If anxiety or PTSD makes ordinary days hard, and your dog is the one who helps you through them, you may be wondering if your dog can go with you everywhere. For many people, the answer is yes. Here is what the law says, in plain words, and how to get there.
Does my anxiety or PTSD count?
The law looks at one thing: does your condition make everyday life really hard? Things like sleeping, working, going to the store, taking care of yourself.
- PTSD counts. The law names it directly.
- Anxiety can count when it gets in the way of daily life. The law is written to include people, not to keep them out.
- Medicine doesn't cancel it. If medication helps you, the law looks at how hard things would be without it.
- Good days don't cancel it. If panic attacks or flashbacks come and go, that still counts.
You don't need to prove any of this to a store or a restaurant.
What makes a dog a service dog?
This is the part that matters most: a service dog is trained to do a job that helps with your condition. A dog trained to do this kind of job for anxiety or PTSD is called a psychiatric service dog.
Making you feel better just by being there is wonderful, but on its own it doesn't make a dog a service dog. That's the difference between a service dog and an emotional support animal.
Jobs dogs are trained to do for anxiety and PTSD include:
- Pressure: lying across your lap or chest to calm your body during a panic attack
- Interrupting: nudging or pawing you when you start picking your skin, wringing your hands, or spiraling
- Waking you: from a nightmare
- Grounding: licking your hand or leaning on you to bring you back when you start to disconnect
- Alerting: letting you know anxiety is building before a full panic attack, so you can step away
- Leading out: guiding you to an exit or a quiet spot when a place gets overwhelming
The job should fit what you actually go through. Think about your hardest moments and what would help in them.
How to make your dog a service dog
You can train your own dog. You don't need a program or a professional trainer. Many people train their own dog, and some work with a trainer for part of it. Both are fine.
What the dog needs:
- Good manners first. Sit, stay, come, walk calmly on a leash, settle and stay settled.
- Calm in public. Ignoring food on the floor, other dogs, strangers and noise. Lying quietly under a table.
- The job itself. Trained step by step with rewards until the dog does it reliably, even somewhere new.
Practice in places that welcome pets, like pet stores and some hardware stores, before going where only service dogs are allowed. The dog should be trained before it goes into public places as a service dog. Some states also allow dogs still in training, so check yours.
It often takes a year or more. And not every dog enjoys this work. Some dogs are happier as a much-loved pet, and that's okay too.
What happens at a store or restaurant?
If it isn't obvious what your dog does, staff can ask only two questions:
- Is the dog a service dog required because of a disability?
- What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?
That's it. They can't ask what your condition is, ask for papers, or ask the dog to show its task.
A few more things to know:
- Leash or harness, unless it gets in the way of the dog's job. Then voice or hand signals are fine.
- The dog has to behave. If it's out of control and you can't settle it, or it has an accident, staff can ask you to take it out. They still have to serve you without the dog.
- No extra fees for the dog. You'd pay for damage, like any customer.
- Allergies or fear of dogs aren't a reason to turn you away. The business finds a way for everyone.
- Only dogs count as service dogs.
Flying
Flying isn't covered by the ADA. Airlines follow a different federal law, run by the Department of Transportation. It also accepts dogs trained to do a job, including for PTSD and anxiety. Before your flight, you fill out the airline's service animal form (from the Department of Transportation). It asks about your dog's training, behavior and health. For flights of 8 hours or more, there's a second short form about bathroom breaks.
Your apartment
Housing runs under a different law, the Fair Housing Act:
- Landlords have to make reasonable exceptions to no-pet rules for people with disabilities, and that can include emotional support animals, not just service dogs.
- If your condition isn't obvious, a landlord can ask for a note from your doctor or therapist showing you need the dog.
Do I need an ID, a vest or a registration?
No. The law doesn't require an ID, a vest or a registration, and no one can make you show one. There's no official registry for service dogs in the US.
Many people still carry an ID, because it makes the conversation at the door shorter and easier, especially on a bad day. More on that in service dog ID for invisible disabilities. If that sounds like you, a ServiceDogCards ID goes straight into your Apple or Google Wallet for $19.99, once. It helps at stores, restaurants and other public places. Airlines use their own form, and for an apartment you'll want the note from your doctor or therapist.
Where this comes from: the U.S. Department of Justice's ADA rules and guidance on service animals, the Department of Transportation's air travel rules and forms, and the Fair Housing Act.