What’s The Difference Between Service, Therapy, and Emotional Support Dogs? 

 

There is a lot of buzz about service dogs, therapy dogs, and emotional support dogs these days. But often, the difference between them is confused and sometimes even abused. Let’s explore the difference between them to better understand the roles these dogs play in our society. 

 

Let’s start by taking a look at Service Dogs. 

 

Service dogs are probably one of the most widely known jobs that dogs hold. I think we can all remember a time we saw a dog in a store or a restaurant wearing that iconic service dog vest that says, “Please don’t touch me; I’m working.” 

 

But what exactly is the role of a service dog? 

 

Service dogs assist people with a disability to perform a specific task. According to the ADA, these disabilities can be physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disabilities. The list of roles these dogs can fill is endless, but a few examples are 

 

• Seeing-eye dogs. These dogs help people who are blind to negotiate their environment safely. 

 

• Hearing dogs. These dogs help the hearing impaired to be alert to sounds in their environment. 

 

• Diabetic Dogs. These dogs can sense when a person’s blood sugar is too high or low and alert them to take the appropriate action. 

 

• Seizure dogs. These dogs can detect when a person with epilepsy is about to have a seizure and alert their handler to get into a safe place for the episode to occur. These dogs can also be trained to get help in the event of a seizure. 

 

• Service dogs for the disabled. These dogs can help their humans complete daily tasks like opening doors, carrying items, or fetching objects. They also can alert others when their handlers need help. 

 

Service dogs go through extensive training to learn their job. 

 

Service dog roles are not limited to breed or size, although some breeds are better suited for some jobs due to their traits. 

 

The most important training a service dog will learn is to perform their specific task for their handler. These tasks can include: 

 

• Detecting a medical emergency and alerting their handler
• Providing tactile stimulation during a panic attack
• Reminding a handler to take medication
• Mobility support

 

It’s also important that these dogs have extensive training in public spaces to ensure socialization and that they aren’t distracted from their job. 

 

We’ve established the role of Service dogs. What about Therapy dogs? 

 

Therapy dogs provide comfort or companionship to those with illnesses, disabilities, or who are in a stressful situation. 

 

Therapy dogs and their handlers volunteer their time and services to provide comfort in settings such as 

• Schools
• Hospitals
• Nursing homes
• Workplaces

 

Often, the volunteering pair comes weekly to one of these facilities and is usually the highlight of the week for the people they are visiting. 

 

Therapy Dogs don’t require special training to do their job. 

 

There is no task training needed to be a therapy dog, and any dog breed can provide comfort to a person. The most significant factor when determining if a dog is suitable as a therapy dog is the dog’s temperament. When determining if a dog is ideal for therapy work, look out for the following key personality and temperament traits 

 

• Calm Demeanor 
• Not easily startled
• Enjoy being touched or loved on 

 

Therapy dogs have to obey basic obedience commands such as, walk on a loose leash, “leave it” and must be able to greet people without jumping. 

 

Unlike service dogs, therapy dogs can’t enter any public space.

 

Therapy dogs are not recognized under the ADA and therefore don’t have the right to enter all public places. 

A therapy dog and handler must belong to a therapy dog organization to access healthcare facilities and schools. While there is no uniform test to certify a therapy dog, each organization usually requires registration, a certification test such as Canine Good Citizen, an organization’s own certification test, or both tests. 

 

Belonging to a national therapy dog organization will also protect the handler and dog under their insurance and liability if a mishap would happen during a therapy visit. 

 

Now What about Emotional Support dogs?

 

Emotional support dogs are not trained for a specific task, so they don’t fall under the service dog category. However, emotional support dogs may be trained to react with one particular person. This is the biggest difference between a service dog and an emotional support dog- a distinction that is often confused and abused. 

 

The role emotional support dogs fill is to provide companionship to ease anxiety, depression, phobias, and loneliness just by being present. It is important not to confuse emotional support dogs with a psychiatric service dog which is recognized by the ADA. Psychiatric service dogs are specially trained to perform a particular task to help people with a learning disability or a mental illness. 

 

For a dog to be labeled as an emotional support dog, a mental health doctor must prescribe such an animal. The handler must also be diagnosed with a psychological or emotional disorder such as Anxiety, Depression, and/or Panic attacks. 

 

What rights do Emotional Support dogs have? 

 

These dogs have minimal legal rights. Again, these dogs are not recognized as part of the ADA. Although their access is limited in public spaces, they are allowed on airlines. And, under the fair housing act, emotional support dogs can live with their handler, even if pets are not otherwise permitted. 

 

As we’ve covered, service dogs, therapy dogs, and emotional support dogs all provide a unique role. 

 

Lumping all of these titles together under service dogs isn’t fair to each dog’s responsibility, and care should be taken to make sure that they are identified appropriately. 

 

To recap, 

 

• Service dogs are trained to provide a specific task to help someone with a disability.
• Therapy dogs provide comfort to people with an illness or in stressful situations.
• Emotional support dogs provide comfort just by merely being present with their human. 

 

As a reminder, these dogs provide an essential role for the person they are serving. It’s not OK to abuse the roles of these amazing dogs just to be able to take your pup on a plane, to a restaurant, or anywhere else you want to take your dog. People who abuse these dogs’ jobs make it that much harder for people who require the special talents of service, therapy, and emotional support dogs to take them where they need to. 

 

Dogs are amazing animals, and their loyalty and desire to love and please their human companion make them the perfect choice to fill these roles. 

 

Do you have more questions about the role of service dogs? Check out the frequently asked questions section of the ADA’s website for further information.