd had discussions with the handler, the faculty/staff person in charge of the lab?

as always, I much appreciate everyrone's time in sharing their experiences and thoughts.

best,

Margaret

--

Margaret A. Rakas, Ph.D.
Lab Safety & Compliance Director
Clark Science Center
413-585-3877 (p)

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