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Linda Taylor of Garrett Park recently went with friends to get Thai food in Rockville but was refused service at the restaurant because of the company she kept. It wasn't Henry's behavior or dress that management objected to. It was his species.

Henry is Taylor's service dog, and because she needs him to assist her with various tasks, Taylor is protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act from being denied reasonable access to public and private services when she's with him. But 19 years after the federal act took effect, many county guide dog users say education is lacking and often they are inadvertently segregated by those who don't know the law.

In this case, Taylor said, the restaurant was Halal, referring to an Islamic concept that distinguishes things that are religiously allowable from those that are not. Dogs are often considered unclean in the Halal tradition, and Henry was excluded "because he was dirty."

"I figured if she said it's a religious thing I'm not going to make a big deal about it," Taylor said. She said sometimes in similar situations she threatens to call the police, "but that becomes so unpleasant," and this time she opted instead to leave the restaurant.

Penny Reeder, a Montgomery Village woman on the board of Guide Dog Users Inc., a national advocacy group with 1,300 members, said it's a common theme for guide dogs users, especially at immigrant-owned businesses where cultural views about dogs and understanding of the ADA may be different.

"What they know is that they can get in big trouble with the Department of Health if they let animals in, but they don't know service dogs are an exemption," Reeder said.

Restaurants aren't the only places where county guide dog users face discrimination.

Reeder said when she is with her guide dog Tess, a German shepherd, excuses like religion, allergies and even fear of dogs are offered as reasons she can't come into a business. Taxi drivers often won't pull over, and problems arise even with the Metro's paratransit service MetroAccess—where interaction with service animals should be expected.

"One time I had a MetroAccess driver that was so frightened of dogs that she cried. I felt so terrible," Reeder said. "When you make your reservations you tell them you have a service dog. There's no excuse for sending someone who's allergic or terrified."

Charlie Crawford of Silver Spring takes his guide dog Mason to teach sensitivity training to new Metro Access drivers, but said the lesson doesn't always take.

"To tell you the truth, even though I try to make is as real as possible with my guide dog by my side, the drivers don't always pay as much attention as they should," Crawford said. "The thing that I try to get across to the Metro Access drivers is that the dog's behavior needs to be as responsible as everyone else in the vehicle."

Angela Gates, a MetroAccess spokeswoman, said she has not heard of problems with drivers, but encouraged anybody that has them to report it so Metro can investigate.

"The animal is to be treated in the same fashion as any mobility aid of a user," Gates said, adding the driver should be equipped to cope with the dog, unlike Reeder's driver who cried.

"In general drivers are not supposed to react that way with the animals," Gates said.

Crawford says he finds problems with Mason are the exception and not the rule, but when he is denied service, he files complaints with Justice Department, taxi commissions or whichever relevant jurisdiction handles such claims. Crawford said he once spent seven years pursing a complaint about a Massachusetts cabbie that denied him service.

County spokeswoman Esther Bowring said no complaints have been filed with the county in the past year about its cab drivers, who are required as part of receiving their license to sign a document containing a clause that stipulates they will not discriminate against service animals. Crawford said Montgomery County has been responsive in the past when he has filed taxi complaints.

Taylor said sometimes even when she gets a cab ride the experience leaves her feeling like a second-class citizen.

"Cab drivers are the worst. They have to pick me up but I've had them bitch and moan the whole trip, yelling at me when I get out, ‘Look at the fur!' you know, on the seat, a few hairs," Taylor said. Sayer, Reeder, Taylor and Crawford agree that education is the key to solving service dog discrimination.

"People don't know the law," Reeder said. "The ADA will be 19 years old this year, it's not news. But to some people it is."