We have lots to talk about this week. We’re going to start off with a discussion about a very controversial topic: The proliferation of what is being called fake service dogs. It’s becoming a national scandal and I’m sorry to say, a lot of RVers are involved, registering their dogs as service animals when, in fact, they have had no real service dog training and the registration is just a sham so they can take their pets with them wherever they want.

We’ll also talk about a big RV trend… renting out your RV. There are now dozens of companies that are serving those who want to rent an RV for a vacation – just like out rent a vacation home. And the fleet of rental RVs come from RV owners who want to make some cash for their RVs when it would otherwise be just sitting in storage or their driveway.

Plus your questions, comments and RV news, tips and suggested trips….all coming up in this week’s episode.

Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast.

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Show Notes for Episode #164 November 1, 2017 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast:

WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:30"]

It’s November. Snow is flying around the upper Midwest but we’re still in sunny and warm Florida. We'll start back to our home in Michigan, where we'll send the holidays, towards the weekend.

This week, we want to talk about a growing national scandal involving service dogs.

Today, any pet owner can go online and buy a vest for a dog to pass it off as a service animal to gain access to restaurants, hotels, parks, beaches and places of business.

Across the country, at least 19 states are considering legislation that would crack down on pet owners who claim their animals are service animals. Still more states are considering implementing them,

Most of the laws hit anyone misrepresenting their animal as a service animal with fines up to $500.

There are an estimated 20,000 real, service dogs in the US; they are specifically trained to do tasks for a person with a disability and can help with disabilities ranging from vision impairments to seizures to autism and more. However, there are tens of thousands of other animals that have various pieces of service dog ID cards or vests that are available online by simply paying a fee. Just Google service dogs and you’ll see the ads.

Passing off your dog as a service dog, when in fact it is not, is causing an uproar in the community for those who actually need one. An organization, Glad Wags Service Dogs, is making it known that "fake service" dogs are causing a huge problem, and it needs to stop, citing incidents in which non-service-animals have misbehaved in places they shouldn't have been allowed, casting real service animals in a bad light—or, in some cases, even injuring an actual service animal.

Case in point: An incident in Sacramento just over a week ago, when a blind man’s working service dog was attacked by a pit bull whose owner falsely claimed the pet was a therapy dog.

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is illegal to ask about a person’s disability, require medical documentation, require special identification for a service animal or ask for the service animal to demonstrate the tasks it’s trained to do. And while the ADA was created to protect people with special needs from discrimination, sadly it does not thwart those who are able-bodied and seeking to take advantage of the service animal privilege.

This portion of the Podcast is brought to you by Campers Inn, the RVer’s trusted resource for over 50 years, the nation’s largest family-operated RV dealership with 16 locations and growing

 JENNIFER'S TIP OF THE WEEK [spp-timestamp time="17:50"]

 This week’s tip comes from a dental hygienist we met on a recent roadtrip. We were visiting around the campsite and she shared how important it is to keep our te...