One evening I was waiting to be seated at a very nice restaurant when a woman walked in carrying a Chihuahua tucked inside her purse.
The young host greeted her politely and asked the first question businesses are permitted to ask under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Is your dog a service dog required because of a disability?”
The woman immediately became irritated.
“Yes.”
The host continued with the second question.
“What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?”
She looked at him and replied,
“A lot of things.”
He hesitated.
You could almost see him trying to remember his training. He knew he could ask a question. He just wasn’t sure what to ask next.
After an awkward pause, he picked up two menus and escorted her to a table.
As I watched him walk away, I found myself wondering…
What would you have done?
The evening became even more interesting.
The woman ordered an alcoholic drink.
A few minutes later, she stood up, left the Chihuahua sitting alone in her purse on the restaurant seat, and walked to the restroom.
The waiter delivered the drink to the table.
Within seconds, the little dog climbed onto the table and happily drank the entire cocktail.
The surrounding tables couldn’t believe what they were watching.
Some laughed.
Others simply stared.
A few minutes later the woman returned.
She looked at her empty glass and immediately called the waiter over.
“My drink was full,” she said.
“You must have spilled it.”
The waiter looked completely confused.
Several nearby customers tried to help.
“No,” one of them said.
“Your dog drank it.”
The woman became furious.
She called everyone around her idiots and insisted her dog would never do such a thing.
She stuffed the Chihuahua back into her purse, stormed out of the restaurant, and left without paying the bill.
As unbelievable as the story sounds, it raises some surprisingly important questions.
What Would You Do?
If you were the host…
Would you have accepted “a lot of things” as an answer?
Should you have asked another question?
Could you have refused entry?
If you were the waiter…
What would you do after seeing the dog climb onto the table and drink the customer’s alcohol?
Would you remove the dog?
Remove the drink?
Call the manager?
If you were the manager…
Could you ask the handler to remove the dog?
Could you ask the customer to leave?
Would the ADA allow it?
The ADA Answer
This story isn’t really about whether the Chihuahua was or wasn’t a legitimate service dog.
The restaurant had no way of knowing.
The ADA doesn’t allow businesses to judge a service dog based on its breed, size, or appearance.
The important issue is behavior.
Service dogs are expected to remain under the handler’s control at all times. A dog that climbs onto a restaurant table and drinks from a customer’s glass is no longer behaving appropriately in a public accommodation.
Under the ADA, a business may ask that a service animal be removed if the dog is out of control and the handler does not take effective action to control it, or if the dog is not housebroken.
Notice what the ADA does not say.
It doesn’t say the person with a disability must leave.
It doesn’t say the restaurant can automatically refuse future service.
It says the business may ask that the dog be removed while still offering the handler the opportunity to receive goods or services without the animal present, if that is possible.
The young host wasn’t the problem.
The waiter wasn’t the problem.
The manager probably wasn’t the problem.
Like many businesses, they simply didn’t know what to do.
That’s why understanding the ADA is important—for businesses, handlers, and everyone who shares public spaces.
