Has your dog ever sensed when you’ve had a terrible day and has instinctively cuddled up next to you to try to make it all better? 

 

Dog’s have an uncanny ability to sense our needs and emotions and seem to know just what to do to make everything better when things are going totally wrong. This ability is exactly why dogs make the perfect emotional support animal (ESA).

 

In our last post, we gave a brief overview of the difference between Service, Therapy, and Emotional Support dogs ( you can check that post out here). Today, let’s take a deeper look into emotional support dogs and what their role and training needs are to be able to fill this role. 

 

What is an Emotional Support Dog? 

 

Emotional support dogs provide companionship to ease anxiety, depression, phobias, and loneliness. For a dog to earn the title of an emotional support animal, a licensed therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist must determine if an ESA is essential to supporting a person’s mental health when diagnosed with a psychological or emotional disorder such as Anxiety, Depression, and/or Panic attacks. If the mental health provider deems an ESA essential, they need to provide a prescription for such an animal. 

 

Do Emotional Support Dogs Require Training? 

 

These dogs don’t require any specialized training to complete their role. Emotional support dogs provide comfort to their handler through natural instinct and being present during an emotional stressor. Although no specialized training is required, ESAs should have training in basic obedience and be comfortable in public spaces and large crowds. As trainers, we get called all the time because someone’s ESA is causing anxiety because it’s not well trained, can’t walk on a leash or doesn’t pay attention when distractions are present, and so on. 

 

Do Emotional Support Dogs Have Legal Rights? 

 

The ADA does not recognize ESAs as service dogs since they are not trained for a specific task when assisting their handler. Unlike service dogs which are allowed to travel anywhere and everywhere with their handler, emotional support dogs have minimal legal (or public access) rights.

 

Under the fair housing act, ESAs are allowed to live with their handler even if pets are not otherwise permitted. The caveat to emotional support dogs living in housing that doesn’t allow pets is that the handler has to provide a letter of diagnosis and medical necessity from their doctor or psychiatrist. 

 

People often abuse the role of an emotional support animal. As such, many airlines and other public spaces are making it increasingly difficult to bring these animals into that space. This, in turn, makes it more difficult for people who genuinely need these animals to take them when traveling. 

 

In fact, a recent DOT regulation under the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) went into effect in January 2021. Under this act, the DOT now defines a service animal as 

 

“a dog, regardless of breed or type, that is individually trained to do the work or perform the tasks for the benefit of a qualified individual with a disability, including physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Animal species other than dogs, emotional support animals, comfort animals, companionship animals, and service animals in training are not service animals.” 

 

Under this new rule, airlines no longer consider ESAs as service animals, and therefore they do not have to accommodate these animals onboard flights. Instead, the airlines may use their discretion to determine if the animal can fly uncrated with its owner. Airlines are also permitted to require people traveling with service animals to fill out a DOT form that attests to the dog’s health, behavior, and training. 

 

When asked about the reasoning for changing the definition, the DOT reported that the airlines made convincing statements about the number of animal misbehavior incidents related to ESAs, or dogs represented as such.

 

While emotional support animals can provide valuable help to a person with mental or emotional issues, they do not qualify as a service dog due to the lack of specific task and social behavior training. When people abuse the service dog system to misrepresent their pet as a service dog, they create a terrible injustice to those who truly require these amazing animals’ assistance. 

 

If you want to learn more about the new regulations related to service animals and emotional support dogs, visit the DOT’s website. 

We can help with basic and advanced obedience training. Not every dog is going to be perfect in stressful situations. Dogs not selected and trained from a very young age may not be great ESAs because of temperament limitations, poor socialization, lack of training and boundaries. Call us if you need help with training! 412-345-1748