Quote:
Originally Posted by ahcigar1
Hello,
I am hoping that someone on here may be able to help me. I recently moved from Kentucky to California and in doing so I bought a condo to later find out that they do NOT allow dogs over the weight of 20lbs and in their statement they wouldn't even allow dogs at all if it weren't for the California law. My problem though is that I own a 40lbs cattle dog that is my LIFE. I have had to sneak him in and confine him strictly to the indoors and a VERY quick potty on my patio to come back in quickly. The HOA has not found about him yet but I fear that they will and I will lose my one loyal trusting companion. In some research I have discovered the ESA dog which he I believe would qualify under. Before I had him I suffered greatly from depression, anxiety, and extreme low self-esteem, and still do but to a lesser degree with him around due to a long bad history. When in Kentucky I was taking counseling and soon am going to be finding a local psychiatrist to continue my help.
Recently I went away for a weekend and sadly could not take my dog with me so had to leave him at home because afraid if I took him out he would be found out so had someone come over and care for him. But during that weekend I was lost without him. I had trouble sleeping at night, I felt real down, and all I wanted to do was get back home to him even though I was in the presence of family.
I was wondering though how do I approach the new psychiatrist about starting the process of an ESA? And what forms are required and where can I get these forms?
He is VERY well trained. NON destructive, quiet, and very friendly. He is my shadow (literally) wherever I go in my home he is right there to let me know he won't leave me.
|
Hi Ahcigar1,
I can sympathize with you, I also suffer from severe anxiety disorder and depression and I need to have a dog with me almost at all times.
Rather than get your dog certified as an ESA, I suggest training your dog as a PSD (Psychological Service Dog) because ESA's aren't allowed in most public places. From what you described it sounds like your dog would be a great PSD. There are just some certain things he will need to learn (you can actually train a PSD yourself) and take a test with a certified PSD trainer/handler and once he passes he'll be an official PSD, and
should give you the right to have your dog live with you, but don't quote me on that because I'm not sure exactly what the laws are for living situations.
To have a PSD you're required to have diagnosed mental illness (which Anxiety & Depression are) by a medical or mental health professional, which I'm assuming you have since you see a psychiatrist for it.
Since you've recently moved, when you find a new psychiatrist you might ask him/her to do a mental health exam to determine you do in fact have these ailments. You can also explain that your dog helps you to cope and ask if he/she can write a medical note stating that it's imperative to your conditions that you have your dog with you. A lot of people will disagree that having medical notes does any good, but they can help in certain situations.
And according to the Americans with Disabilities Act, any persons with a disability are allowed to have a service animal whether it is licensed or not, so long as it behaves properly in public places. The ADA is a federal law which takes precedence over State laws, but, you can still run into problems with State laws, unfortunately. That's why it's best to have your dog licensed as a PSD to prevent legal problems.
The best place to find info about PSD's and what's expected of them and laws, etc. is ***
I am training my dog myself, and I haven't had any problems taking him into business establishments, but I'm not sure if CA's laws are as flexible as WA's.