The Benefits of Emotional Support Dogs

For those with anxiety, depression, and other emotional and mental health issues, an emotional support dog can be a lifesaver. Find out what these dogs do, and how they help their humans.

Dogs can be trained to assist humans in a wide variety of ways. From performing search and rescue tasks to helping those with disabilities live more independently, our canine companions play valuable roles in our lives. This article focuses on a particular type of working dog — the emotional support dog — and how these canines enhance and improve the lives of their human partners.

IS AN EMOTIONAL SUPPORT DOG THE SAME AS A SERVICE DOG?

While they share some similarities, there are important distinctions between the two classifications. Emotional support dogs offer companionship and support to people with mental or emotional health issues, while service dogs are specially trained to perform services for individuals with some form of disability. Tasks a service dog might perform include: guiding their person along the street; pressing an elevator button; retrieving items the person is unable to access; reminding her to take her medication; or alerting others or standing guard if she experiences a seizure or other health crisis.

Emotional support dogs, on the other hand, provide companionship aimed at alleviating mental/emotional distress, or providing some other type of relief. Although many animal species can provide emotional support to humans (including cats, horses, birds, and even reptiles), dogs are the most common and widely recognized.

Researchers continue to explore the positive effects dogs have on people’s mental health by fostering emotional connectivity and helping people manage in moments of crisis.

THE BENEFITS OF AN EMOTIONAL SUPPORT DOG

An emotional support dog provides enormous benefits to someone with mental and emotional health issues, lending a paw during the following situations:

• Trauma: Dogs can provide comfort to people who are experiencing some type of loss or trauma. Helping out with any difficult situation is the emotional support dog’s mainstay.
• Anxiety: By simply petting a dog, an anxious person finds their mood relaxing and their stress decreasing, to be replaced by a calming sensation.
• Depression: Being with an emotional support dog helps ease depression by increasing the production of oxytocin and serotonin and generating more positive feelings.
• Loneliness: The bond a person shares with their emotional support dog can help them feel less alone, and better able to make social connections.
• Lack of purpose or love: Caring for a dog helps provide a sense of purpose. Dogs also give their people unconditional love and companionship, and require love and companionship in return. This mutual give and take between human and dog can be very emotionally rewarding.

Emotional support dogs can also improve physical health in their humans. Several studies have documented that these dogs can lower blood pressure, reduce respiration rates, and improve a person’s ability to cope with pain. Additionally, having a dog gives people a reason to keep exercising and stay fit — regular physical activity can help lighten feelings of anxiety or depression.

OBTAINING AN EMOTIONAL SUPPORT DOG

Unlike service dogs, emotional support dogs don’t receive special training. This means if you are experiencing mental or emotional health issues, and already have a dog or are adopting one, you may be able to get him certified as an emotional support dog. To do so, you’ll need a “prescription” from a mental health professional such as a therapist or psychiatrist. This is basically just a signed letter stating you have a mental health condition and that your dog helps you deal with it accordingly. Having certification means your dog will be allowed to accompany you to many public places where canines might otherwise not be permitted, such as malls, trains, restaurants, etc.

However, there is some controversy surrounding emotional support dogs, and where they can be allowed, that you need to be aware of — see sidebar below. The advantages far outweigh the negatives in this arena, yet the confusion surrounding whether a dog is classified as “service” or “emotional support” continues to be a grey area where the law is concerned.

HOW DOES AN EMOTIONAL SUPPORT DOG DIFFER FROM A REGULAR DOG?

It’s easy to understand how emotional support dogs help create feelings of positivity and stability in their human companions. But how is that really any different from what regular “pet” dogs do? The key is that an emotional support dog “gets” what’s going on with his human, and is in sync with her mental health. He’s strongly connected to her internal cues and understands the language of her heart.

ADOPTING A DOG FOR EMOTIONAL SUPPORT

If you’re adopting a dog with a view to having her certified as an emotional support dog, it’s vital to ensure you get the right one for you. Take your time, and consider the dog’s age, size, personality, breed (or mix of breeds) to make sure she’s a good match for your needs and lifestyle. For example, a high-strung or easily-stressed dog might not be a good choice if you suffer from anxiety; you’d probably be better off with dog who has a calmer, steadier, more laidback personality.

ARE EMOTIONAL SUPPORT DOGS ALLOWED ANYWHERE?

While cultures vary in their attitudes toward companion animals, the commonly-held belief is that they can improve the overall quality of human life. Utilizing animals — dogs, in particular — for therapeutic benefit is well-established in medicine. Therapy animals are commonly seen in medical settings, and dogs are familiar visitors to hospices, pediatric wards, and inpatient psychiatric hospitals. In more recent years, the creation of animal relief areas in airports, and the growing number of retailers who offer treats to their customers’ canines, seem to suggest increasing acceptance of dogs in public spaces.

Yet there is some controversy around emotional support animals in general being allowed in certain settings — for example, airplane cabins. This is because the term “emotional support animal” can encompass a wide variety of species besides dogs, including hamsters, pigs, turkeys, and others, leading to concerns about property damage and disruption to other passengers. In addition, some people have fraudulently claimed the animals they brought on board were emotional support animals when they weren’t. Therefore, airlines have enacted more stringent policies around emotional support animals being allowed in cabins, including changes in documentation requirements from medical providers. Controversy also surrounds emotional support animals in the case of housing, as seen in civil litigation suits between landlords and tenants. When appearing in court for such a case, it may be necessary for the tenant to get a medical provider’s evaluation stating their mental and emotional need for the animal, be it a dog, cat, or any other species.

In short, the use of emotional support dogs — or any animal, for that matter — is governed by a mix of federal and state/provincial anti-discrimination laws that apply to different settings with slightly different rules. So while someone with a disability might feel entitled to be accompanied by her dog in one place (e.g. an airplane), that same animal may be barred from a different location, such as a restaurant. If you’re thinking of having your own dog certified as an emotional support animal, it’s important to check out federal and state/provincial laws so you know where you’ll stand and where your emotional support dog may or may not be allowed.

There’s no question that dog companionship offers a multitude of benefits to humans, and emotional support dogs can be a particular boon to mental wellness. Emotional support dogs help people cope with anxiety, depression, and other forms of mental/emotional distress by relaxing them, elevating their mood, and helping them feel less alone during times of distress. As such, these dogs provide a valuable service in an increasingly stressful world.

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