What is the difference between a service dog and a therapy dog?

Answer 1

A psychiatric service animal is individually trained to perform tasks that the owner cannot perform because of a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Psychiatric service animals, like all other service animals, assist their disabled handlers by performing these tasks. However, while the owner of an emotional support dog must also be disabled, the emotional support dog is not trained to perform tasks to mitigate the owner's disability.

Therapy animals are sometimes confused with psychiatric service animals or emotional support animals. However, therapy animals are something entirely different. A therapy animal is one that is trained, tested, registered, and insured to visit people in hospitals and nursing homes. A person with a therapy animal has no particular right under the ADA to take their animal anywhere pets are not permitted. If the owner wishes to visit a facility like a hospital or nursing home, they must first seek out and receive the permission of administrators at the facility they wish to visit.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, which regulates and enforces the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA):

"The Department is proposing new regulatory text in § 36.104 to formalize its position on emotional support or comfort animals, which is that ''[a]nimals whose sole function is to provide emotional support, comfort, therapy, companionship, therapeutic benefits, or promote emotional wellbeing are not service animals.'' The Department wishes to underscore that the exclusion of emotional support animals from ADA coverage does not mean that persons with psychiatric, cognitive, or mental disabilities cannot use service animals. The Department proposes specific regulatory text in § 35.104 to make this clear: ''[t]he term service animal includes individually trained animals that do work or perform tasks for the benefit of individuals with disabilities, including psychiatric, cognitive, and mental disabilities.'' This language simply clarifies the Department's longstanding position." The ADA gives the disabled owner of a service dog the right to be accompanied by his or her service dog to most places where the public are permitted, even if dogs are not generally allowed. However, the owner of an emotional support dog has no particular right to public access and must ask permission of the management to enter with an emotional support animal. Under the Fair Housing Amendments Act, a qualified person with a disability may request a reasonable accommodation in the form of a modification of rules against the keeping of pets in order to keep EITHER a service animal or an emotional support animal. Under the Air Carrier Access Act, a qualified person with a disability may be accompanied in the cabin of an air craft by either a psychiatric service dog or an emotional support animal if they have the proper documentation from their doctor.

Answer 2

A Service Dog is a dog that is specially trained to do work or tasks as well as handle the distractions and rigors of working in public that assist its handler with a disability that substantially impairs one or more major life activities. Such a dog can be trained by a program or the handler themselves. The dog stays with their disabled handler as long as they are able to work and sometimes even after. A handler with a service dog is allowed access by federal law to most public places where the general public is allowed to go with the dog. Service dogs are very well behaved, quiet unless alerting that their handler needs immidiate help, and in the control of their handlers at all times. Service dogs are not aggressive to people, other dogs or animals and do not behave in a way to cause a disruption or disturbance with their behavior, and are very well housetrained. Under federal law only dogs and in some cases trained mini horses may be service animals.

A Therapy Dog is a dog that is someone's pet and has gone through a certification process usually with the owner to make sure it is basically well behaved, has a good temperament and is suitable and safe to visit with strangers who may be old, very young, or ill. The dog's volunteer part time job is to go with permission to locations to cheer up and comfort the people there. Many animals can be therapy animals.

Even though you didn't ask I'll also detail another type of dog. The ESA (emotional support animal) is a household pet whose presence causes theraputic benefit to a person with a medical condition or disability similar to the way a therapy dog helps strangers feel better. ESA's are not required to have any specialized training though they should be basically safe and well behaved as a therapy dog is. ESA handlers have no legal right to take ESA's into public places the way service dog handlers do. ESA's are NOT service dogs. Everyday pets become ESA's when a doctor certifies that the pet dog's presence in the home is needed as a therapy to help someone feel better for a medical condition or disability. With this certification the dog MUST be allowed in housing under the Fair Housing Act as a reasonable accommodation for the person's medical condition. ESA's are also allowed on air flights if a doctor certifies that they are needed on the flight or at the destination to provide their owner therapy per the Air Carrier Access Act. Certifications for air flights from the dr must not be older than the prior 12 months.