At Hub City Service Dogs , we receive a lot of questions about emotional support/comfort animals and therapy animals in addition to service dogs. 

Service dogs are defined as a dog that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability.  The tasks performed by the dog must be directly related to the person's disability.  

Emotional support/comfort animals are terms used to describe animals that provide comfort just by being with the person.  Since they have not been trained to perform a specific job or task, they do not qualify as a service animal under the American Disability Act (ADA).  The ADA does make a distinction between psychiatric service animals and emotional support animals.  Emotional support animals do not have the same rights as a service animal in public places.

Therapy animals are defined as animals trained to provide affection and comfort to people in hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, schools, people with learning disabilities, and stressful situations, such as disaster areas.  Therapy animals do not have the same rights as a service animal in public places.

There is not an organization that "certifies or registers" service animals.  However, there are organizations that sell service animal certification or registration documents online.  These documents do not convey any rights under the ADA and Department of Justice does not recognize them as proof that the dog is a service animal.

At Hub City Service Dogs, we regulate ourselves through a stringent checklist and documentation of training.  We then provide our clients with a letter of completion from our training program.  However, we provide continued training for the service dog and their handler as situations arise and "tune ups" may be needed.

Please refer to the link below for the complete list of Frequently Asked Questions about Service Animals and the ADA provided by the U.S. Department of Justice.