Service Dog, Therapy Dog and Emotional Support Dog.

Stephs Cheers and Jeers was provided the samples mentioned in this post in return for an unbiased review.

I have decided to write this post about Service Dogs, Therapy Dogs, and Emotional Support Dogs.

I suffer from severe anxiety disorder, I have generalized anxiety as well as extreme social anxiety. I am pretty much always nervous and in flight mode as I call it. We adopted Loki shortly after he was born because I needed something to help me take my mind off my anxiety. I heard about how great animal therapy was and every time I volunteered at the humane society I left feeling like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I then had a friend mention to me Emotional Support Animals.

An emotional support animal (ESA) is a companion animal that provides therapeutic benefit, such as alleviating or mitigating some symptoms of the disability, to an individual with a mental or psychiatric disability. Emotional support animals are typically dogs and cats, but may include other animals. In order to be prescribed an emotional support animal by a physician or other medical professional, the person seeking such an animal must have a verifiable disability. To be afforded protection under United States federal law, a person must meet the federal definition of disability and must have a note from a physician or other medical professional stating that the person has that disability and that the emotional support animal provides a benefit for the individual with the disability. An animal does not need specific training to become an emotional support animal.[1]

A Service Dog is

Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. These tasks can include things like pulling a wheelchair, guiding people who are visually impaired, alerting a person who is having a seizure, or even calming a person who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The tasks a service dog can perform are not limited to this list. However, the work or task a service dog does must be directly related to the person’s disability. Service dogs may accompany persons with disabilities into places that the public normally goes. This includes state and local government buildings, businesses open to the public, public transportation, and non-profit organizations open to the public. The law that allows a trained service dog to accompany a person with a disability is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

And A Therapy Dog is

 is a dog trained to provide affection and comfort to people in hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, schools, hospices, disaster areas, and other stressful situations.

Now because of my sever anxiety Loki can be upgraded from an emotional support dog to a service dog by taking the right steps.

Now there is much more to having a certified service dog then slapping a vest on them. There have been a string of people doing that lately and it really effects those who truly need their service dogs. Also please do not fall for the many service dog registration sites online.

Here is an example of some steps you can take.

1. Discuss with your doctor/therapist they can often point you in the right direction
2. Train you dog in the following or find a professional trainer.
   Stay in close proximity to its handler unless a task requires the dog to move further away
   Not solicit attention or be disruptive of normal business activities
   Not steal food or other items
   Be trained to eliminate on cue in designated locations
   Be quiet and not emit unnecessary vocalizations
   Not show aggression toward other animals or people
3. Teach the dog, at least, three tasks that you need help with because of your disability.
4. See your doctor and have your doctor write a letter that says that you need a service dog.
5. Then see a vet let them test your dog to see if it is ready to be a certified service dog. Let the vet write a letter too.
6. Read the instructions of the certifying body and meet any of their additional requirements.
7. Send the letters and other required information to the relevant organization that has the authority to register a service dog.

If you feel your disability prevents you from self-training your dog there are many organizations out there that are more than willing to help and there are tons of advocates out there that are more than willing to help. I suggest googling your state with terms like “Service Dog” Or “Service Dog Advocates”

Currently, I think Loki is going to just stay an emotional support dog, While he is not granted access to public places, Under the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), an emotional support animal is viewed as a “reasonable accommodation” in a housing unit that has a “no pets” rule for its residents.

Having Loki has helped me greatly with my social anxiety, he gets me out of the house and just his presence makes me feel comfortable. Often when I have an anxiety attack he will come over and sit in my lap and lick my face.

There are a lot of resources out there and I highly suggest taking advantage of them.