What is an Emotional Support Dog?

The job of an emotional support dog is just that: to provide emotional support in the form of affection and companionship to an individual suffering from a mental or emotional condition such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder/mood disorder, panic attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder, or phobias.  Unlike a service dog, an emotional support dog is not required to perform any specific task or to have any training beyond that required to behave politely in public.

                When a person meets the criteria, there are federal laws that protect his/her right to live or travel with an emotional support dog.  One of these is the Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA), which allows an emotional support dog to live with them, even when there are no-pet policies in place.  The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) allows an emotional support dog to fly with its owner in the cabin of an airplane without having to pay any additional fees.

                Though emotional support is an important service, it does not make an animal a service dog.  A person with a disability has the right to be accompanied by a trained service dog into most places of business.  This right is not extended to the emotional support dog.  Does that mean that a person with a mental or emotional disability is not entitled to this accommodation?  Certainly not.  Remember that an emotional support dog requires no specific training.

                If a mental or emotional condition is severe enough to be considered a disability, a person may be assisted by a psychiatric service dog.  A service dog (more about them in a future column) is one that has been trained to perform specific tasks for its handler.  In the case of a psychiatric service dog, these tasks might include counterbalancing or bracing a dizzy handler, waking someone who is heavily medicated and sleeps through alarms, doing room searches or turning on lights for a person with PTSD, blocking someone in a dissociative episode from wandering into danger, or leading a disoriented handler to a designated person or place.

                Confused?  I certainly was when I began my research.  Simply put, a dog is born with the skills to provide emotional support: they love unconditionally and give both affection and companionship freely.  My favorite explanation involves taking emotion out of the equation and asking if a robot could do the task at hand.  A robot can’t love but one could be built to perform a task that you are incapable of.  If a dog is trained to do that task for its disabled handler, it is considered a service dog.

                Another source of confusion is the many emotional support and service dog registry services I encountered during my research.  While a landlord is justified in requiring documentation to prove a tenant requires a service or emotional support animal, no central registry exists or is required.  There are many companies that will register an animal and provide a certificate or identification badge but this, in itself, doesn’t make an animal a legitimate emotional support or service dog.
            

Rebecca is the President & Executive Director of The Ethel Fund Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to changing animals' lives by providing assistance in times of catastrophic veterinary need.  To learn more, please visit http://www.ethelfund.org or https://www.facebook.com/TheEthelFund.  You may contact Rebecca at rslindeman@ethelfund.org.

Phil Balko is the proprietor of Photography by Balko and donates his talents to the Ethel Fund Inc. as well as other community organizations.  To see more of his work, visit http://philipbalko.com/. You may contact Phil at inquiry@philipbalko.com.

What is a Service Dog?

                My pastor (retired), Art Gotjen, has probably had more influence on the person I’ve become than anyone else.  He quietly encourages me to be the best and most honest person I can be.  He has instilled the trait of which I am most proud: the willingness to accept full responsibility for my actions.  He has also instilled in me a trait which others must find annoying: I expect people to say what they mean and mean what they say.

                When asked if I am a dog trainer, I’m tempted to answer, “No, I train people to train their own dogs,” but I usually say, “Yes” instead, because I know what they mean.  When I am asked if I train service dogs, a whole different conversation begins.

                Most often, the term service dog is used when the intent is therapy dog.  A therapy dog and its handler work as a team to improve the lives of others.  Examples include visiting a nursing home, rehabilitation center, or school.  One of my favorite websites describing the work of therapy dogs is that of Therapy Dogs International (tdi-dog.org). 

                Other times, the inquirer is an elderly person moving into a retirement community who fears the loss of their best friend and greatest supporter, or a person struggling with mental illness that they cannot face life alone.  These folks mean to ask about an emotional support dog.  The organization I’ve found most helpful in explaining this role is Heeling Allies (mentalhealthdogs.org).

                A true service dog is one that has been trained to perform specific tasks that a person with disabilities cannot. The most common examples are guide dogs for the visually impaired or alert dogs for people with compromised hearing.  The work of a service dog is taken quite seriously and, as such, the Americans with Disabilities Act insures that it cannot be denied access to any public business.  In fact, in Pennsylvania, even the service dog in training is protected by this law.  The U.S. Department of Justice has prepared a list of the most common questions asked by business owners (ada.gov/qasrvc.htm).

                While a service dog requires specific training, there is no requirement that it must be trained by a certain organization or trainer.  Nor does a service dog need to be certified or registered.  There are many organizations to be found on the Internet that claim to do so but, the fact is, a certificate, a vest, and/or an identification badge does not a service dog make.  These items are commonly used to identify a service dog, but purchasing such documents and using them to pass off a pet as a working animal is an insult to those of us who legitimately require such assistance.

                Recently, I travelled to Tennessee and required the assistance of my dog, Daisy, more than is typical for me.  Her jobs are to brace me while rising, pull me from a sitting position, and to pick up objects when I lose these abilities to a flare of connective tissue disease and fibromyalgia.  While working, she wears a vest clearly marked with a patches reading “Service Dog – Do Not Distract.”  Rarely did people respect this request. 

                It’s certainly understandable.  She’s awfully cute and seeing a dog in a department store or a service plaza restroom is a novel experience.  Breaking for a visit doesn’t affect Daisy’s working ability and I was happy to have the opportunity to educate but, in general, a service dog should be treated with respect and not distracted from its duty. 

Please, always ask permission before approaching any dog (service or pet) and try not to be insulted if its handler declines.  Sometimes, the work of these animals is so intricate that they cannot afford to be distracted.

Rebecca is the President & Executive Director of The Ethel Fund Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to changing animals' lives by providing assistance in times of catastrophic veterinary need.  To learn more, please visit http://www.ethelfund.org or https://www.facebook.com/TheEthelFund.  You may contact Rebecca at rslindeman@ethelfund.org.

Phil Balko is the proprietor of Photography by Balko and donates his talents to the Ethel Fund Inc. as well as other community organizations.  To see more of his work, visit http://philipbalko.com/. You may contact Phil at inquiry@philipbalko.com.