He looks like any adorable dog, a labradoodle — a Labrador and poodle mix — but Rainbow is more than a companion to Pami Perry.

“I take him everywhere with me,” said Perry, 41, of East Bremerton, talking about the service dog who has been assisting her for a year. Perry began using a canine assistant in 2004 to help her deal with her disabilities, which include impaired hearing.

While many in Kitsap like Perry use dogs as service animals, those who rely on other animals will soon have to find an alternative. Within an updated federal law under the Americans with Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, service animals are now defined as dogs. Previously it did not distinguish the type of animal service animals could be. The new regulation will go into effect March 15, which means other animals, regardless of whether or not they are trained to aid a person with a disability, will not be protected under the act, including allowing them in businesses. The updated law has supporters like Perry, but also has people who think it discriminates against Kitsap residents who rely on other animals.

“I don’t like it,” said Norita White of East Bremerton. “As long as it’s an animal that helps you out, whether it’s a dog or cat, shouldn’t matter.”

White, 70, has a 10-year-old corgi blue heeler named Bear that can detect a seizure before she has one and can signal if she has low or high blood sugar levels. Before a seizure occurs, Bear will push White down if she is standing and can fetch her medicine if blood sugar levels bottom out. Though White will still be able to bring Bear to restaurants and stores, she thinks it isn’t fair for people who use other animals.

In July 2010, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder signed revisions to the Department of Justice’s Americans with Disabilities Act regulations and the final ruling was published in September. “Service animal means any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual or other mental disability,” stated the updated regulation in the Federal Register. It includes that other species of animals would not be protected with the exception of miniature horses in special circumstances.

“I got tired of people faking it,” Perry said. “They were abusing the law and taking their pets every place.”

Perry recalled an incident a year ago where another customer walked into Value Village holding a hamster and said it was a service animal. A hamster may provide emotional support but not any services like a dog could, Perry said.

Rainbow has three main functions as a service dog to Perry, most important is being able to detect when she is going to have seizures. Perry was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was 10 years old and can have seizures at any time. Her seizures can be 30 seconds to five minutes long and the last occurrence was two months ago. Rainbow will bark and stand on his hind legs to let Perry know she is about to have a seizure. She will then go lie down and Rainbow will stay by her side.

Before Perry has an asthma attack, Rainbow will lick her hand and bark to let her know that she needs to take her inhaler. The third function Rainbow helps with is her hearing. Because she cannot always hear her phone ring or her alarm go off, Rainbow knows to lick her ear when she is sleeping and to lick her hand if she is awake.

Jim Ha, a research associate professor with the University of Washington’s psychology department, specializes in animal behavior and said dogs are on a superior level of aiding disabled people than any other type of animal because of the long standing relationship between humans and dogs.

“Dogs were the first domesticated animal and they have co-evolved with human beings,” Ha said. “Because of that, dogs understand human behavior and humans understand dog behavior better than any other species pair in the world.”

Other than being able to physically lead people who are visually impaired, dogs can be trained to retrieve objects and open doors for paraplegics and quadriplegics, Ha said. They can also detect seizures before they occur and low blood sugar levels through an odor that the person gives off when there’s an imbalance of chemicals in the blood. This is a smell that humans cannot detect, he added.

“The new regulation is entirely appropriate,” Ha said. “I’m not saying those other animals are not assisting, but anything those animals can do, a dog can provide.”

But in order for any dog to be able to serve those disabled, they need to be trained to do so.

Perry trained Rainbow herself, but there are facilities available that train dogs to be service animals. The Prison Pet Partnership Program located at the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor trains dogs to provide assistance to people with disabilities. Andrea Mayhan, a volunteer with the Delta Society, received her dog from the Prison Pet Partnership Program. The Delta Society is an organization based in Bellevue that has therapy animal programs and helps people with service animal needs.

“She makes it so I can have an independent life,” Mayhan said of not having to rely on other people. Her dog is able to retrieve items, open doors and press buttons for Mayhan because she has a neuromuscular disorder that severely impairs her balance and mobility.

Though dogs have strong ties with humans and can help perform daily tasks, some people still feel the new regulation will leave some people behind.

Desiree Gilchrist, an assistant production supervisor at Value Village in East Bremerton, did not recall the hamster incident that Perry explained but said that there is a regular customer who brings a tropical bird into the store. Sometimes Gilchrist has had to ask the woman to quiet the bird down because it squawks loudly.

“Whatever the animal may be, if it helps the person, let them have it,” Gilchrist said.