Service dogs are highly respected animals that make life easier for people with disabilities. You can see these dogs guiding someone who is visually impaired across a crosswalk, retrieving objects from the ground for someone using a wheelchair, interrupting harmful behaviors during an episode, reminding someone to take medication, and much more.

While any dog can receive training to perform tasks, handlers who have a service dog must have a disability in order for their animals to be legally recognized as a service dog. This is because service dogs only have training requirements and do not require a formal document like an ESA letter. Additionally, the handler must have a qualifying disability.

In this article, we will answer what disabilities qualify for a service dog. We will also cover the common tasks service dogs perform for these disabilities and how to get a service dog tailored to specific disabilities. Continue reading to the end to learn all these.

What Disabilities Qualify for a Service Dog: Mental Disabilities

Service dogs for mental disabilities are psychiatric service dogs, also known as PSDs. These dogs are trained to carry out tasks to benefit their handler with a mental disability. 

This type of service dog is among the most common, as tens of millions of individuals in the US have experienced a mental illness at one point in their lives, with many of them choosing to get a psychiatric service dog to ease their symptoms and execute tasks to make life easier. 

One primary reason for this is that service dogs for mental disabilities are also among the easiest to train. Even dog owners with adequate experience training dogs can train their own psychiatric service dogs, teaching them skills to assist them in their daily lives.

List of Mental Disabilities That Qualify for a Service Dog

Any mental disability that’s listed under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) qualifies for a service dog. Some of these mental disabilities include:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Panic Disorder
• Dissociative Disorders
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Although any mental disability qualifies for a service dog, those who are unsure about whether or not their diagnosis makes them qualify for a service dog can consult their mental health workers.

Common Service Dog Tasks for Mental Disabilities

Since mental disabilities vary greatly, the tasks these dogs carry out also differ. Still, there are some tasks that these dogs take on to help their handlers with a mental disability. Here are some of the most common service dog tasks for mental disabilities.

• Deep Pressure Therapy: Also known as DPT, deep pressure therapy involves the psychiatric service dog applying gentle, steady pressure to the handler’s body, typically by lying down on the handler’s lap or chest. It reduces anxiety, panic, and sensory overload by triggering the body’s relaxation response.
• Interrupting Harmful Behaviors: Psychiatric service dogs can be trained to recognize harmful behaviors, like skin picking and hair pulling, and take actions to interrupt. This helps the handler break the compulsive behavior and helps them regain control, ensuring they remain safe.
• Tactile Stimulation: This psychiatric service dog task refers to the dog nudging, pawing, licking, or taking other actions to ground the handler during an anxiety attack, panic attack, or a dissociative episode. The physical touch redirects the handler’s attention to the present moment, helping them return to the present.

How to Get a Service Dog for Mental Disabilities?

If you have a mental disability, you can get a psychiatric service dog from an organization or a dog training company. However, psychiatric service dogs, like all the other service dogs, are costly. Interested owners should budget between $7,500 and $20,000, depending on the tasks they need their psychiatric service dogs to perform.

Additionally, some nonprofits provide psychiatric service dogs to those in need. Organizations like K9s for Warriors, for example, provide psychiatric service dogs to veterans.

The least costly way to have a psychiatric service dog is to train your own. As mentioned above, owners experienced with dog training can train their own psychiatric service dogs. However, the training materials must come from a reputable organization with a proven track record of resulting in obedient, effective psychiatric service dogs.

What Disabilities Qualify for a Service Dog: Physical Disabilities

Service dogs that cater to the needs of people with physical disabilities are often the ones that gain the most recognition in public, as many use tools to help their handlers.

However, the tasks of a service dog for a physical disability might not always be obvious, which we will cover in detail below, but first, here’s a list of common physical disabilities that qualify for a service dog.

• Mobility Impairments (Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Arthritis, Paralysis, Limb Loss)
• Hearing Impairments (Age-Related Hearing Impairment, Congenital Deafness)
• Visual Impairments (Blindness, Partial Sight Loss, Degenerative Eye Conditions)
• Cardiovascular and Respiratory Conditions (Heart Disease, POTS, Asthma)
• Neurological Disorders (Parkinson’s Disease, ALS, Chronic Fatigue)

Given that physical disabilities cover a wide range, we can’t list every one here, but under the Americans with Disabilities Act, any disability qualifies for a service dog as long as the dog can perform a task to benefit the handler. 

Common Service Dog Tasks for Physical Disabilities

Here are some of the most common tasks service dogs perform to support their handlers with physical disabilities.

• Retrieving Objects: A service dog can be trained for retrieving specific objects, whether with the handler’s command or after recognizing certain changes. For example, a service dog can be trained to bring an inhaler or medication for someone who has respiratory health issues.
• Mobility Assistance: Many service dogs for disabilities provide mobility assistance by tensing their bodies, using special equipment, and other means. These service dogs are known as mobility assistance dogs.
• Guidance: Service dogs can guide a handler with a visual impairment to move on their own, such as going around obstacles, stopping at stairs, and indicating changes in the terrain, helping their handlers navigate the world more independently.

Just like psychiatric service dogs, service dogs for physical disabilities can perform specific tasks based on the handler’s disability. However, training a service dog for physical disabilities to perform specialized tasks often requires a professional to ensure the dog remains reliable and executes commands flawlessly.

How to Get a Service Dog for Physical Disabilities?

Just like psychiatric service dogs, some nonprofits supply service dogs to those who are in need. However, these organizations are limited when it comes to physical disabilities. This is largely because there’s a wide range of physical disabilities, and each person requires something unique. 

Therefore, these service dogs are typically trained based on requests, which leaves dog training companies as the only reliable place to get one.

Still, experienced owners can use training materials to train their dogs for service dog work, though it takes significantly more effort, time, and expertise compared to psychiatric service dog tasks.

What Disabilities Qualify for a Service Dog: Sensory and Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities

In addition to the above, there are sensory and intellectual/developmental disabilities. Under the ADA, these disabilities qualify for a service dog as long as the disability substantially limits one or more major life activities, such as communication, learning, and interacting with others.

These disabilities include:

• Sensory Processing Disorder
• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Intellectual Disabilities (Reasoning, Problem-Solving, Learning)
• Communication Disorders
• Sensory Disabilities (Loss of Body Awareness, Proprioception)

Common Service Dog Tasks for Sensory and Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities

Below is an overview of everyday tasks for sensory and intellectual/developmental disabilities service dogs.

• Preventing Wandering: A common disability-related task done by autism assistance service dogs, the service dog anchors the person, usually a child, to a specific place or alerts caregivers if the person with autism bolts.
• Balance Support: Service dogs can provide balance and ensure the safety of people with sensory or intellectual/developmental disabilities.
• Encouragement: Many people with communication disorders, particularly those who suffer from selective mutism, find encouragement in their dog’s presence, allowing them to speak. These dogs can also perform tasks like signaling others to let them know about the handler’s condition.

How to Get a Service Dog for Sensory and Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities?

Among the different types, service dogs for sensory and intellectual/developmental disabilities tend to be the most challenging ones to train. These service dogs go through years of professional training before they are sent out to families who need them. 

Consequently, this makes them the costliest type of service dog, as they call for a professional trainer who needs to work on them for up to several years. On average, these dogs cost anywhere between $15,000 and $40,000.

What Disabilities Qualify for a Service Dog? Conclusion

We went over what disabilities qualify for a service dog, which is pretty much half of the requirements for having a service dog; the other being the dog performing a disability-related task. Besides these, service dogs, regardless of the variety, don’t have any training requirements. 

However, registration can be helpful, as it provides handlers with additional proof for their animal, which can be helpful in public situations to reinforce their rights. Check out our service dog guide to learn more about these remarkable animals and the benefits of registration.