What is a Service Dog?
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): THIS LINKS TO PDF ADA….
Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.
Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.
This definition does not affect or limit the broader definition of “assistance animal” under the Fair Housing Act or the broader definition of “service animal” under the Air Carrier Access Act.
Some State and local laws also define service animal more broadly than the ADA does. Information about such laws can be obtained from the State attorney general’s office.”
Do I need a Service Dog?
Below are some of the tasks service dogs can do for individuals with disabilities according to the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners: + this link goes to a PTSD article by Joan….
Service Dogs Basic Tasks
- Answers when someone’s at the door.
- Brings or retrieves items for its handler, such as the mail, medication, phone, etc.
- Go get help from someone else in another room or are to help the handler who is unable to get assistance.
- Helps his handler get around, or get up from their seat, or climb the stairs at the home or in public establishments.
- Be his handler’s steady support, in case he experiences an imbalance while doing activities.
- Carries medicine and other provisions for his handler in a specialized back pack.
Service Dogs Tasks During Emergencies
- Brings the phone to his handler to call 911 or a relative.
- Knows how to bark at a speaker phone to signal for emergency.
- Interrupts or alerts his handler during a trigger or psychiatric occurrence.
- Alerts other people when its handler is in distress.
- Leads other people to its handler, who could already be down on the floor after an episode or a suicide attempt, especially in cases of depression and mood disorders.
- Alert its handler in case of fire or burglary attempts.
- Alert his handler before a seizure, diabetic emergency, heart condition, etc.
Psychiatric Service Dog Services – Psychiatric service dogs provide assistance to people with mental health disabilities navigate through life. Similar to other service dogs, psychiatric service dogs are trained to assist their handlers by performing these tasks:
- Guide a disoriented handler – for people on medications or in the middle of a disassociated
- Provide tactile stimulation for anxiety attacks, panic attacks, etc.
- Identify hallucinations – for people who experience hallucinations
- Search a room – for people with PTSD who are hyper-vigilant
- Interrupt and redirect – for people with OCD who may self harm themselves
- Nightmare Interruption – for people who suffer from nightmares or tremors
