Washington will "Go to the Dogs" for the fourth year in a row.

Service animals have been assisting servicemembers with mental and physical disabilities for decades, but there remains many questions on the benefits and rules for owning a service animal.

Is one aware they should ask the owner before petting a service animal or maybe not even pet the animal at all? Is the general public aware of which questions are legally appropriate to ask of one who owns a service animal? Might the general public have stereotypes or biases about those who own a service animal or of a person with a disability?

"This conference will push attendees to softly challenge some of these notions and provide means to better support those who have a service animal," said Washington Department of Veterans Affairs Behavioral Health Program Director, Peter Schmidt.  "We will also help clarify some of the differences between service, therapy and emotional animals."

Washington Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) and their Behavioral Health Services (BHS) program will host the 4th Annual "Service for Service: Washington Goes to the Dogs" Service Dog Conference at the Emerald Queen Casino Conference Center in Fife, Nov. 3.

The overall goal for this year's conference is to provide a better understanding of service, therapy and emotional support animals and which mode is best for them.

"It is important for veterans and the public to know the difference between service animals, emotional support and therapy animals, since there is quite a contrast between the legal definition of a service animal and the other two categories," said Schmidt.  "A service animal has gone through a formal training process and serves a specific function for someone with a diagnosed disability."

This service dog and service animal conference will provide participants an opportunity to explore whether a service, therapy or emotional support animal is best for them.

"The focus of the conference is self-exploration and which mode of support is best for those combat veterans living with the invisible wounds of Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and Military Sexual Trauma," said Schmidt.

However, it remains extremely important to handle the question of "Is a service animal right for me?" on a case-by-case basis, as typically servicemembers' disabilities vary on the individual.

"Each veteran who lives with either TBI or PTS may have varying symptoms unique to their situation," said Schmidt.  "So it is hard to broad brush what a service animal does for each of these invisible wounds."

Educating the general public on some of the difficulties being faced from past and present service animal owners will also be an important goal of the conference.

"There are those who will take an untrained animal, purchase a service animal vest online and then call it a "service animal," said Schmidt.

Although the animal could potentially be well-mannered and obeying to their owner's commands, problems can still arise.

"This situation causes a problem for those who have a legitimate service animal because typically these animals are untrained and are not designed to perform a specific function," said Schmidt. "For example, a trained service animal will not bark, bite, or be restless in a public setting."

When an individual calls their untrained dog a service animal and it behaves unruly, then it can cause a legitimate service animal owner a host of problems.

Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from various service dog owners about their disabilities, as the owners describe their personal stories on the process of attaining their service animal.

Miranda Levy, an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Training and Information Specialist will provide information on ADA standards with service animals.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 provides regulations for state and local governments, as well as businesses to protect individuals with disabilities.

"It behooves each of us to become better educated about disabilities and how a service animal can support them," said Schmidt.  "It becomes everyone's responsibility to understand the world of someone who lives with a disability and has a service animal."

Those working towards attaining more Continuing Education Units (CEUs) will also have the ability to fill out provided clock-hour forms upon completion of the entire conference.

Registration for the conference is open to anyone and will target businesses with public access, organizations who work with training dogs for the above mentioned areas, anyone interested in receiving services from a dog, and veterans and their family members.

"Information is power, the better educated we become about disability and the differences between the classes of animals, the more we can play a role of advocacy and support," said Schmidt.  "The more we can genuinely ease the transition from military culture to civilian life and support the rights of another, the better off our military communities are."

To register for the 4th Annual Service for Service: Washington Goes to the Dogs Service Dog Conference, please visit: http://veteranstrainingsupportcenter.org/index.php/calendar_main/event_all/557/.