🐾 Understanding the Difference: Therapy, Service, and Emotional Support Dogs
At Arizona Therapy Dogs, we believe in the power of dogs to support, comfort, and change lives. But not all support animals serve the same role. Here’s a simple breakdown of the three most common types:
🦮 Service Dogs
- Purpose: Trained to perform specific tasks for individuals with disabilities (like guiding someone who is blind or alerting to a seizure).
- Legal Rights: Protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); allowed in public places like restaurants, airplanes, and stores.
- Training: Extensive, task-specific training. Only dogs (not other animals) can be service animals under ADA.
🐕 Therapy Dogs
- Purpose: Provide comfort and emotional support to groups or individuals in hospitals, schools, nursing homes, etc.
- Legal Rights: Do not have public access rights like service dogs. They visit by invitation only.
- Training: Basic obedience and temperament training. Must be calm, friendly, and well-socialized.
🐶 Emotional Support Animals (ESAs)
- Purpose: Offer emotional comfort to one specific person with a diagnosed mental or emotional condition.
- Legal Rights: Not recognized by the ADA. They are not allowed in most public places but may have housing protections under the Fair Housing Act.
- Training: No special task training required, though basic behavior training is important.