What's the Difference Between Service Dogs, Therapy Dogs, and Emotional Support Animals?

There is controversy surrounding the roles of animals in the lives of individuals with disabilities or chronic illnesses. Most of us have seen the posts online about registering your animal as an emotional support animal with a small fee, and having the ability to keep your animal in a no pets allowed setting. This has led visitors to question the legitimacy of all service animals and their roles. A sense of distrust among people who don't realize the difference between these animals, and the rights that accompany them, has been emerging as more people utilize these services.

Service Dogs will be the most protected and trained of the 3 types of dogs. While many people refer to all 3 types as "service animals", the official names for this type is Service Dog. These dogs are legally considered medical equipment and also have a price tag to complement, which range from $10,000- $50,000. They are intensively trained for 1.5-2.5 years, having to pass a range of tests to be serviceable including, however, not limited by, opening cupboards, retrieving dropped objects, staying calm in public, etc.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Service Dogs are allowed anywhere their handler is, and cannot be turned away from an establishment or refused to go to work with their handler. DOT's Air Carrier Access Act, and DOJ/HUD Fair Housing Act and Federal Rehabilitation Act cover other circumstances that the ADA doesn't. While there is a difference between Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals, you will find a gray area for dogs which are used to calm anxiety attacks under ADA rules. Psychiatric Service Dogs are covered beneath the ADA only when they perform specific action to avoid or lessen an attack. If they are just there for comfort they are considered an Emotional Support Animal.

Therapy dogs are kind of the opposite side of the same coin as Service Dogs. Instead of offering physical aid to their handlers, they provide psychological or physiological therapy to others and are accompanied by a handler who doesn't usually need their service. The best exemplory case of a therapy dog will be dogs that head to children's hospitals to bring comfort, or dogs that work in school systems.

These animals, like the Service Dogs, require extensive training. Therapy dogs are also encouraged to be very social and connect to a number of people, unlike Service Dogs who have to focus on their handler.  Visit this page  could be trained by anyone, however they need to meet standards to be certified. Therapy dogs don't have exactly the same rights as service dogs, though many places allows a therapy dog to accompany their owners, they are not required to for legal reasons.

The last type we are discussing are Emotional Support Animals. That one may be the most vague and open-ended. An Emotional Support Animal does not have to have any special training and most of the time is registered by its owner because it brings comfort. Also, an Emotional Support Animal doesn't have to be always a dog. These animals aren't protected under the ADA and cannot accompany their owners in establishments where you can find no animals allowed. Owners with a registered support animals can keep them in housing that otherwise does not allow pets in line with the Fair Housing Act.