Are guide dogs and other service animals held to a higher standard when it comes to cleanliness?

There are no standards for service animal cleanliness, but they tend to be rather exceptionally well cared for because of the inherent and literal value that they represent. That usually means a well groomed animal.

No health standards apply——however, they are much better trained than your average Fido on the block.

My girlfriend’s Seeing Eye dog is no cleaner than any other dog, but she is much better trained and much more well socialized than most dogs. She is also much more carefully bred by Seeing Eye geneticists to handle her job. Handling her job includes many social functions, as well as just being a dog guide, so she is better prepared than other dogs to negotiate the issues that could arise from being in stores, etc.

I know from various documentaries I have seen that therapy cats and dogs who go into nursing homes or hospitals are bathed prior to their day to visit.

It wasn’t made clear whether this was required by the institution or if the owners just decided on their own.

It makes sense tho since they generally have more hands on contact as opposed to other types of service dogs whose owners generally don’t prefer for them to be distracted from their primary task.

I don’t know what they do about doggy breath or tuna breath tho ;)

Any living thing going outside the home to mix in society should be clean, out of respect to the whole but… well, yeah.

Service animals know how to behave well in public. They aren’t going to jump up on the tables or try to snatch food off of the salad bar. Also, the cleanliness issues regarding the occasional service dog is nothing compared to what it would be like if there were numerous dogs every day.

Yes, I know there are plenty of other non-service dogs that are well-behaved, but there are also a lot that are not and we can’t simply trust Average Joe to use good judgment on this.

Have you been to a fast food joint latley? I think a beloved service animal is probably cleaner than half the people! (Especially the employees.)

It’s not that they’re necessarily cleaner, but that the service they are providing justifies any extra dirt they may have on them.