Emotional Support Animal?

Emotional support animals are neither therapy dogs nor service dogs. They are pets owned by people with disabilities that have been prescribed by their physician as necessary for the person's mental health.

You must be disabled to qualify for an emotional support animal. After that, a doctor's letter describing your need for one is sufficient. A person with an ESA would have the right to take that animal on planes (in the cabin) and to keep it in "no pets" housing, but would not have the right to take it into public places like a service animal.

Here's info on ESAs: http://servicedogcentral.org/content/node/256

It includes articles on how to ask for a reasonable accommodation to keep an ESA in "no pets" housing (with sample letters), and what is required in a doctor's prescription to take one on a plane.

She is not talking about a therapy dog or service dog.

ESAs are Therapeutic Pets, usually prescribed by a therapist or psychiatrist or doctor, that help people with emotional difficulties or with loneliness. They may include cats and birds.

Under the USA's federal laws, Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) cannot go into no-pets-allowed places,( they are not service dogs so they can NOT go into stores, movies etc. )

BUT THEY ARE ALLOWED in no-pets-allowed housing and in the cabins of airplanes when accompanied by a note from their handler's doctor.

Although not trained to do work or tasks, ESAs can be greatly beneficial to their owners just by their comforting presence, company, companionship and love.

There is no place that certifies the animals. For you to live in housing that has a no pet policy you must have prescription from the doctor saying you need an ESA.

As far as training goes they require only as much training as an ordinary pet requires in order to live peacefully among humans without being a nuisance or a danger to others.

Passing the CGC would be perfect for a ESA.

Basic obedience, no barking, growling, at strangers. NO jumping on people. Etc.

Emotional Support Animals are not task trained like service dogs are. In fact little training at all is required so long as the animal is reasonably well behaved by pet standards. This means the animal is fully toilet trained and has no bad habits that would disturb neighbors such is frequent or lengthy episodes of barking. The animal should not pose a danger to other tenants or to workmen. But there is no requirement for fancy heeling or mitigating tasks since emotional support animals are not generally taken anywhere pets would not ordinarily go without permission

An Emotional Support Animal is a dog or other common domestic animal that provides theraputic support to a disabled or elderly owner through companionship, non-judgmental positive regard, affection, and a focus in life. If a doctor determines that a patient with a disabling mental illness would benefit from the companionship of an emotional support animal, the doctor write letters supporting a request by the patient to keep the ESA in "no pets" housing or to travel with the ESA in the cabin of an aircraft.

An "emotional support" animal is NOT a service dog. The dog is not allowed in store or restraunts.

There is no certification.. the only requirement needed is a letter of reccomendation from your Dr or Mental Health practitioner that states that having a pet is beneficial to your mental health.

The only "benefits" you get from this dog is that if you live in an apartment where pets are not allowed, you may be allowed to have the pet, and your pet may be accomodated for travel, such as at hotels and on planes.

Since its NOT a trained animal to assist with a disability, it does not have the same rights as a service dog.

If you're talking about a Therapy dog, which is a dog that visits nursing homes.. its also not a service dog and is not allowed in nursing homes or restraunts.. just in hospitals and nursing homes. The dog needs to have a good temperment and know basic obedience.. you can try googling "therapy dogs" to get more information.

If you're actually wanting your dog to be a service dog that has full access to public buildings, you need to be diagnosed with a disability, and have some kind of note or prescription from your Dr stating that you would benefit from having a dog that is trained to assist with your disability. The dog would then have to be trained to assist with tasks related to your disability.. for example if you have anxieties, the dog may be trained to use calming tactics, or if you have social anxiety, the dog may be trained to whine so that you can "excuse" yourself from a stressing situation claiming that the dog needs to potty, or the dog may be trained to put itself between you and other people to give you "space". Or the dog may be trained to carry medications and remind you to take them. A service dog needs to be well-socialized and cannot display aggressive behavouirs.

I work in a building where those rules apply. The deposit isn't waived even if the pet is a service animal. We are in the process of evicting 3 tenants because they were caught with unauthorized dogs and have no valid reason to keep them. It has also been found in some cases that the alleged "therapy" is the ruse of a spoiled brat who acts like a child when they don't get their way. The information is clearly stated in the rental agreement. The deposit has to do with cleaning carpet and other possible damage and not the pet itself. I am a 4 pet owner but I have no pity or sympathy for those who break rules.

Do you mean a therapy dog? i am kind of confused as to what a "emotional support animal" is.

If you are talking about a therapy dog here is what I recomend.

First find a very good training facility near you and get her into obedience training. Not a PetCo or Pets Mart kind of training.

She will need to go through all the proper training levels to get her Canine Good Citizenship Certification to be able to go on to Therapy Dog Training.

This is what it takes:

http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/index.cfm

Once your dog has achieved this then you can go on to a good Therapy dog class and get Certified to have become a Therapy dog.

Read here:

http://www.doglogic.com/therapytext.htm

And here:

http://www.misunderstoodcanines.com/Therapydogs.ht...

You will have to ask your trainer where to get training in your area to have your dog become a Certified Therapy dog.

There is no one unifying body that certifies service dogs. There are dozens of organizations that will help you train and certify your dog if your dog meets the temperamental requirements. Do a google search for your local area

I thought all dogs were emotional support animals? Mine give me tons of emotional support. I wouldn't have made it through the last years without them.

Not sure if this is included in the above links, but your dog has to be relatively healthy. It needs vaccines regularly (or titers to prove that the body still has the necessary antibodies), recent fecal tests to prove there's no parasite (like giardia, coccidia, etc), and possibly heartworm tests.