Service dogs are assistance animals that perform tasks to assist individuals with disabilities. These dogs are highly trained and help their disabled handler in numerous ways.
While many requirements for service animals, such as training, are straightforward, there are strict conditions on the handler’s end. This article will list what disabilities qualify for a service dog. Read to the end to learn if you have a disability that makes you eligible for a service animal.
What Is a Service Dog?
Before we get to qualifying disabilities for a service dog, let’s briefly cover their definition under federal law.
Service animals are assistance animals trained to perform a task directly related to a person’s disability. Some examples include guiding someone visually impaired and retrieving objects from the ground for individuals with mobility issues.
The federal law protects the public access rights of service dogs to assist their handlers in public places under the Americans With Disabilities Act. This law ensures that a service dog can enter public spaces like restaurants and malls, where pets are usually prohibited.
However, service dogs shouldn’t be confused with emotional support animals. They are also assistance animals, but ESAs only provide therapeutic benefits to individuals with psychiatric disabilities. They don’t have the same public access rights as service dogs.
Therefore, a service dog can enter places where the handler is allowed, whereas an ESA dog must comply with pet policies, with some exceptions in housing. Like service animals, the Fair Housing Act also protects emotional support animals to reside with their handler, even if the lease or rental agreement has a clear no-pet policy.
Additionally, emotional support animals don’t have training requirements and can be any animal that an individual with a mental disability is allowed to have. An ESA can be a dog, cat, bird, Guinea pig, hamster – you name it. On the other hand, service animals must be dogs trained to assist an individual with a disability.
List of Qualifying Disabilities for a Service Dog
According to the Americans With Disabilities Act, individuals with physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, and other mental disabilities qualify for a service dog. Below, you’ll find examples of the disabilities that are eligible for a service dog.
We’ll also list some of the service dog types that help individuals with these disabilities.
Physical Disabilities
Any physiological condition, limb loss, cosmetic disfigurement, and anatomical loss that affects bodily functions, such as respiratory and cardiovascular, qualify for a service dog. Here are some examples of qualifying physical disabilities.
- Arthritis
- Autism
- Blindness
- Cerebral Palsy
- Deafness
- Epilepsy
- Limb Loss
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Mobility Impairments
- Parkinson’s Disease
Common service dog types for these disabilities are mobility assistance dogs, autism assistance dogs, guide dogs, seizure response dogs, and hearing dogs.
Mental Disabilities
According to the Americans With Disabilities Act, any psychological or mental disorder and condition are qualifying disabilities for a service dog. Here are some of the examples.
- Anxiety
- Bipolar Disorder
- Depression
- Dissociative Disorders
- Eating Disorders
- Neurocognitive Disorders
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Panic Disorder
- PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)
- Social Anxiety Disorder
Service dogs for mental disabilities are classified as psychiatric service dogs. This is an umbrella term for these service dogs, as the tasks psychiatric service dogs perform are much more varied than others assisting individuals with physical disabilities.
However, a psychiatric service animal may also be called based on their training, such as deep pressure therapy service dogs or OCD interruption dogs.
Determine if You Have a Qualifying Disability for a Service Dog
In order to qualify for a service dog, you must have a disability that meets what’s defined in the Americans With Disabilities Act. While the ADA doesn’t provide a specific list of qualifying disabilities for a service dog, there are general guidelines.
The ADA clearly outlines physical and mental disabilities in the following way.
Any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more body systems, such as neurological, musculoskeletal, special sense organs, respiratory (including speech organs), cardiovascular, reproductive, digestive, genitourinary, immune, circulatory, hemic, lymphatic, skin, and endocrine; or
Any mental or psychological disorder such as intellectual disability, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disability.
Without an exact list, you must assess if you have a condition or disorder that falls under these definitions. Your healthcare provider is the best source to ask whether you qualify for a service dog. They can also help determine if a service dog would be beneficial for your condition.
