The United States is home to over 500,000 service dogs helping humans in remarkable ways. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a service animal is a dog or miniature horse individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability. The disability may be physical, sensory, psychiatric, or intellectual. The tasks performed by the animal must be directly related to the person’s disability.

The exact number of service dogs is unknown because there is no official registration or national database. That’s a good thing for people with disabilities, who already navigate frequent barriers. Under the ADA, service animals are not required to wear a uniform, get certified, or pass any formal tests. They are required to have highly specialized training, good dispositions, and excellent public access skills. Service dogs receive public access rights and protections under fair housing laws.

A service dog is not an emotional support animal (ESA). ESAs provide therapeutic mental health benefits by offering companionship, emotional support, and a general sense of safety to an individual. Unlike a service dog, they do not require special training, but they do require documentation from a qualified health professional. An ESA does not receive the same level of public access rights as a service dog, but they do get housing protections.

A service dog is also not a therapy dog. Therapy dogs work with many people, whereas a service dog focuses on their dedicated handler. Therapy dogs have specialized training, but they are not required to perform specific tasks. Therapy dogs provide comfort in specific settings, like hospitals, schools, nursing homes, and my personal favorite - courthouses. (More info at courthousedogs.org.) They are not entitled to public access or housing protections.

There are countless types of service dogs: mobility, hearing, seeing/guide, autism-support, allergy-alert, medical-alert, psychiatric, and more. A service dog can identify oncoming seizures; blood pressure fluctuations; tachycardia; gluten contamination; blood sugar changes; symptoms of anxiety, PTSD, schizophrenia, and more. Incredibly, service dogs often forewarn their person before even the most sensitive medical devices can detect a problem. Training a service dog is difficult, though, and requires a huge amount of time, energy, and financial investment.

In Part II, we’ll explore training, handler rights, and how everyone can best navigate service dog interactions. Have a question? Email me, and I’ll do my best to answer you here: DogTrainingByLola@gmail.com.

Part I: To Be, or Not to Be, a Service Dog - Understanding ADA Requirements

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