Oh, to be a dog in the NEK

Many of these dogs are hard-working entrepreneurs themselves, making the world more accessible to folks with a wide range of needs. 

Human business-owners looking to learn more can use the handy fact-sheet below for helpful tips on understanding the role of service animals in your businesses. For further details, read the full guide at ada.gov.

Service animals are:

• Dogs
• Any breed and any size of dog
• Trained to perform a task directly related to a person’s disability

Service animals are not:

• Required to be certified or go through a professional training program
• Required to wear a vest or other ID that indicates they’re a service dog
• Emotional support or comfort dogs, because providing emotional support or comfort is not a task related to a person’s disability

Examples of Service Animal Tasks

• A person who uses a wheelchair may have a dog that is trained to retrieve objects for them.
• A person with depression may have a dog that is trained to perform a task to remind them to take their medication.
• A person with PTSD may have a dog that is trained to lick their hand to alert them to an oncoming panic attack.
• A person who has epilepsy may have a dog that is trained to detect the onset of a seizure and then help the person remain safe during the seizure.

Asking if a Dog is a Service Animal

If you are working at a business or state/local government facility and it is unclear to you whether someone’s dog is a service dog, you may ask for certain information using two questions.

You may ask:

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

You are not allowed to:

• Request any documentation that the dog is registered, licensed, or certified as a service animal
• Require that the dog demonstrate its task, or inquire about the nature of the person’s disability

Because service animals are not required to wear vests, a dog that is wearing a vest is not necessarily a service animal. The dog still needs to be trained to perform a task for a person with a disability to be a service animal.

Source:
U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. "Service Animals." ADA.gov, https://www.ada.gov/topics/service-animals/.