05/01/2025
The response for Pet Therapy Certification has been very positive. We are receiving many questions: below is a brief description of the distinctions between Service Dogs, Emotional Support Animals (ESAs), and Pet Therapy Dogs. They are often misunderstood, but they serve very different purposes and require different levels of training and certification. Here’s a clarification of each role:
Service Dog
• Purpose: Service Dogs are trained to perform specific tasks to assist an individual with a disability.
• Examples: Guiding the blind, alerting deaf individuals to sounds, detecting seizures, or helping those with mobility issues.
• Training: Extensive, task-specific training and public access training.
• Legal Protections: Protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and allowed in most public spaces.
Emotional Support Animal (ESA)
• Purpose: Provides comfort and emotional support to individuals with mental health challenges or emotional conditions.
• Examples: Helping reduce anxiety, depression, or PTSD symptoms.
• Training: Typically minimal or none beyond basic obedience.
• Legal Protections: Not covered by the ADA but may have protections under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) for housing access.
Pet Therapy Dog
• Purpose: Works alongside a handler to provide comfort and emotional support to others, often in workplaces like schools, hospitals, and therapy centers.
• Training: Extensive training in obedience, temperament testing, and specific therapy skills, as well as certification to ensure they can handle a variety of environments and interactions.
• Handler Role: Handlers are typically professionals like teachers, counselors, or psychologists who utilize the dog in their therapeutic or educational practices.
Key Differences
1. Training: Therapy dogs and service dogs require extensive training, while ESAs typically do not.
2. Legal Rights: Service Dogs have the broadest legal protections, ESAs have limited protections, and Therapy Dogs generally do not have public access rights outside of their work settings.
3. Purpose: Service Dogs help their owners with disabilities; ESAs provide emotional support to their owners; Therapy Dogs serve the public under the guidance of their handlers.
