Did you know that approximately 80 million Americans use service dogs? According to the American Kennel Club (AKC), these animals can provide numerous health benefits including lowering stress levels, improving happiness, and increasing overall fitness. In this article, you’ll learn exactly what service dogs can do for individuals with disabilities. 

What are Service Dogs?

A service dog is specifically trained to perform work for a person with a disability, according to the AKC. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. Service dogs are considered to be working animals and not pets. Anyone with a disability qualifies for a service dog. 

German Shepherds, Labs, and Golden Retrievers are some of the more common service dog breeds. There are also several different types of service dogs, each of which requires different training methods. These include guide dogs, autism service dogs, hearing dogs, diabetic alert dogs, seizure response dogs, medical alert dogs, allergy detection dogs, and PTSD dogs. 

For example, a guide dog will help an individual with visual impairment navigate their surrounding environment, while a hearing dog will alert a deaf or hard-of-hearing individual of any important sounds. 

Service dogs can be any size, ranging from small to large, as long as they can perform their assigned tasks. According to the AKC, the best service dogs are handler-focused, desensitized to distractions, and highly trained to reliably perform specific tasks. 

How It Started

The idea of guide dogs has been around since the 1920s, however, they were not legally recognized unless they had specific legal protections. According to some sources, the idea of a guide dog originated in Germany as a result of World War I soldiers becoming blind and needing assistance. 

Service dogs became legally recognized in 1990 with the passing of the ADA. 

Training a Service Dog

Service dogs do not need to be professionally trained in order to qualify as a service dog. People with disabilities have the right to train the dog themselves and are not required to use a professional service dog training program. However, it must be trained to take specific action when needed to assist an individual with a disability. Additionally, the ADA does not require a service dog to wear a vest, ID tag, or specific harness. 

Does the ADA Require the Service Animal To Be Certified? 

No. According to the ADA, covered entities may not require documentation, such as proof that the animal has been certified, trained, or licensed as a service animal, as a condition for entry. While there are service animal certifications sold online and by organizations elsewhere, neither the ADA nor the Department of Justice recognizes them as proof the animal is a service dog. 

When you have a service dog, individuals can only ask you two questions: 

Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? 

What work or task has the dog been trained to perform? 

Service dogs offer numerous benefits to individuals with disabilities. For more information, visit the ADA FAQ page or the AKC. 

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