Do service dogs need to be certified?

Answer 1

Certifying your service animal is 100% unnecessary. ada.gov will tell you everything you need to know about service animals. Google it and find a place near you that will "test" your dog, charge you a bunch of money and then give you a piece of paper that you bear NO legal obligation to have.
There is no real Service Dog registration. To have a Service Dog you must be disabled and the dog must have trained tasks to mitigate that disability. IE Comforting someone is not a task, but a trained alert to medical conditions is. Faking a Service Dog can be up to a year in jail.

Answer 2

Service dogs do not have to be certified in Tennessee, but you must be disabled to have a service dog, and it must be trained in tasks to mitigate said disability. To correct the person who answered before me, service dogs technically don't have to be on leash or have to wear a vest. However most all service dogs are on leash and wear a vest or cape for safety, reasons. Also if your dog has nothing on them saying they are a service dog, you get a lot more people saying "You can't have a dog in here" and a lot more of you having to say "It's a service dog"

Answer 3

Under the ADA, a service dog does not have to anything identifying them as such. The handler must be able to answer 2 questions asked by gatekeepers or store managers.

1. Is this a service dog?

2. How is this dog trained to assist you?

This is the actual text from law:

"When it is not obvious what service an animal provides, only limited inquiries are allowed. Staff may ask two questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability, and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform. Staff cannot ask about the person's disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation for the dog, or ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task."

People who give phony answers to #2 will be told to remove their dog.

As of March 15, the definition of service dog has been changed. Here it is:

Service animal means any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not service animals for the purposes of this definition. The work or tasks performed by a service animal must be directly related to the individual's disability. Examples of work or tasks include, but are not limited to, assisting individuals who are blind or have low vision with navigation and other tasks, alerting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to the presence of people or sounds, providing non-violent protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, assisting an individual during a seizure, alerting individuals to the presence of allergens, retrieving items such as medicine or the telephone, providing physical support and assistance with balance and stability to individuals with mobility disabilities, and helping persons with psychiatric and neurological disabilities by preventing or interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors. The crime deterrent effects of an animal's presence and the provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship do not constitute work or tasks for the purposes of this definition.

* Note: Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.

This information can be found by Googling the phrase "text of the revised Title III regulation"

Some states require service dogs to have a special tag that identifies them to police as service dogs. Police can only enforce state laws and states that have laws protecting SD handlers often require a tag so police know if they are required to protect rights of said handler.

But beware, this tag is easy to get in some areas and people may use it to show proof their dog is a SD to gain access to a business. A special tag or ID is not to be shown to get a legitimate SD into a business. That is not the purpose of the tag in most states.

To find info on your state's laws regarding service animals, Google the phrase "animal law" and click the third site.

Answer 4

A service dog wearing an ID, vest, or other identifying marker is entirely up to the program, owner and state laws. They are not required to do so under federal law. The person below speaks of guide dogs specifically which are trained by programs about 90% of the time and that is the typical protocol for them.

All Guide Dogs have some type of I.D. This includes Guide Dogs in Training and those that are Full Fledged Working Guide Dogs. The I.D. would normally be attached to the dogs collar. This shows where the dog came from, his puppy number or guide dog number. Also the owner of the dog should have some type of I.D. showing that this dog is a Working Dog!

Never pet a Guide Dog or Guide Dog in Training. These are Working Dogs and not a PET!!

When we are in a Restaurant with our Working Dogs, please don't sit and stare at us for hours or come over to the table while we are eating and ask a million questions. If you do want to ask questions, wait until we are finished eating and outside of the Restaurant or Store.

A little bit about how a Guide Dog is Trained. The puppy goes to a Puppy Raiser for approx. 12 to 16 months. After the 12 to 16 months the Puppy is sent back to a Guide Dog School for his formal training . This can take another 6 months to a year. Then the dog is placed with his person for another 30 days of training. If all works out well the person goes home with a very Highly Trained Guide Dog. They will work together for the next 8 to 10 years and provide freedom for a Visually Impaired Person.

Answer 5

No, the ADA does not require Service Dogs to be certified.

Answer 6

As the ADA (Americans Disability Act) states, you are not required to obtain certification, nor can any business ask you to show certification.