Service Dog/Psychiatric service dog
A PSD, in the USA, is a service animal trained in performance of work or tasks useful to persons with mental,psychological, developmental and emotional kinds of disabilities. This classification is distinguished from a therapy dog or an emotional support animal. The latter provide comfort and emotional support.The distinction is quite narrow and very much the focus of the Wikiversity project endeavors of User:K9Alliance2Train.
Because of the ambiguities which often arise between service animals for emotional disorders and emotional suppport animals, it is important to recognize that this Wikiversity project is primarily intended for research and should not be used for legal, medical or veterinary advice of any kind. Please be familiar with our disclaimers as updated each and every time you think that you can rely upon anything you read here. You cannot.
This is a research world pushing the frontier of owner-training and the advancing science of veterinary behavioural science from the perspective of lay Wikiversitarians. If you have need for mental health care please obtain a qualified professional for assistance.
Psychiatric service dogs are often provided solely for adults age eighteen and up. There is however quite a bit of support for autism dogs for youth and children, and also epilepsy alert dogs and response dogs.
Some typical PSD tasks, as proposed by Heeling Allies of Seattle, Washington, for their mental health dogs include:
Assist handler within their home.
Assist handler in places of public accommodation (e.g. grocery stores, shopping malls, public transportation, and etc.).
Remind their handler to take medication.
Wake handler for school or work.
Assist in coping with emotional overload by bringing handler into the “here and now.”
Provide a buffer or a shield for the handler in crowded areas by creating a physical boundary.
Extinguish flashbacks by bringing handler into the here and now.
Orient during panic/anxiety attack.
Stand behind handler to increase feelings of safety, reduce hyper-vigilance, and decrease the likelihood of the handler being startled by another person coming up behind them.
Search dwelling
SOURCE: Fair use cited quote-for-nonprofit-academic-review http://www.mentalhealthdogs.org/Psychiatric-Service-Dogs.html