5 Benefits of Service Dog Registration

If you are among the 25% of American dog owners, as studied by Statista.com(1) , you are very familiar with the therapeutic nature of owning a pet. Even if you are looking for a dog merely for companionship, that alone is a form of therapy that is widely misunderstood. The US does not have a solid mental health support system, although we are making strides for improvement. For now, ailments like stress and anxiety are felt by most, but not perceived as a problem. So we go on through our lives, longing for anything that can make our hearts, minds, and bodies feel good.

Owning a pet is not only a humbling, selfless act, but it could also heal us as struggling broken human beings. You can see examples of the amazing healing power of owning or caring for pets in Senior Living facilities. According to aplaceformom.com(2) , dogs who are used for therapy are trained to visit hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other care-giving institutions, are friendly, gentle canines that bring joy and good health to those no longer able to care for their own dogs.

Not only is owning dogs proven to improve health outcomes in patients suffering from mental health challenges, but registering your dog as a service dog also has amazing benefits. A service dog is different from a therapy dog, in it has only one handler and it is trained to perform specific tasks to ease the life of handlers with physical and/or emotional disabilities. There are amazing benefits to registering your dog as a service dog.

Here are some great reasons to think about registering your dog as a service dog.

Providing Documentation to Support Your Animal’s Special Status

As dog owners, there are places we are not welcomed with our furry friends. There are even apartment complexes that can deny applicants the ability to rent a home because of their dog. Most of us won’t get rid of our dogs just because we can’t be certain places. We make adjustments for the love of our furry family members. The documentation you’d receive for registering your dog as a service animal, you can avoid many issues. If an establishment questions your dog’s rights to stay somewhere, owners can file a complaint against the establishment, as documentation is not required for service animals, but the documentation and ID for your dog will make your dog official and unable to be denied.

Reducing Housing Discrimination

Because of the documentation you’d get for the service registration legitimizing your dog, housing discrimination against you due to your pet will greatly decrease. You and your dog are protected under ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and the Fair Housing Act.

Helping Your Pet Stay Focused

Dogs love people and are very curious creatures. This makes the ability to train them and curb any behavioral issues very challenging. If you are trying to train your dog to behave a certain way, people’s natural love for dogs could set you back in the training by interacting with your dog in ways that remove it from its focus. Registering your dog as a service animal will provide vests and IDs to let people know your dog is working and cannot be bothered. This will help your dog maintain its focus while training.

Keeping Your Pet Safe During an Emergency Evacuation

Heaven forbid an emergency happen and you are separated from your dog. In the case of emergencies where you may be evacuated or just loose site of your dog, the vest and visible identification will assist rescue personnel in reuniting you with your service animal as quickly as possible.

Support for Veterans

Registering your dog with USA Service Dog Registry will also support our veterans. The money from registration goes to support Paws for Veterans, whose mission is to pair returning service members who may be suffering from emotional issues from the carnage they might have seen when they were deployed, with dogs from the shelter to assist with therapy and recovery.

These are a few reasons why registering your dog as a service dog is a great idea, but look into it yourself. There are so many benefits to doing so and you and your dog will be better off for it. Registration is easy and painless. Show the world how important your dog is to you and register your dog as a service animal today. 

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