If all dogs are known as “man’s best friend,” how come some dogs can go into restaurants or classrooms or airplanes while others cannot?

Service dogs. Therapy dogs. Emotional support animals. What’s the difference? They all aid humans in valuable ways, but there are important distinctions between them – as well as different legal rights given to them and their owners. The American Kennel Club breaks down the categories, explaining the various ways dogs help humans – and might even help you.

What do service dogs do?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) states that service dogs are individually trained to perform specific tasks and to work with people with a “physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability.” Service dogs can do a wide range of jobs:

• Guide dogs help the blind or visually impaired navigate the world.
• Hearing (or signal) dogs alert deaf people to sounds, like a knock on the door.
• Service dogs help those in wheelchairs or those with mobility issues, opening doors, retrieving things out of reach, or carrying items for their handler.
• Psychiatric dogs have been trained to detect and mitigate the effects of a psychiatric episode.
• Autism assistance dogs can alert their humans to overstimulation and can help them distinguish critical sensory signals, like a smoke alarm, from other sensory input.

What rights do service dog owners have?

The ADA mandates that service dogs have “full public access rights,” which means they can go places where animals are ordinarily forbidden, such as restaurants, stores, libraries, and other public places. Even if pets are not allowed in housing, service dogs must be permitted.

Service dogs may also travel on airplanes and other public transport without the typical pet fees airlines charge. However, each airline has its own rules regarding service dogs. For example, the dog may be required to sit on the passenger’s lap or at their feet, rather than in the aisle or blocking an exit.

What is a therapy dog?

Therapy dogs are not trained to live with a specific handler. Instead, with their human teammate (or owner), they “volunteer in clinical settings, such as hospitals, mental health institutions, hospices, schools, and nursing homes, where they provide comfort, affection, and even love in the course of their work.” Therapy dogs must be calm in temperament, comfortable in new environments, unfazed by noises, and enjoy being handled by different people.

Do therapy dogs have legal rights?

Unlike service dogs, despite their valuable role in therapeutic settings, therapy dogs are not considered service dogs under the ADA regulations, which means they do not have the same legal right to access public spaces. No national rules regulate and certify therapy dogs. Instead, they are generally trained, licensed, and insured by the non-profit offering therapy dog services.

Can my dog be a therapy dog?

If you think your dog may be a great candidate to be a therapy dog, organizations like the Alliance of Therapy Dogs test dogs for their suitability. If your dog is accepted, you must follow the guidelines.

Although the American Kennel Club does not certify therapy dogs, it offers a training program called the AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) program. Therapy dog organizations often require the CGC test as a prerequisite.

What are emotional support animals (ESAs)?

Emotional support dogs, while they may be trained for a particular owner, are not trained to do specific tasks to aid someone with a disability. They are not considered service dogs by the ADA, so they do not have the same public access rights. But they may provide valuable support for someone with a psychological disorder as companion dogs, helping ease anxiety, depression, loneliness, and some phobias.

In order to qualify as an emotional support dog, it must be “prescribed by a mental health professional for a patient with a diagnosed psychological or emotional disorder, such as anxiety disorder, major depression, or panic attacks.”

What rights do emotional support animals have?

Unlike service dog owners, ESA owners have only limited legal rights, and only when they have a letter of diagnosis from a doctor or psychiatrist. ESAs do not enjoy unlimited access to public spaces, such as shopping malls or restaurants, but the Fair Housing Act mandates “reasonable accommodations” for emotional support animals even in buildings that don’t allow pets.

Travel rules regarding ESAs have changed. In the past, for safety reasons, the AKC has expressed concern at the number of people who do not have a disability misrepresenting their pet as an ESA while traveling, undermining important accommodations for those who genuinely need their assistance. And as of January 2021, airlines amended their guidelines and are no longer required to accommodate emotional support animals.

Learn more about emotional support animals here.

Learn more about the distinctions between service dogs, therapy dogs, and emotional support dogs here.

Reisen, Jan. “Service Dogs, Working Dogs, Therapy Dogs, Emotional Support Dogs: What’s the Difference?” American Kennel Club (akc.org), 24 Feb 2021, https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/service-working-therapy-emotional-support-dogs/.

Photo by Izabelly Marques on Unsplash