When you need a little emotional support, you can’t go wrong with an emotional support animal (ESA). These are animals that are there to provide you with the emotional support you need to feel happy, safe, and comfortable in your home. Unlike your average pet, you’ll find that emotional support animals get to enjoy special privileges.
That said, if you want to make the most out of an ESA, and you’re a dog person, it’s worth it to consider ESA dog training. This can help you bring your dog with you in public spaces (as long as they’re pet-friendly).
Now, you might be curious about where you should start, and you might even be wondering if your dog needs training to become an ESA. Luckily, we answer all of your questions in this guide.
What Is an Emotional Support Dog (ESD)?
According to this ESA guide, an emotional support dog (ESD) is an emotional support animal that’s a dog. Emotional support animals are protected under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), which allows you to live in housing that’s not usually pet-friendly. You’ll also find that an emotional support dog can’t be the reason for your eviction unless they damage property, harm someone, or cause other issues for a landlord.
Ultimately, ESDs are protected in housing situations, and landlords can’t prevent you from housing because you have one. While emotional support dogs are popular, lots of animals can be emotional support animals. Cats, rabbits, hamsters, and plenty of other pets can all be ESAs.
Does an Emotional Support Dog Need Training?
No, an emotional support dog doesn’t need training. Unlike a service dog or therapy dog, emotional support animals don’t need any unique or specialized training. Instead, the animal just has to be able to behave in your home. In fact, all a dog needs to become an ESA is a signed ESA letter from a licensed mental health professional (LMHP) in the state you live in.
ESA Dog Training Tips
Just because ESAs don’t legally need training, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t train them. Sure, they’re only legally protected in your home, but dogs are easy to bring with you in public with a little bit of training. While they won’t become a service dog or a therapy dog, your ESA can be trained to behave with you at restaurants, parks, and other spaces.
If you want to train an ESA dog, we have some great tips below.
1. Set a Strong Foundation
First and foremost, it’s important to establish a healthy training foundation. We recommend starting with positive reinforcement, which involves rewarding your dog for positive outcomes without being too harsh on them if they fail. This ensures that your ESA dog is happy and excited to train with you.
Whatever your training focus, if you start with positive reinforcement, you shouldn’t have any problems. We also recommend being consistent and training your ESA dog around the same time every day. This helps you establish a healthy training routine, and most sessions should be around 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Socialize Your ESA Dog
Another important aspect of ESA dog training is socialization. The more socialized your ESA dog is, the easier they’ll be to bring out in public. Now, ESAs don’t exactly have protection in public access spaces, but that doesn’t mean your ESA dog can’t join you at a park, beach, or even a pet-friendly restaurant.
For these reasons, we recommend socializing your ESA dog early for the best results, and this will even pay dividends in your home because they won’t bother your neighbors.
3. Focus on Emotional Support Tasks
Your ESA dog isn’t a service dog, but that doesn’t mean you can’t train them to help with specific tasks. If you struggle with anxiety or loneliness, for example, you may be able to train an ESA dog to apply deep pressure therapy (DPT) to help you remain calm.
ESA dogs can also be taught to interrupt self-harm and other destructive behaviors. In fact, creating a training routine or having your dog know when it’s time for a walk can give you a sense of purpose that helps with mental health disorders. These tasks can also open the door for your ESA dog to become a psychiatric service dog.
Don’t Count Out ESA Dog Training
At the end of the day, your emotional support dog isn’t exactly a service dog. Still, this doesn’t mean that a little ESA dog training can’t go a long way. In fact, ESA dog training can help you make the most out of your time with an ESD.
This is due to the fact that you can train your dog to remain calm in your apartment, assist you with ESA tasks, and much more. As long as you follow our ESA training tips, you shouldn’t have any issues with most dog breeds.