Therapy, Emotional Support, or Service Dog?

Service Dog in Training Cosmo Ignoring a Hot Dog

Let’s clarify the terms used to refer to dogs who assist people.

Therapy Dogs – These dogs typically visits to schools, hospitals, nursing homes, courts, and trauma sites to offer comfort. They get petted by many strangers and help people in distress or in stressful circumstances.

Therapy Dogs are generally well-behaved dogs with good temperament and should have solid basic obedience training. They are allowed in public areas that allow dogs and private areas with permission. They have no special access or rights, and can be refused entry.

Emotional Support Dogs – ESD provide comfort to their owners and may be permitted in rental housing or some transportation, but have no rights to accompany their owners in public areas. Good basic obedience is strongly recommended.

Service Dogs are dogs that assist someone with a diagnosed disability that impacts their daily life and is specially trained to do tasks that mitigate the effects of or assist with that disability. A Service Dog needs to have sound temperament, thorough basic obedience skills, strong Service Dog skills required for public access, and must be trained for Service Dog tasks required by their owner.

Service Dogs must be allowed to accompany their owner into ANY area open to the public, unless they show behavior such as eliminating indoors, growling, barking disruptively, or showing aggression towards another dog or people. Service Dogs may be mobility-assist trained to help someone with a physical limitation, medical-alert dogs that mitigate the impact of a medical condition, or psychiatric-support dogs who alleviate PTSD or mental health symptoms, among other types of Service Dogs.