Animals provide us with lots of love, affection, and companionship – it’s why so many people have pets. Some animals provide emotional and mental health support to people with mental health or psychiatric conditions, and these are usually known as emotional support animals.
While all sorts of animals can be emotional support animals, we usually first think of emotional support dogs. In many ways it’s like having a pet, but there’s often a lot of confusion surrounding them. Are they the same as service dogs? Can you take them everywhere with you? What does the law say? And what are the best dogs for emotional support?
For everything to know about emotional support dogs, from what sets them apart from service dogs to how you can go about getting one, just keep reading. We’ve answered some of the most common questions people have below with some advice from expert vet Dr Rebecca MacMillan.
What are emotional support dogs?
There’s no strict definition of an emotional support dog, but they’re generally considered to be dogs who support people with mental health or psychiatric conditions that cause a disability by providing comfort and companionship in a way that makes living with the disability easier.
If somebody has anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, emotional support dogs can also provide support.
Other species can be emotional support animals, from cats to miniature horses to even alligators. However, dogs are the most common.
Emotional support dogs vs service dogs
These terms are sometimes used interchangeably in common parlance, but they refer to different animals and it’s important to bear in mind the differences between the two.
“Service dogs are highly trained to perform specific tasks for owners with very specific issues, such as blindness, deafness, or epilepsy,” explains Dr. MacMillan. “These are not pets; they are working dogs that undergo rigorous training and assessments.”
She explains that service dogs have unequivocal access to places like shops, restaurants, and airplanes, because their humans rely on them for continuous assistance.
Because emotional support animals don’t have the same training as service dogs, they can behave differently, perhaps barking or sniffing at people in situations when a service dog would know not to do so.
What are the benefits of emotional support dogs?
We know that spending time with pets and other animals has mental health benefits, but that’s just one aspect of the benefits emotional support dogs can give people:
- Reduce anxiety: The evidence shows that animals can reduce feelings of anxiety, stress, and depression, and have a calming effect on us too.
- Improve physical health: Spending time with animals can improve heart health and lower blood pressure, while walking and playing with an emotional support dog gives us a way to exercise.
- Support trauma: Emotional support animals can help ground people in the moment, while their presence can help them feel more secure in environments that could be triggering.
- Offer companionship and reduce loneliness: Your emotional support animal is always there – and just their presence can offer support. Even if you have lots of friends and loved ones, we can all be busy with our own lives, whereas an emotional support animal lives with you.
- Provide a sense of purpose: For some people who need an emotional support animal, part of the benefit is the sense of purpose they give you. They rely on you to get out of bed and make sure their needs are met.
- Encourage socialization: If you live with other people, your emotional support dog can give you something to talk about and bond over. Even if you live alone, walking your emotional support dog can help you meet people and form a sense of community.
How can I get an emotional support dog?
In the US, a licensed mental health professional can evaluate your situation to determine whether an emotional support dog would be helpful for you.
“If so,” says Dr MacMillan, “You will be ‘prescribed’ an animal as part of your treatment plan and you will be given a letter that supports this.”
The presence of your animal must give you a significant benefit that makes a clear difference in your ability to manage and function, and you must be considered to have a disability as a result of your mental health condition, rather than simply discomfort.
Other than this, the process of getting an emotional support animal is much the same as getting a pet – for example, researching the animals that could be the best fit and then visiting a rescue or shelter.
Some mental health professionals have expressed concern that emotional support animals might be overused, with people who don’t need them saying they do – perhaps to get around a landlord’s rules on tenants keeping pets. This could make life more difficult for people who genuinely do need an emotional support animal.
What are the laws regarding emotional support dogs?
The rights of emotional support animals differ from those of service animals, and they aren’t protected by law to the same extent.
Take the Americans With Disabilities Act. While it allows people to bring their service animals into public places, emotional support animals aren’t covered. So, businesses have the right to deny emotional support animals if they wish to.
The Fair Housing Act decrees that housing providers must make reasonable accommodations to enable people with disabilities to keep assistance animals at home, while the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires them to make exceptions to pet-free policies.
If you have a disability that significantly limits one or more major life activities, and your animal offers you relief or assistance with regard to those disabilities, you will be entitled to an exception.
Under the act, landlords can’t require tenants to pay extra fees for emotional support animals, ask for detailed medical records or information on the level of the tenant’s disability, require the animal to receive specific training, or refuse to accommodate an emotional support animal. However, the tenant is financially responsible if the animal causes any damage.
Meanwhile, in around half of the US states, it’s a criminal misdemeanor to falsely claim your animal is an assistance animal or to say that you’re a handler training an assistance animal.
Can emotional support dogs go anywhere?
When you have a letter from a mental health professional, you may be allowed to take your emotional support dog places where dogs normally wouldn’t be able to go, like restaurants. However, it’s still up to the individual business. Some may allow to permit emotional support dogs, while others may not.
Likewise, airlines aren’t required to allow passengers to travel with emotional support dogs, and the majority consider them to be pets.
“Other countries like the UK don’t currently recognize emotional support dogs,” says Dr MacMillan. “As such some airlines will still restrict these animals on their flights and you could be turned away from certain establishments. This is different from legally recognized service dogs which must be always allowed to accompany their owners.”
It’s also worth noting that there’s no requirement for emotional support dogs to wear anything identifying them as an emotional support animal, such as a tag or a harness, though you may choose to do so to differentiate your emotional support animal from a pet.
For many people living with mental health or psychiatric conditions, an emotional support dog can be really helpful. However, it’s important to remember that emotional support dogs don’t have the same rights as service dogs from a legal standpoint, and that you might not be able to take them everywhere with you.
If you’re considering getting an emotional support animal, it’s a good idea to speak to a mental health professional as well as shelters and rescues in your area. This will help you determine whether it’s a good option for you.
Read next: Best emotional support animal breeds
Edited by Georgia Guerin.
This feature was last updated in June 2025.
