[QUOTE=OneMoreTime;495899]Someone has (once again) told those on this forum that a SERVICE dog MUST be trained in SPECIFIC TASKS that enable a person with a disability to function more fully in this world, whether at home or in private. They follow this up by explaining that there could therefore be NO psychiatric service dog unless the dog was needed to fetch your medicines along with a bottle of water or (presumably) to knock you down and restrain you (with his vast body weight if not his jaws) if you, as a psychiatric patient, are in the midst of a paranoid wild-eyed state of ranting and raving.
Just joking - and NOT making fun of the mentally ill - I IS ONE!!
According to Federal Law, the ADA, a Service Dog, no matter what type MUST be individually trained to perform tasks to mitigate the disability of the handler, no matter what type of service dog it is, including PSDs. A dog that is not task trained is a ESA and is not allowed in public places. This is FEDERAL LAW and not open to debate.
Directly from the ADA website:
A: The ADA defines a service animal as any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability. If they meet this definition, animals are considered service animals under the ADA regardless of whether they have been licensed or certified by a state or local government.
Service animals perform some of the functions and tasks that the individual with a disability cannot perform for him or herself. Guide dogs are one type of service animal, used by some individuals who are blind. This is the type of service animal with which most people are familiar. But there are service animals that assist persons with other kinds of disabilities in their day-to-day activities. Some examples include:
_ Alerting persons with hearing impairments to sounds.
_ Pulling wheelchairs or carrying and picking up things for persons with mobility impairments.
_ Assisting persons with mobility impairments with balance.
Now, as to what dogs can do as PSDs: I suggest that you visit **.
They have a list of tasks for PSDs.
PLEASE STOP saying that PSDs do not have to be task trained. That is simply NOT true and by guising a ESA as a PSD, you are breaking the law!