Web Version of my Presentation for NAMI
 (National Alliance on Mental Illness)
12/11/24
page 4

Part 7
Service Dogs
https://www.ada.gov/resources/service-animals-faqs/

I highlighted items I wanted to emphasize during my talk, and I left those parts highlighted in this web version of my notes.
 Stories of my therapy dog visits, and some quotes, are italicized.

Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act specify that service animals must be dogs, although reasonable accommodations must be made to allow miniature horses to serve as service animals in cases where the animals have received training to perform specific tasks for the disabled person.6

Common service dog breeds include Labrador Retrievers, golden retrievers, German shepherds, and standard poodles. These loyal animals have remarkable intelligence which allows them to assist their partners in nearly all types of everyday life tasks such as retrieving dropped items, providing balance support while walking, and responding to an emergency situation. Some service dogs are also trained to alert their owners if they are having a seizure or another medical problem. Additionally, many service animals are skilled at recognizing signs of an anxiety attack or panic episode and can provide comfort for their owner in the form of companionship and reassuring behaviors.

Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, a service dog is defined as a dog who has been specially trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. Such tasks must be related to the handler’s disability, with the aim of mitigating the effects of said disability.

Service dogs and their handlers have rights that are protected under the Americans With Disabilities Act. By law, service dogs are defined as working animals as opposed to pets. They are considered as necessary as wheelchairs, oxygen tanks, or any other kinds of medical equipment. They are therefore legally permitted to accompany their handlers wherever the general public is allowed.

Service dogs are specifically trained to help one handler.  Some may not wear a vest.

Handlers may have physical, sensory, intellectual, psychiatric, or mental disabilities.  The handler’s disabilities may not be visible.  For example:  Psychiatric service animals are specially trained to perform specific tasks for people with psychiatric conditions. This might include reminding the individual to take their medications or stop someone from engaging in self-harm.  The service dog may lie across the handler to provide deep pressure therapy during panic attacks, provide tactile grounding through nuzzling or licking, apply gentle tooth pressure to a person’s forearm to interrupt a dissociative episode and/or alert the handler to episodes of rage or strong emotion.

Legally, in situations where it is not obvious that the dog is a service animal, staff may ask only two specific questions: (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? Staff are not allowed to request any documentation for the dog, require that the dog demonstrate its task, or inquire about the nature of the person’s disability.

The ADA makes a distinction between psychiatric service animals and emotional support animals. If the dog has been trained to sense that an anxiety attack is about to happen and take a specific action to help avoid the attack or lessen its impact, that would qualify as a service animal. However, if the dog’s mere presence provides comfort, that would not be considered a service animal under the ADA.

The ADA requires that service animals be under the control of the handler at all times. In most instances, the handler will be the individual with a disability or a third party who accompanies the individual with a disability. In the school (K-12) context and in similar settings, the school or similar entity may need to provide some assistance to enable a particular student to handle his or her service animal. The service animal must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered while in public places unless these devices interfere with the service animal’s work or the person’s disability prevents use of these devices. In that case, the person must use voice, signal, or other effective means to maintain control of the animal. For example, a person who uses a wheelchair may use a long, retractable leash to allow her service animal to pick up or retrieve items. She may not allow the dog to wander away from her and must maintain control of the dog, even if it is retrieving an item at a distance from her. Or, a returning veteran who has PTSD and has great difficulty entering unfamiliar spaces may have a dog that is trained to enter a space, check to see that no threats are there, and come back and signal that it is safe to enter. The dog must be off leash to do its job, but may be leashed at other times. Under control also means that a service animal should not be allowed to bark repeatedly in a lecture hall, theater, library, or other quiet place. However, if a dog barks just once, or barks because someone has provoked it, this would not mean that the dog is out of control.

Generally, the dog must stay on the floor, or the person must carry the dog.  For example, if a person with diabetes has a glucose alert dog, he may carry the dog in a chest pack so it can be close to his face to allow the dog to smell his breath to alert him of a change in glucose levels.

Some of the most common tasks performed by service dogs include (though are absolutely not limited to):

guiding handlers who are blind or have low vision;

alerting deaf handlers to both sounds (sirens, alarms, phones, doorbells, etc.) and the presence of others, such as someone approaching from behind;

pulling a wheelchair;

retrieving dropped items, such as for a person in a wheelchair;

dialing 911;

providing stability to or bracing a handler who has difficulty walking or with balance, coordination or mobility problems;  

preventing a child with autism from wandering away.;

alerting a person with diabetes when his blood sugar reaches dangerous high or low levels;

remind a person with depression to take her medication; 

warn an epileptic handler that a seizure is about to occur and then help the person remain safe   during the seizure;

alert a handler to the presence of life-threatening allergens

alert a handler to the presence of something that might trigger a panic attack,

recognize signs of an anxiety attack or panic episode and physically block the handler from harm or provide comfort for their owner in the form of companionship and reassuring behaviors.

There are individuals and organizations that sell service animal certification or registration documents online. These documents do not convey any rights under the ADA and the Department of Justice does not recognize them as proof that the dog is a service animal.

Several of my pups are service dogs.  One of Lovely’s pups is part of an amazing success story.  A young man had come back from one of the recent wars highly traumatized.  He was diagnosed with PTSD and was very depressed. His sister contacted me, wanting a pup to train as a service dog for her brother.  She and her mother came to Sheridan to watch both temperament tests that I do with every litter.  Two of the males tested as service dog prospects, so they took one home.  They called me when they got home, so excited that they could barely talk.  For the first time since he returned from the war, the young man had smiled. He bonded immediately with the pup, and the pup with him. The sister took the pup to puppy kindergarten class and then to succeeding classes.  Eventually the young man began accompanying her AND helping train the dog.  He began coming out of his shell and talking to people.  Eventually he no longer needed a service dog as his PTSD moderated.  Now he’s talking about certifying his dog as a therapy dog to nurture other veterans.      

to page 5 (Part 8, Emotional Assistance Animals)
to page 1 (Parts 1-2, Loneliness discussed by 2 health experts)
to page 2 (Parts 3-5, general ways that animals improve people’s lives)
to page 3 (Part 6: Therapy Dogs, including Dr. Lynch’s research about the health damages of toxic talk and school failure in a child’s life)