Emotional support dog vs. service dog

What is an emotional support dog?

Emotional support animals or ESAs can be any species or breed of animal but they are very commonly dogs. As their name implies, an ESA’s sole purpose is to offer comfort and companionship. There is no specialized training required for your animal to act as your legal ESA. They are pets, first and foremost.

A licensed mental health or medical professional must prescribe an ESA. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) offers examples of activities your emotional support dog can help with, from physical tasks like lifting to emotional comfort like easing anxiety or helping with mental tasks like assisting in focus and concentration.

A licensed mental health or medical professional must prescribe an ESA.

If a trusted pet is deemed necessary to provide life-changing comfort, your doctor will typically write a letter to detail the treatment plan. Landlords or airlines may require documentation to accommodate an ESA in housing or planes.

A prescribed emotional support dog is a pet that offers reassurance, and should not be confused with a trained service dog. The ADA directly states that an emotional support dog cannot qualify as a service animal.

What is a service dog?

Service dogs are not pets – they are working animals. They undergo specialized training and perform tasks that distinguish them from ESAs. Under the ADA, only dogs – and in some cases, miniature horses – are currently recognized as service animals.

Service dogs are highly trained to perform specific tasks. Beyond the well-known seeing-eye dog trained to help the blind or visually impaired, dogs can be trained to perform tasks that serve a broad range of disabilities. Service animals can alert the deaf, assist with mobility, protect during seizures or alert their handler to low blood sugar.

Psychiatric service dogs differ from ESAs, too, in that they help with mental illnesses in concrete ways, such as turning on the lights for a person with PTSD or applying calming physical pressure at the onset of a panic attack.

Service dogs must be trained rigorously to behave well in public, stay focused on work and reliably perform the tasks required by their handler in a variety of settings.

» COMPARE: Best ESA letter websites

ESA vs. service dog: Legal protections

The ADA guarantees fair accommodation for people with service dogs. This means a service dog is allowed to be with their handler, even in places that don’t allow pets. Service dogs can accompany you to restaurants, stores, hospitals, schools and hotels. A no-pets policy does not exclude a service dog from entering a public space with you. When in public, a person with a service dog is not required to provide documentation regarding, and cannot be asked about, the nature or extent of their disability, per the ADA.

The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) grants service dogs the right to fly in the cabin with their handler at no additional charge. 

The ADA and ACAA’s protection for service dogs in public places does not extend to ESAs, however, which are not legally permitted in indoor environments where pets are prohibited. A person with an ESA can be required to provide documentation from a mental health professional justifying the animal’s presence, particularly in housing. Also, the ACAA was revised in 2023 to distinguish between ESAs and service dogs, which created stricter rules for ESAs, considered pets, on planes. 

The Fair Housing Act (FHA) is a federal law that protects both ESAs and service dogs. Legally, assistance animals are allowed in homes and apartments as part of reasonable accommodation, even in housing with no-pet policies. However, if a disability is not apparent, paperwork may be required to prove an ESA is prescribed.

ESA vs. service dog: Training and certifications

A major difference between service dogs and ESAs is the required training. Service dogs must be trained to perform specific tasks for a person with a disability. ESAs, on the other hand, provide comfort and companionship without any training necessary.

Service dogs should have a minimum of 160 hours of one-on-one training time, which can be completed by a trainer or the handler, said certified master canine handler, trainer and behaviorist Cindy Chiacchere. “Aside from this in-depth training, the cost associated with service animals can be upwards of $40,000-$50,000.”

Though the law doesn’t name a specific training or certification program for service dogs or ESAs, your animal must be well-behaved in public and highly skilled to perform the task required by your disability.

“All dogs should have a balanced state of mind,” said Chiacchere. “The thing that separates ESAs from true service dogs is their purpose.”

This temperament is key, along with years of rigorous training that begins virtually at birth, said Chiacchere, who is also the president of Royal Paws in Babylon, New York. Trainers begin selecting puppies that show suitable demeanors, and “from that point on, the dog must learn obedience and then are task-trained,” she said.

This process can take two years or more. “Tasked service dogs must be trained in all types of settings such as parks, restaurants, trains and planes,” she said.

» RELATED: What steps are required for emotional support animal registration?

Bottom line

An emotional support dog and a service dog may appear similar, but they serve in different roles to support humans. While service dogs are federally protected in public places without documentation, ESAs do not share these same legal rights. For housing and air travel, ESA owners must provide evidence of their animal’s necessity.

To have your pet legally become your ESA, a licensed mental health or medical professional must diagnose a disabling illness and prescribe your pet as part of the treatment plan. A service dog must complete rigorous training before it can help a human, while ESAs are classified as pets and do not require additional training.