[Chicagocanine]

Most people I know of who train their own service dogs do not take the dog into public until later in their training. They do all the basics first, and they take the dog into pet friendly places and things like that but they don't take the dog out as a SDIT into places that do not allow pet dogs until the dog is on the advanced levels of training.

There are some Yahoo Groups and forums about training service dogs that might be helpful to you, you can find them through a web search or Yahoo search.

 

[Chicagocanine]

Here are some examples of what I meant about taking them out in public:

Mastering Basic Obedience First:
Please don’t rush your dog into public access training. Before embarking on this advanced phase of your dog’s training make sure that it has fully mastered the behaviors of basic obedience, such as ‘sit, down, stay, come, wait, go, back’, etcetera. Hopefully, you will have trained your dog to respond to verbal commands and hand signals, as the latter are helpful when one needs to direct a dog in a public setting where silence prevails, such as libraries, movie theaters, and during others’ verbal or artistic presentations.
(From Psychiatric Service Dog Society )

Your first trips out in public as a Service Dog team are important events. Exposing your Service Dog In Training (SDIT) to the public prematurely can have several negative effects: It can set back your training, if the dog was not ready and has a negative experience; it can get you thrown out of a public facility where gatekeeprs may remember you when you try to come back later with a better-trained dog; it can give the public the idea that service dogs are poorly behaved animals, and might cause some of them to complain to their Congressperson about why there are not more "rules" governing service dog public access; and last but not least, it can harm the reputation of service dogs, in general, which may have a negative effect on other Service Dog teams who follow behind you."

(From Psychiatric Service Dog Society )

Other examples:
JLS Dalmatian Guide Dogs ~ Jinx & Ebony
Hello - Service & Therapy Dogs Forum

Most of the people I know don't take their service dog in training into public places where pet dogs are not allowed until late in the dog's training. They don't just throw the dog into those situations. They start with pets allowed places, then when the dog's training is more advanced only then do they slowly start taking the dog to places where pets are not allowed, first with quiet and less crowded locations and then gradually get them used to louder, more crowded or more unusual locations.

 

[Chicagocanine]

As to any type of "animals" this is quickly coming to a close. In 2011 only dogs will be considered service animals and all ponies, min. horses, etc. etc. will no longer be allowed into places where any other pet is not allowed.

The new law changes do allow miniature horses as service animals, but they have a subsection added that allows them to be excluded in certain cases.