Psychiatric Service Dog?

Health and Recovery
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Does anyone have a psychiatric service dog? If so, what is it trained to do for you?

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They want me to get one, I just don’t know if I am ready for that responsibly. :whale2::whale2::whale2:

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I don’t have one but they can help you keep calm, and they can let you know if someone or something is really there.

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Really! That is cool.

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You can officially certify your dog as a Emotional Support Animal(ESA). It means the same as service animals. I think all you need is a certified letter from an official like doctors or parol officers to get one.

You can take them anywhere on planes and shopping etc.

My friend had one… with her dog

They can help you stay grounded with their care and it’s responsibilities

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No. There is a lot of false information here.

  1. Emotional Support Animals are NOT the same as psychiatric service dogs. Emotional support animals do not need any special training and don’t need to be dogs.

  2. ESAs are no longer allowed on major airlines. Many stores are cracking down on them too (Target).

  3. A Psychiatric Service Dog is a Service Dog and is subject to a different group of laws. These are allowed on airlines and stores, etc.

  4. All Service Dogs (including Psychiatric ones) need to be trained to perform specific tasks to help with the handler’s specific disability.

  5. To have a service dog, you do not need a Dr’s note. You legally only have to train (or have trained in many cases) the dog to be housebroken and perform specific tasks to help with the disability. You must be able to communicate this information with employees of the places you bring it. You are not required to give out any other information (including a Drs note).

Plus my opinion: Poorly or under trained ESAs spread a bad name for psychiatric service dogs, and all service dogs for that matter.

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It seems like they’ve revised the ESA rules for airlines quite recently…There treating them as regular pets now. I personally don’t think that’s fair, because there supported by their health care workers to improve people’s mental welfare.

But it’s true sometimes ESAs can show poor behaviors and I see your point giving the service animals bad rep.

ESAs are like medicine… compared to Psyciatric service animals’ comprehensive care giving

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The training standards for an ESA and a service animal are very different.

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Service dogs are different than Emotional Support Animals.
Big difference.

Basically any pet can become an ESA.

Certified Service dogs require extensive training.

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Do you have one? What is yours trained to do?

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I don’t have one, sorry.

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I agree with @rocket . 100%

I remember when a person tried to bring an ESA peacock on a commercial airplane. She even paid for a seat for the peacock. The airline didn’t let her on the plane.

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