Service & Therapy Dogs

While any dog -- from a tiny teacup Poodle to a 100-pound mutt – can bring joy to your life, these dogs are specially trained to provide specific benefits to people with physical or emotional disabilities. 

Service Dogs ​

Service dogs perform tasks to assist a person with a disability. You are likely most familiar with “seeing eye dogs,” but service dogs can also help people with other disabilities including hearing and mobility issues.  Most service dogs are golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers or German shepherds. The service dog may accompany its owner anywhere the general public is allowed. To qualify as a service dog, the task(s) performed by the service dog must directly relate to the person's disability. 

Emotional Support Dogs

Emotional Support dogs provide support to a person who has a mental health-related disability. There can be confusion over the rights of the person utilizing an emotional support dog and accommodation is more of a consideration than that of a legal right. Often support dogs may be kept in housing with a "no pets" policy and travel with their owner on airplanes with an informal “note from the doctor.”  Otherwise, an emotional support dog handler has no special rights to be accompanied by their emotional support dog anywhere that dogs are not generally allowed. 

Therapy Dogs

Therapy dogs provide support to a person who has a mental health-related disability. There can be confusion over the rights of the person utilizing an emotional support dog and accommodation is more of a consideration than that of a legal right. Often support dogs may be kept in housing with a "no pets" policy and travel with their owner on airplanes with an informal “note from the doctor.”  Otherwise, an emotional support dog handler has no special rights to be accompanied by their emotional support dog anywhere that dogs are not generally allowed. 

Learn more

There are a number of organizations you can view on the Web with links to resources should you want to investigate what's available in your area.
Proudly sponsored by the JSA Chronic Disease Foundation