Service Dogs, Therapy Dogs, & ESAs: What’s the Difference?
The terms “service animal”, “therapy animal” and “emotional support animal” are often used interchangeably, but they are actually very different from one another (both functionally, and legally!) Let’s clear up the confusion and lay out exactly what all of these terminology means, and how dogs gain specific job titles.
Service Animals
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), “Service animals are defined as dogs [or mini horses] that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.” There are many different types of service dogs out there, but the unifying factors are that they are individually trained to perform tasks that specifically mitigate their handler’s disability.
Fully trained service dogs have federal protection to accompany their handler anywhere the public is allowed, including grocery stores and restaurants. Per California Civil Code Section 54.2, service dogs in training have the same public access rights as fully trained service animals when accompanied by a trainer.
A task is a trained behavior designed to directly mitigate the handler’s disability. Service dogs are only required to know one task per the ADA, but most handlers train a variety of behaviors. Providing comfort does not constitute a task.There is a huge range of tasks, and these are often highly individualized! Some common examples of tasks include:
Guiding a person who is blind or visually impaired
Providing hearing alerts for deaf or HoH individuals
Alerting to oncoming medical episodes so the handler can take action to prevent or minimize them (ie: seizures, blood sugar changes, POTS episodes, etc)
Providing mobility support such as picking up dropped items, opening doors, or getting dressed
Responding to psychiatric episodes including flashbacks, panic attacks, dissociative episodes to ground and help orient the handler
Despite popular belief, there is no official certification or registration for service dogs in the United States. A quick google search will show you tons of online registries for service dogs or emotional support animals. Unfortunately, every single one of these is a scam! Per the ADA, the dog’s training alone is what qualifies them as a service animal.
It typically takes 2-3 years of consistent training for a dog to have all of the task and public access skills required for the job. Service dogs can be trained and placed by organizations, or even trained by the disabled individual themselves! Atlas Assistance Dogs is a unique, Assistance Dogs International accredited program with the sole mission of empowering owner-trainers.
Therapy Animals
You may get to see therapy animals in action at your local hospital, airport, library, or college campus. Therapy animals can be anything from dogs to guinea pigs, and are typically selected for this role because they love meeting and interacting with new people. The job of a therapy animal is to provide comfort for a wide variety of people in the general public with their presence alone.
While there is no official requirement for registration, many therapy animal organizations provide evaluations and certifications within their specific programs. Organizations like OC Animal Allies and Pet Partners exist to ensure that the animals participating in their programs have the appropriate temperaments and training to thrive in that role, and to connect qualified therapy dog teams with people who need them!
Unlike service animals, therapy animals do not have public access rights, meaning they would not be allowed to accompany you into non pet-friendly places. Therapy animal teams are specifically invited to visit places like assisted living facilities or schools to provide joy and comfort for the residents, typically in collaboration with a larger therapy animal organization.
Although therapy animals do not need task training like service dogs, they often require polished obedience skills to ensure they can remain calm and comfortable in potentially hectic environments. A good candidate for therapy work should be genuinely excited to meet and be touched by strangers of all ages, and should be confident in novel environments.
Emotional Support Animals
Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) provide support for their people via companionship. Typically, a mental health care provider will recommend an ESA as part of a larger care plan for an individual with a mental illness. Unlike service dogs, ESAs are not task trained and thus do not have protection under the ADA. This means that an ESA could not accompany you into non pet-friendly places.
In 2020, revisions to the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) removed flight protection for ESAs by stating that only task-trained service animals may accompany their disabled handlers in the cabin. The Fair Housing Act currently still includes ESAs under their broader definition of assistance animals (meaning that ESAs must be reasonably accommodated in housing that otherwise would not allow pets), but recent changes by the US Department of Housing and Development (HUD) aim to remove those accommodations for ESAs.
Still confused? We’re happy to answer any questions and point you in the right direction to start your training journey! Send us an email or book a complimentary discovery call to get started.
