Assistance Animals: Types of dogs who assist people with disabilities
Assistance Dog, Service Dog, Therapy Dog, Emotional Support Animal
Created by Jennifer Gravrok
There are many types of animals who assist people. These are collectively known as assistance animals.
Assistance Animals
The term assistance animal is an umbrella term for the many types of animals, most commonly dogs, that assist people in various ways. Each type of assistance animal have unique and different purposes, skills, qualities, etc. Commonly the types of assistance animals that assist people with disabilities get confused. These are assistance dog, service dog, therapy dog and emotional support animal.
Most of these terms should not be used interchangeably as they are different in who and how they assist. Therefore, it is important for people to understand the differences between these terms which are described below. If you are a visual learner, there are also graphics to accompany the text as well.
Assistance Dog and Service Dog
The terms assistance dog and service dog are used interchangeably in the United States to describe a dog who assists a person with disability specific challenges by providing trained tasks to them.
Internationally, these terms are distinct. In Europe, for example, the term service dog commonly refers to dogs that provide a service like police, military, or detection work. Assistance dog is then more commonly used to refer to dogs that help people mitigate the effect of their disability with trained skills.
I use assistance dog in my writing as it is more internationally known.
Assistance dogs are unique in that they are specifically trained to assist one person who has a disability. They are trained to mitigate the effects of their disability through trained skills such as retrieving objects, getting help, alerting to changes in a medical condition, and much more.
Assistance dogs are also allowed to accompany their handler in public, wherever the general public is allowed to go. They cannot be denied housing even if the housing has a no pets policy.
Therapy Dog
Therapy dogs are dogs who have been trained to perform skills that can assist many people, including people with a disability. The skills that they are trained to perform can be similar to assistance dog skills. However, they are also trained to interact with many people. This is not the case for assistance dogs, who are only trained to assist one person for their specific needs.
Compared to assistance dog handlers, the therapy dog handler is not the one receiving the benefits from the dog’s trained skill, other people are. Rather, the therapy dog handler is providing their dog as a service to others. These handlers and dogs often need to attend classes, be tested and verified before working with their target population.
Therapy dogs are also different from assistance dogs in that they perform their specifically trained skills in designated settings. This could include places like hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, schools, etc. At these locations, the therapy dog handler and the business have an agreement for the therapy dog to be there and providing their service. Therefore, therapy dogs are not allowed in the general public, only where they have permission to be.
Emotional Support Animal
Emotional support animals provide benefits to people with a mental health diagnosis from a licensed mental health professional. These animals (not necessarily just dogs) require no formal training. Therefore, they do not perform a specific trained task to their owner. Since they have no formal training, the benefits arise solely from the companionship and comfort they provide their owner. Due to the lack of required training, emotional support animals are not allowed in public. Within the United States, they are allowed in housing where other companion dogs are not allowed under the Fair Housing Act.
To visualize the similarities and differences better, see the references below.
Click the link below to download and share your copy of the above image.
For more informational posts about assistance dogs, check out @UnderstandingAssistanceDogs on Instagram.
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