The most commonly known types of dogs are guide dogs, hearing dogs and service dogs. In order to get such a dog, the potential dog owner must pass a test too. They are screened and interviewed to make sure that they are in fairly good health and that they want the dog for mobility and a more independent living, and that the dog will have adequate exercise and a good home. The difference between a service dog and a pet is that the service animal is a dog trained to perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with disabilities that otherwise will not be able to perform said tasks. The ADA does limit the definition of service animals to dogs.
Most of the time the dog’s function is obvious: helping a blind person go around obstacles, helping pushing a wheelchair, preventing a person with hearing deficiency from danger, etc.
However, as the list of known disabilities gets longer, different types of service dogs appear and it is sometimes difficult to tell if they are service dogs or not and their owners might suffer from discrimination.
Psychiatric service dogs are service dogs that provide assistance to people with psychiatric disabilities such as severe depression, anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Such dogs, for example, provide safety checks for an individual or prevent or interrupt impulsive or destructive behaviours such as self-mutilation. Psychiatric service dogs are usually welcome in every place service dogs are. They should not be confused with emotional support dogs that are considered differently. Indeed, the ADA does not grant emotional support dogs the same rights and the same access to public spaces. The main difference between psychiatric service dogs and emotional support dogs is that psychiatric dogs are trained to perform vital tasks that the owner would not be able to perform independently. Emotional support dogs are pets that are not trained to perform any specific act. Nevertheless, emotional support animals do provide a sense of well-being and security to their owner and can be considered a reasonable accommodation when it comes to housing.
The confusion between the two often may result in unlawful and discriminatory treatments of people with disabilities.