Comparing a service dog to a emotional support animal and a therapy dog
7092987706 • May 22, 2025
We frequently receive inquiries about training someone’s service dog. I would like to provide clarity to what a service dog is, and how that compares to emotional support animals and therapy dogs. Service dog training is very specialized, and the requirements of the dog are task oriented similar to law enforcement K9s. The dog has to have the correct temperament, or they will wash out of service dog school.
There is only 1 training facility in ND that I am aware of that are accredited as a service dog training specialist and they are located in Jud ND.
Service Dogs for America specializes in service dogs. Here is some information from their website in the FAQ section. The cost of a service dog is $25,000. They do not train a persons pet dog to be a service dog. They only train dogs that are bred for the purpose of being a service dog. They train for a host of service dog requirements, but for psychiatric service dogs, they only train for PTSD. The requirements to get a dog trained for PTSD is that the person has an official diagnosis of PTSD and have a minimum of 1 year of recent mental health care pertaining to the PTSD diagnosis.
Understanding the Differences: Service Dogs, Emotional Support Animals, and Therapy Dogs
1. Service Dogs
Definition and Role:
Service dogs are highly trained to perform specific tasks that assist individuals with disabilities. These tasks are directly related to the handler's disability, helping them navigate daily life with greater independence. For example, a service dog might retrieve items, provide mobility support, alert their handler to medical conditions, or assist with psychiatric conditions like PTSD.
Training and Requirements:
Specialized Training: A dog must be trained to perform a specific task that helps someone in daily life, that are limited by a disability.
Legal Protections:
Service dogs are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This allows them to accompany their handlers in almost all public places, including restaurants, stores, and airplanes, ensuring that individuals with disabilities have the support they need wherever they go.
2. Emotional Support Animals (ESAs)
Definition and Role:
Emotional support animals provide comfort and companionship to individuals dealing with mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, or phobias. Unlike service dogs, they are not trained to perform specific tasks but offer general emotional support through their presence.
Training and Requirements:
No Specialized Training: ESAs do not require specialized training, and they can be any type of animal that provides comfort to their owner.
Certification: To qualify for an ESA, a person must have a letter from a licensed mental health professional stating that the animal's presence is necessary for their emotional well-being.
No Access Rights: Unlike service dogs, ESAs do not have the same legal protections under the ADA. They are not permitted in public places where pets are typically not allowed, although they do have some protections under the Fair Housing Act and Air Carrier Access Act.
3. Therapy Dogs
Definition and Role:
Therapy dogs are trained to provide comfort and affection to people in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and other settings. They are often part of therapeutic programs and visit institutions to interact with various individuals, enhancing their emotional well-being.
Training and Requirements:
- Basic Obedience and Temperament Training: Therapy dogs undergo basic training to ensure they are well-behaved and can remain calm in different environments. However, their training is not as specialized as that of service dogs.
- Certification: Many organizations require therapy dogs to pass specific tests and receive certification to ensure they are suitable for their role.
- No Access Rights: Therapy dogs do not have public access rights under the ADA. Their presence in public places is restricted to the institutions they visit for therapeutic purposes.
Some things you should know about service dogs:
- There is no requirement that a service dog wears a vest identifying it as a service dog. Wearing a vest that says service dog when the dog doesn’t meet the requirements of being a service dog does nothing more than draw negative attention, especially when the dog is not behaving like a service dog.
- Do not approach a service dog as much as you want to pet that dog. It is imperative that the dog’s focus is its handler. The last thing that a handler wants is their dog to find other people more interesting than their handler. This can cause the dog’s obedience to become sloppy and ultimately can cause harm to the handler when the dog’s focus is everything but the handler.
- There is no industry wide accepted accreditation that can certify a service dog. So there is no such thing as a certified service dog. You will find plenty of people on the internet that will sell you a certificate, however there is no requirement of a certification for the ADA.
To conclude, I believe that most people that want a service dog, really are wanting an emotional support animal, but the privileges of being able to take their dog just about anywhere. Unfortunately, too many people try to pass their ESA off as an ASA which only hurts people that have a true ASA.
When we introduced an e-collar to Buddy, his owner panicked. “He looks so sad now. He used to be so excited.” We get this a lot. Owners mistake calmness for sadness. They think if their dog isn’t bouncing off the walls or pulling on the leash with glee, something’s wrong. But here's the truth: calm doesn’t mean miserable. Calm means regulated. Before training, Buddy was out of control. Jumping, barking, nipping. He was always “happy,” but also always stressed. His excitement was really overstimulation. He had no idea how to turn it off. Training gave him that “off switch.” He learned how to settle, how to listen, how to exist without chaos. And yes, at first he looked a little lost—because for the first time, someone was asking him to slow down and think. A few weeks in? Buddy was affectionate, well-mannered, and more relaxed than he’d ever been. Training doesn’t steal joy—it replaces frantic energy with genuine peace. And once dogs feel that peace, they’re happier than ever.
We get it. You’ve bought the snuffle mat, frozen Kongs, the flirt pole, the puzzle bowls… and your dog still acts like a lunatic. Why? Because your dog doesn’t need more stuff . They need a job . Dogs don’t get tired from food games—they get tired from thinking, processing, and problem-solving under guidance. That’s where training comes in. Rico, a young Malinois, had every toy on the market. His owners spent a small fortune trying to “stimulate” him. But he still paced, chewed through drywall, and barked nonstop. When Rico came to us, we did 10-minute training drills—simple obedience, impulse control games, and leash work. By day three, he was sleeping in the crate for hours. By the end of the week, he was actually relaxing at home. Training is engagement. Training is enrichment. It requires focus, communication, and trust-building. It gives your dog a purpose. Don’t underestimate the power of a mentally satisfied dog. Enrichment isn’t always a frozen peanut butter toy—it might just be a structured 15-minute training session.
Last week I wrote a post about the differences between a service animal, emotional support animal, and a therapy dog. This week I am doing a deep dive into a service animal. There are only 2 questions that can be asked of a person with a service dog. 1. Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability and 2. What work or task has the dog been trained to perform. The Americans with Disability Act (ADA) is what defines a service animal. The definition defined by the ADA is a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. (Note that nowhere in that definition does it say there is any type of certification requirement.) If a dog meets the definition of a service animal, they must be allowed anywhere that the public has access to. But there is one requirement when in public. The dog must be under control, and the dog is house broken. If the dog is not under control, the dog must be removed from the premises if asked to do so. What would be considered out of control? Barking, growling, lunging, jumping on people, biting, trying to sniff people, and going to the bathroom on the floor, would all be grounds to lose protection under the ADA. There are some key elements I want to mention about a service animal. 1. Any breed of dog can be a service animal, but it has to be a dog. There is an exception for miniature horses, but that is outside of the scope of this post. 2. There are no training requirements other than for the specific task the dog does to help with the disability. Which means people can train their own dog to do the task they need help with. 3. There are no certification requirements. 4. Wearing a vest that says service animal doesn't make the dog a service animal. Based on the definition on the ADA'S website, basically any dog can be a service dog, or can it be? One of my dogs I trained to retrieve bats for a local baseball team. He was very good at it. The only problem is he is a high drive dog, and he would be willing to die for that bat. With that much drive, I have to be careful what situations I put him in. In the wrong scenario he will at minimum, growl, bark, or worse, bite someone. I have back problems that at times make bending over extremely painful. I could easily train my dog to pick up anything. He would fall under the guidelines of the ADA, I could give him the designation of a service animal. However, if I take him into a store and he growls at someone that looks shady, or barks, he just lost protection under the ADA. I would have to remove my dog, if asked. My dog is very smart, and could do nearly any task I want to train him to do, but genetically he has way too much protective drive. He would make a horrible service dog because of his drive, but thrives at other things I do with him. If someone really needs a service dog to be with them all the time, running the risk of a dog's behavior nullifying the ADA protection while in public, is not an option. If a dog is trained as a seizure dog, then that dog must have the right temperament to be with his owner all the time. Which leads to the point I made in my original post when I discussed one place in ND that does train service dogs. They don't train just any dog to do the work. They choose dogs bred for the purpose. Even many of those dogs wash out of the program because they don't have the right temperament. The people that need these dogs can't risk having a dog with behaviors that would exclude them from the ADA protection. To conclude, almost any dog can be trained to do a task to assist with a disability, but very few would pass a temperament test, this would risk their ADA protection. So, if you see a person with a dog that has a vest that says service dog, and the dog is presenting bad behaviors, they have no protection under ADA to have that dog with them.
Share On: