We showed up fifteen minutes before open and let Ollie sniff around the front gates before we approached an employee to check us in.
Each zoo is different, so your experience may vary, but at this location, all service dogs are checked in by a supervisor. This supervisor asks the two ADA questions - "Is this animal trained to assist with a disability" and "What task is this animal trained to perform?" They make a note of what breed of dog you have, pull out a special map, explain the rules, and then send you on your way.
Some areas of the zoo are either restricted (no service dog access) or sensitive (the dog can be present, but the handler must be able to read the room and adjust their viewing accordingly if they recognize stress behaviors out of the exhibit animal). The map service dog handlers are given clearly labels each of these areas so you know which to avoid, and where to be careful. In restricted areas, a zoo employee can be called to hold your dog outside of the area so you can walk through alone. I didn't do this, but it was an option.
Most of the Sensitive animals here didn't seem to mind Ollie's presence, and Ollie equally did not care about them, but I gave these animals a lot of space anyway. The animals that did seem to pay attention were the following:
Pallas cat - this guy was running around waiting for breakfast when it spotted Ollie and froze. It did not blink or move again until I removed Ollie from the room, which was done promptly
Clouded leopard - watched us from the back of the exhibit. Body language seemed relaxed, cat would look away and back again, and was slow blinking. Ollie and I stayed here, but not too long
Snow leopard - watched us walk by at a distance, didn't seem to care much, but we didn't stop here due to lack of shade
Meerkat - stopped and stared but would look elsewhere, so we viewed from a distance for a short period of time
Ostrich - this guy wasn't on the map at all and actually startled me as I was looking at a neighboring exhibit. He very much did not appreciate Ollie being there and had fluffed up and was talking to us, so I immediately left this area.
We visited the gift shop early to browse while there weren't many other people present, and returned later to make our purchase to avoid having to carry it around all day.
Our visit lasted two and a half hours, which was way longer than I expected to be there for. We made sure to take a lot of water breaks (free water stations, my beloved), enjoyed an air-conditioned lunch in the middle of our visit (Ollie got to unwind with a chew), and didn't push ourselves to see everything (we left a large "sensitive" primate zone untouched and skipped the wolves by accident, but we can see them all another time).
This was by far the most fun I have ever had out with Ollie, I can't stop thinking about planning another trip for later in the year after the weather has cooled down.
Have you been to the zoo with your dog? How did it go?
