Wolfwoods K-9 Academy

Plain-English guide

Service Dog Basics: What the ADA Says

Based on official U.S. government guidance

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) sets the federal rules for Service Dogs in places like stores, restaurants, hotels, hospitals, and government buildings. Here is a short summary of what ADA.gov and the U.S. Department of Transportation say. Sources are linked at the bottom of the page.

What is a Service Dog?

Under the ADA, a Service Dog is a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. The task must be directly related to the person's disability. Examples from ADA.gov include guiding a person who is blind, alerting a person who is deaf, pulling a wheelchair, helping a person during a seizure, reminding a person to take medication, and calming a person with PTSD during an anxiety attack. Service Dogs are working animals, not pets.

Emotional support animals are not Service Dogs under the ADA

Dogs whose only job is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as Service Dogs under the ADA, because they haven't been trained to perform a specific job or task. The difference is training: a dog trained to sense an anxiety attack coming and take a specific action to help can qualify as a psychiatric Service Dog. A dog whose presence alone is comforting does not.

The two questions staff may ask

When it isn't obvious what a dog is trained to do, staff may ask only two questions:

  • Is the dog a Service Dog required because of a disability?
  • What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?

Staff may not ask about the person's disability, require medical documentation, require a special ID card or training papers for the dog, or ask the dog to demonstrate its task.

No certification, registration, or vest required

The ADA does not require Service Dogs to be certified or registered, and businesses may not require proof of certification or training as a condition of entry. ADA.gov notes that the certificates and registrations sold online don't give anyone rights under the ADA, and the Department of Justice doesn't recognize them as proof. The ADA also doesn't require a vest, ID tag, or special harness. (Service Dogs still have to follow the same local licensing and vaccination rules as all dogs.)

When a Service Dog can be asked to leave

A Service Dog must stay under the handler's control, normally on a harness, leash, or tether unless that would interfere with the dog's work or the person's disability prevents it. A business can ask for the dog to be removed only if:

  • the dog is out of control and the handler doesn't take effective action to control it, or
  • the dog is not housebroken.

Even then, the person must be offered the chance to get the goods or services without the dog present. Allergies or fear of dogs are not valid reasons to deny access.

You can train your own Service Dog

The ADA does not require professional training. People with disabilities have the right to train the dog themselves. One note: under the ADA, the dog must already be trained before it goes into public places as a Service Dog. Dogs still in training aren't covered by the ADA, though some state or local laws cover them.

Air travel basics

Airlines are covered by the Air Carrier Access Act, not the ADA. Under the Department of Transportation's 2020 final rule (effective January 11, 2021):

  • For air travel, a Service Dog is a dog of any breed trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. Emotional support animals and Service Dogs in training are not covered.
  • Airlines may require you to fill out the U.S. DOT Service Animal Air Transportation Form. If your reservation was made more than 48 hours before departure, they can ask you to send it up to 48 hours ahead. Otherwise it can be handed in at the gate.
  • On flights scheduled for 8 hours or more, airlines may also ask you to confirm that the dog won't need to relieve itself on the flight, or can do so in a sanitary way.
  • Airline staff may ask the same two questions about the dog, and a Service Dog must stay harnessed, leashed, or tethered and behave properly in public.

State laws and housing can differ

State and local laws, and the Fair Housing Act rules for housing, can be broader than the ADA, so check the rules that apply to your situation.

Sources

This page is general information, not legal advice.

Email Jordyn for a free consultation Back to the website