Service Dog or Therapy Dog? Boulder’s Best Includes Both

Service dogs and therapy dogs have different roles and therefore different rights regarding access to public places.

Service Dogs:

• Role: Service dogs are trained to perform specific tasks for individuals with disabilities, including physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disabilities. Examples of such tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, etc.
• Access Rights: In the United States, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), service dogs are allowed to accompany their handlers in all areas where members of the public are allowed to go. This includes restaurants, stores, hotels, and other businesses.
• Legal Protection: The ADA mandates that service dogs must be allowed to accompany their disabled handler anywhere the general public is allowed, with very few exceptions (e.g., sterile environments like operating rooms).

Therapy Dogs:

• Role: Therapy dogs are trained to provide comfort and affection to various people, often in a therapeutic context. They’re used in settings like hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and disaster areas to help reduce stress and promote well-being. They are not trained to perform tasks for a specific individual and do not assist with disabilities.
• Access Rights: Therapy dogs do not have the same broad access rights as service dogs. They are typically only allowed in public places when they are invited for therapeutic work. For example, a therapy dog might be allowed in a hospital or school as part of a program but does not have a legal right to enter these places otherwise.
• Legal Protection: Unlike service dogs, therapy dogs are not covered by the ADA and other laws that grant service animals access to all public areas.Our Mascot Fido Would Be A Great Therapy Dog ONLY After Successful Proper Training
  

It’s important to note that while both types of dogs are invaluable in their respective roles, they are not interchangeable in terms of legal status and access rights. Service dogs are considered a necessary accommodation for a person with a disability, while therapy dogs provide valuable services in specific settings where they have been invited to help with therapy or comfort.