What is a Service Dog?

Several people have showed interest about service dogs when I have written about Zelda, my multipurpose service dog. As promised, I’ve decided to make a series of posts about service animals and some of the accompanying laws here in the U.S.

A few things to note before getting into things:

• I have been a service dog handler and professional trainer for over a decade (not currently taking clients), and also do behavior consulting for placement of puppies and adult dogs for potential service dog work. Much of that time has also been spent delving into every law about service animals and becoming familiar with them to further support advocacy and public education efforts. While I have been contracted by government and private entities to provide training for staff and the public, policy changes, and speaking engagements, the following disclaimer is very important: 

I am NOT an attorney, OR a medical provider. Nothing in this post (or on this page) is to be used in place of legal or medical advice from a licensed professional. Please reach out to a medical provider if you need medical advice, or an attorney if you need legal advice. As always (with educational posts), citations/sources for topics discussed will be provided. 

• Service animals are NOT for everyone. The reality is that service animals draw a lot of unsolicited attention from the public— so if you struggle with: being asked lots of questions (sometimes very personal), random comments (sometimes a bit disturbing), non-consensual petting/touching of your dog, confrontation during access disputes, etc., you may want to consider whether a service dog is right for you in terms of public access. If these are concerns, they are worth discussing with your healthcare provider/team before starting the process of obtaining a service animal. [break] Not every service animal accompanies their handler out into public places. It is perfectly valid to have a task trained service animal who performs work mostly or solely in the home. The goal is to help mitigate your own disability/disabilities, and many disabled service animal owners benefit greatly from having an in-home service animal.

• There are several websites that sell* service animal “certification,” “registration,” “I.D.,” “letters,” etc. These websites are scams — please, do NOT pay money for any of the aforementioned “official documentation”, as none of their products are recognized under the ADA or by the Department of Justice as proof that the animal is a service animal. [break] The only way to have a “real” service dog is through task training the dog to mitigate the handler’s disability, and thorough training for obedience and public access (either via a service dog program or by owner training).

*Some states, counties, cities, schools, etc. have FREE, VOLUNTARY service animal registries which may be used to further benefit the handler. 

So, what is a service animal in the United States?

In the U.S., The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines a service animal as: A dog that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability.  The task(s) performed by the service animal must be directly related to the person’s disability.

Miniature horses who are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability are also permitted to be service animals under the ADA, dependent on size. This definition does not affect or limit the broader definition of “assistance animal” under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) or the broader definition of “service animal” under the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA).

Some State and local laws also define service animal more broadly than the ADA does. **Information about such laws can be obtained from the relevant State attorney general’s office.

**In this series, I will primarily be discussing service dogs. If there is interest for a post about other animal species as service animals, I am happy to discuss this topic further!

A service animal must be under the control of its handler and housebroken. Under the ADA, service animals must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered, unless the individual’s disability prevents using these devices or these devices interfere with the service animal’s safe, effective performance of tasks. In that case, the individual must maintain control of the animal through voice, signal, or other effective controls. 

What does, “individually trained to do work or perform tasks,” mean?

The work or task a service dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability.

Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are Deaf or HoH, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and assisting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. 

Because each person’s support needs vary, even if two people have the same medical condition, service dogs are meant to be trained to assist one specific disabled individual.*** 

It is not recommended that a service dog regularly do work or perform tasks for more than one disabled individual, due to the extra working hours and stress it can place on the dog. However, it is common for there to be a secondary handler to assist the primary disabled handler with their service dog if they need help (commonly a secondary parent handler for a primary child handler).

***Service animals CAN be dual-trained for therapy dog or facility dog work to bring joy and comfort to multiple people in conjunction with working as a service dog for a single disabled individual (their handler). This typically involves extra training and management to ensure that both jobs are clearly defined for the dog, typically through a reputable therapy or facility dog program. 

Dogs or animals whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA. 

Meaning, there are no protections under the ADA for ESA owners to have their ESAs accompany them into non-pet friendly places like a service animal would be able to. 

What is the difference between a service dog and an emotional support animal (ESA)?

The primary difference between ESAs and service animals is the specific training that service dogs undergo to do work or perform a task to mitigate an individual’s disability, and the extensive training to work comfortably and confidently in public places. 

Both ESAs and service animals assist a disabled person/owner. Typically, ESAs provide disability mitigation for their owners through the care and comfort of their presence/loves/etc., and are usually not trained for public access work, or to mitigate a disability through a specifically trained task (such as: reminding handler to daily routines, tactile stimulation, behavior interruption, deep pressure therapy, etc.). 

ESA owners still have protections under the federal Fair Housing Act, and sometimes have further protections under local state, county, or city laws. ESAs are still an extremely valid disability mitigation tool, and responsible ESA owners deserve to be accommodated whenever possible. 

What is a “qualifying disability” to obtain a service dog?

There is no specific “list” of disabilities to qualify for a service dog. 

It is important to remember that in the context of the ADA, “disability” is a legal term rather than a medical one. Because it has a legal definition, the ADA’s definition of disability is different from how disability is defined under some other laws, such as for Social Security Disability related benefits.

The ADA defines a person with a disability as: “A person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity. This includes people who have a record of such an impairment, even if they do not currently have a disability. It also includes individuals who do not have a disability but are regarded as having a disability.”

https://adata.org/faq/what-definition-disability-under-ada

Note: Some programs and organizations that provide trained service animals for disabled people only train for specific tasks related to specific disabilities. It is extremely important to thoroughly research and vet any service dog program or organization you intend on applying to. I will have a post about this, and details about how to avoid service dog program/organization scams, very soon.

Where can service dogs go with their handlers?

Generally, title II and title III entities outlined in the ADA must permit service animals to accompany people with disabilities in all areas where members of the public are allowed to go. 

This includes, but is not limited to: Most schools, medical facilities/hospitals/dental offices, restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, public transportation, retail stores, and more. 

However, a service dog does not have to accompany their handler into public places to qualify as a service dog under most laws. Many handlers (such as myself) have in-home service dogs. These are commonly service dogs who previously did public access (PA) work but no longer do full-time PA work -or any at all- for various reasons. As long as the dog meets the requirements (trained to do work or perform tasks to mitigate a disability, under control at all times, potty trained), they are still considered a service dog. 

Note: The disabled person is who holds the rights to be accommodated by a service animal. Service animals do not have “rights” under the law, the disabled owner/handler does. Further, the ADA is a law (paper/digitized document), not an entity or an organization. The Department of Justice is the entity that enforces the ADA. 

Sources/More information: https://www.ada.gov/resources/service-animals-faqs/

https://www.ada.gov/resources/service-animals-2010-requirements/

Next up in the Service Dog Series is Part 2: How to Get a Service Dog