What Really is a Service Dog?

What is a Service Dog?

Service dogs are highly trained working animals that perform specific tasks to assist individuals with disabilities. They help their handlers gain safety, independence, and improved quality of life by performing essential tasks tailored to their needs. These tasks may include guiding the visually impaired, alerting those with hearing loss, assisting with mobility, detecting medical conditions, or providing psychiatric support.

One crucial rule about service dogs is that they are not pets and should not be petted while working. Interacting with a service dog without permission can distract them from their job and put their handler at risk. Many service dogs wear vests or harnesses that indicate their working status, and their handlers often have a “no petting” policy to maintain focus and safety.

Legal Protections for Service Dogs

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ensures that people with disabilities have the right to be accompanied by their service dogs in public places such as restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, and workplaces. Additionally, other laws, including:

  • The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) – Allows service dogs to travel with their handlers on airlines.

  • The Fair Housing Act (FHA) – Grants people with disabilities the right to live with their service dogs in housing that may otherwise have pet restrictions.

  • The Federal Rehabilitation Act – Ensures access to service dogs in federal government facilities and programs.

Because of these legal protections, service dogs can accompany their handlers in places where pets are not allowed.

What is a Therapy Dog?

What is a Therapy Dog?

Therapy dogs also receive specialized training but serve a completely different purpose than service dogs. Instead of working for an individual handler, therapy dogs provide emotional, psychological, or physiological comfort to multiple people in need. These dogs have friendly, calm temperaments and are trained to interact with various individuals, including patients, students, and residents in hospitals, schools, hospices, and nursing homes.

Unlike service dogs, therapy dogs are meant to be petted and interacted with. Their main job is to provide comfort and companionship, helping individuals feel less stressed, anxious, or lonely.

Therapy dogs can also assist in Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT), where they work alongside trained professionals in physical and mental health rehabilitation programs. For example, therapy dogs may:

  • Help children with learning disabilities gain confidence in the classroom.

  • Provide emotional support in crisis situations, such as disaster relief efforts.

  • Assist individuals recovering from trauma or undergoing physical rehabilitation.

Although therapy dogs must meet training standards and certification requirements, they are typically handled by their owners or professionals within therapy programs.

  • Service dogs are trained to perform specific tasks that help their handler with a disability, while therapy dogs provide comfort and emotional support to various people in settings like hospitals and schools. Service dogs have full public access rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), meaning they can accompany their handler anywhere. In contrast, therapy dogs do not have the same legal protections and are only allowed in approved locations.

  • While any breed can technically be a service dog, certain breeds are more commonly used due to their intelligence, temperament, and physical ability. Breeds like Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, and Standard Poodles are often chosen because they are highly trainable and social. However, the most important factor is the individual dog's ability to perform the necessary tasks reliably.

  • Training a service dog typically takes between 18 months to 2 years, depending on the tasks they need to learn. Puppies begin with basic obedience and socialization before moving on to advanced training tailored to their handler’s specific needs. Some dogs may require even longer training periods to ensure they are fully prepared to assist their handler in all situations.