Often times you may be out in public and see a dog wearing a “service dog” nametag. The service dog most people are familiar with is the dog who helps a blind person to see, and that is indeed a very important kind of service dog. But that is not the only kind of service dog.
Service dogs have a history of helping their owners with physical or emotional handicaps as well. They can also help alert diabetics to spiking blood sugar. Service dogs are allowed to go wherever their owners go, which is why they are required to wear the special nametags.
One thing most people don’t know is that it’s relatively easy to get your dog registered as a service dog. If you want to pursue this, there are some steps you will have to follow. You can register your pooch as an emotional support dog or a therapy dog. Once Rover or Fifi is registered, you can then bring your dog with you wherever you go. Here are the different kinds of service dogs that exist, and how you can get them registered.
Emotional Support Animals
An emotional support animal, commonly a dog, is one that provides comfort and support to their owner. Most dogs are expert at offering their owners comfort and love, which is why they are a good choice as an emotional support animal.
If you want to get your dog registered as an emotional support animal, you will need a letter from your doctor. This should recommend you have an emotional support animal for any number of conditions you might have, from depression to anxiety to personality disorders and PTSD. There are so many potential disorders and conditions that could be used, it is not terribly difficult to come up with a reason.
Once your dog is registered as an ESA, your landlord must also allow you the dog in your place of living if it is forbidden. Furthermore, you can bring your dog with you on the airplane while you are in the seating area.
Service Dog
Service dogs are trained and certified to help disabled people. The Americans with Disabilities Act says that the dogs must be trained to do some sort of work or task for the disabled person.
As with an emotional support animal, you can bring your service dog with you wherever you go. Businesses must allow the dog in, and they are allowed on planes and anywhere in restaurants (except maybe in the ktichen). For your dog to become a service dog, you will need to register the dog here.
It might take some time, and you need to verify that there has been some substantial dog training (which you could get from a professional dog trainer, which is supposed to be 120 hours
In Conclusion
With the right certifications and training, you can get your dog registered as a service dog or emotional support animal rather easily. Make sure you do a bit of research online regarding the different training options, various registries, and what kinds of nametag information is available for your pooch. If you start the process now, you could have your dog with you wherever you go in less than six months.