Service Dogs for Chronic Conditions
Humans and dogs have been working together for thousands of years. From hunting to sniffing out explosives, dogs have been performing specialized tasks for us for as long as we’ve known how to teach them – even now, dogs are learning new and impressive tricks that have been shown to improve quality of life for patients with chronic conditions. Many people know that guide dogs can help those with vision impairments, but other types of service dogs are increasingly being used for a diverse range of conditions from narcolepsy to diabetes. Today, we’ll take a closer look at these service dogs: what the designation “service dog” means, what they do, and what to expect of them in the future.
Before getting into the definition and responsibilities of a service dog, it is important to distinguish the term from other similar classifications. There are three formal categories of animals that serve medical purposes: emotional support animals, therapy animals, and service animals. Emotional support animals require the least training of the three types, and are often recommended to patients with mental illness to provide them with comfort, companionship, and purpose. Essentially, emotional support animals are pets that have therapeutic effects for their owners. A wide variety of species can serve as emotional support animals, so long as they are easy to take care of and are of suitable temperament – the most important thing is that the patient benefits from the relationship, not that the animal can perform specific tasks.
Therapy animals, on the other hand, require training and are generally not owned by the patients they see. Rather, hospitals or other facilities may own therapy animals such as dogs or cats that they take around to visit those in need of their services. These animals are working professionals! Their training makes them especially personable and able to consistently interact with people in a therapeutic way without burning out or becoming nervous.
Finally, we’re back at service animals – a designation that comes with federal protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), though only dogs currently qualify for it. Under the ADA, a service animal is “a dog that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability,” and “must be trained to take a specific action when needed to assist the person.” These specific actions vary depending on the condition. For mobility service dogs, this means picking items up for their owners, opening doors, or physically assisting with balance. These dogs can make life with cerebral palsy or chronic pain more manageable. Other service dogs are trained to detect small changes in our biochemistry in the same way that bomb dogs detect explosives, and take action after detecting clinically meaningful scents. With their trained noses, these service dogs can warn owners of oncoming narcoleptic or hypoglycemic episodes in time to prepare.
The popularity of service dogs has in some ways outpaced the research and legislation surrounding them. Despite a February 2017 ruling by the Supreme Court that allows service dogs to accompany their owners in all areas that are accessible to the public, some locations and businesses remain unaware of or resistant to these requirements under the ADA. This, in conjunction with recent decisions by airlines to issue more restrictive guidelines on flying with emotional support animals and a general lack of public awareness, means that we can likely expect to see further legal battles in the future. Similarly, there are many unanswered questions concerning what these dogs can and cannot do – for example, though epilepsy service dogs are quite helpful during and immediately after seizures, owners and researchers do not yet agree on whether or not they can detect them before they happen. As we work toward a healthier and more accessible future, expect to see service animals playing a role in managing more conditions as research comes in and questions like these are resolved.
References:
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/service-working-therapy-emotional-support-dogs/
https://www.americanhumane.org/app/uploads/2018/05/Definition-of-Service-Dog_3_7_18.compressed.pdf
