Emotional Support Animals Archives - An Ordinary Mom's Musings

A while ago, I spent time at the Children’s hospital with my son’s service dog (Charlie) and some of the children/teenagers there.

I sat down amongst them with Charlie. First, the smaller kids came over and started loving on him. It was heaven for Charlie because touch is a major love language for him.

The “cool” teenagers started wandering over to check him out. Even the most sullen teenagers made their way over and started loving on Charlie. The change in their demeanor was remarkable. Charlie lives with us. I see the changes he has made in our lives. Often though, I forget how a little time with an animal can turn things around.

My Son took his service dog with him to school previously. Due to his difficulties, he’s been unable to take him with him for the past year. Charlie has been spending the school day with me instead.

I deal with anxiety and sometimes depression. Charlie has been sensing that my anxiety levels have been high. So he has spent a lot of time by my side. I’ve been impressed all over again just how much a difference he can make. Being able to rub his silky soft ears brings my anxiety levels down several levels. When things get really bad, he lays on top of me to provide deep pressure to calm me down.

Charlie is a trained service dog and as such is protected by a Federal Law called Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). He is trained to perform various services for my son whom he works for. Because of this, he is allowed to go anywhere my son goes unless it is somewhere like an operating theatre that has to be sterile.

The way in which I was utilizing Charlie on that particular day, was as an Emotional Support Dog for the other children.

Emotional Support Animals do not have the same privileges under the law as a Service Dog. Emotional Support Dogs (or other animals) are not trained to perform specific tasks like a Service Dog. Instead, they are there to provide emotional support as in this instance.

One of the few protections by law that an Emotional Support Dog has is in the realm of housing and traveling. If you have an Emotional Support Animal and you are renting a house or an apartment, landlords are required to not discriminate against you and allow you to have your Emotional Support Animal in your home even if the property doesn’t allow animals. Airlines are required to allow you to have your Emotional Support Animal on board the flight in the cabin with you. Both Emotional Support Animals and Service Dogs require a Doctor’s prescription to make them legal.

D has a Service Dog (Charlie), and we get lots of questions about him. We love helping people understand about Service Dogs and think about if it would be a good fit for them. So here’s a list of things I like to bring up for people to consider.

Do you like dogs? If the answer is no, then a Service Dog really isn’t a good choice for you.
Are you comfortable with everyone knowing something is wrong? If you are in a wheelchair or use a walker it is obvious that something is going on. But for people like D who have hidden disabilities most of the time, this is like walking around with a neon sign blinking, “Look at us! There’s something wrong with us.” That really took some getting used to on our part.
You can self-train a service dog. But should you? Only you can answer that. For me, I knew that that wasn’t possible as I was already using all my energies caring for my family. You need to be dedicated and be able to be firm with the dog and have the extra time to devote to training.
An Emotional Support Dog is not a Service Dog and you cannot just place a vest on a dog and call it a Service Dog. Both an Emotional Support Dog and a Service Dog need a doctor’s prescription. A Service Dog needs to be able to pass a Public Access test to ensure he/she can behave themselves in public. They also need to be trained in specific tasks to perform, to qualify as a Service Dog.
Adding a Service Dog is like adding a new child to your family. Yes, it’s trained (and frankly I think that’s the best way to get a dog!), but you need to be able to maintain training, exercise, doctor’s visits, socializing, feeding.
Service Dogs are not pets. While they can have time off, (Frequently when they are at home or have their vest off.) Service Dogs when working should usually not be petted. This distracts them from the job that they are trying to do. Even when they appear to be off duty you should ask if you can pet them because Service Dogs are not required to wear a vest when working or at any other time. We generally have them wear their vests to show that they are Service Dogs so we don’t have to answer as many questions.
A Service Dog is still a dog. They are highly trained. But an occasional butterfly or ball can distract them once in a while. They aren’t robots. Generally, once they are told to leave it be they can be called back to their jobs.
Do your research. Not all Service Dog organizations are legitimate. The only other Service Dog Training Organization I personally recommend besides the one we used, is 4 Paws for Ability as I have seen the dogs they have placed in action.

Charlie, our favorite Service Dog came from Arctic Paws for Service a 501c3 that feels that Service Dogs should not be out of the reach of those who need it financially and does everything to cut their costs. If you would like to help them support other families who need a dog, please consider donating.