Types of Service Dogs: A Complete Guide

Service dogs encompass a broad category of dogs trained to perform specific tasks to help people with disabilities live more independently. From turning on lights to navigating crosswalks, they’re essential to quality of life for an estimated half-million Americans. 

Service dogs include guide dogs for people with visual impairments, hearing dogs, mobility support dogs, psychiatric assistance dogs, medical alert dogs, and autism assistance dogs. Emotional support dogs (or therapy dogs) provide comfort and companionship, but aren’t typically trained to help people with specific disabilities. They also generally don’t have the same public-access rights as service dogs, says Todd Young, the director of canine training at Liberty Dogs, a national service dog training and placement program for U.S. military veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). 

Navigating life with a new pet? Head to littleKin!

littleKin™ is Kinship’s home just for puppy and kitten parents. Bop over to check out expert advice, new pet tools, and special deals—all curated for your newest family member.

Get Free Advice

Although there is no specific registry for service dogs — and according to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), any breed can qualify as a service dog — the dog must be trained to perform a specific, disability-related task to access public places where dogs are typically prohibited. 

What is a service dog?

A service dog is a highly trained partner for a person with a disability. Compared to therapy dogs and emotional support dogs, service dogs are trained to perform specialized tasks across a broad spectrum of needs, Young says. That may include helping someone with limited mobility navigate a public restroom, alerting a deaf handler to danger, or detecting a diabetic’s seizure before it happens. Often, these dogs wear harnesses or vests designating their role as service dogs and discouraging people from petting them (we all know that by now, right?).

Related article

Can I Register My Dog as a Service Dog?

Types of service dogs

Medical alert and response dogs detect physiological changes, such as hypoglycemia or the onset of seizures. Autism support dogs and psychiatric service dogs, including those Young trains for veterans with PTSD, provide grounding support, such as physical touch to interrupt a panic attack and help their handlers remain present and safe. 

“Additional specialized roles include allergen detection and scent detection for specific medical conditions, as well as search-and-rescue work to locate missing persons,” Young says. “Many service dogs are trained to perform multiple, handler-specific tasks to comprehensively mitigate an individual’s disability.” 

Equally important, Young says, is the partnership that restores the handler’s independence and actively expands their community. “Service dogs facilitate interactions, reduce social barriers, and create opportunities for new relationships between handlers, families, volunteers, and service organizations,” he says. 

Guide dogs

A guide dog is a type of service dog trained specifically to assist people with visual impairments by leading, navigating, and avoiding obstacles, Young says. 

Hearing dogs

Darlene Sullivan, a client coordinator at United Disabilities Services Foundation, says hearing dogs alert deaf people to sounds in the environment. That might be doorbells, alarm clocks, or fire alarms. 

Mobility assistance dogs

If you or someone you know has been in a wheelchair, you’ll understand that something as simple as turning the lights on and off can be challenging. Mobility assistance dogs are trained to do that and much more. They serve as a brace for balance support when their handler is getting in and out of a wheelchair, a bed, or a chair. They retrieve dropped and out-of-reach objects. They help people with mobility challenges navigate crowded sidewalks. Some larger breeds can even pull wheelchairs. 

Psychiatric service dogs

Dr. Ishdeep Narang — a board-certified child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist (and founder of ACES Psychiatry) — says a psychiatric service dog (PSD), like a guide dog, is a highly trained medical partner. They’re trained to perform specific tasks that mitigate a person’s psychiatric disability, such as PTSD, severe anxiety, or autism. “This isn’t just about comfort — it’s about function,” Narang says. 

PSDs differ from emotional support dogs in that they’re trained to help people with a specific mental illness. Narang says he’s seen patients who were housebound by anxiety or trauma regain the ability to go to the grocery store, attend appointments, and get back to their lives with a PSD. Examples include a dog who’s trained to detect an in-flight panic attack by sensing the early signs and using its body to apply deep, grounding pressure to a person’s lap. A PSD can wake a veteran from a night terror by turning on the bedroom lights and nudging them. They “clear” a room for a person with PTSD to feel safe enough to enter. They create a physical buffer in a crowd to prevent someone from getting too close to their handler, which can be a trigger for severe anxiety. 

Medical alert dogs 

These dogs are trained to detect specific physiological changes in their handler’s body, often before the person is aware of the symptoms. That might include detecting high or low blood sugar in diabetics. Dogs also sound the alarm about seizure disorders, POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), syncope (fainting), narcolepsy, severe allergies, and migraines. They use behavioral cues to alert the handler to an impending medical issue. They also perform essential support tasks like retrieving emergency medication, activating a medical alert device, or getting help from another person. 

Autism assistance dogs

Autism support dogs are trained to help autistic individuals with sensory overload, social interactions, potentially dangerous self-harm, and autism elopement (when a person wanders away from a supervised area). These dogs offer calming, deep pressure during overwhelming, unbalanced moments. For children especially, a tethered connection — where the dog is physically attached to the child by a lead — gives families a sense of safety.  

Other service dogs

All service dogs are specialized, but some service dogs are trained to address precise medical, neurological, or safety-related needs. That might entail detecting allergens, migraines, cardiac irregularities, or impending narcoleptic episodes. The use of service dogs to help people with early-stage dementia is increasing. Some dogs now also specialize in cognitive or neurological conditions such as traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer’s disease, offering memory cues, safety interventions, or behavioral interruption. 

Related article

What are the Guidelines for Service Dogs in Public Places?

Which breeds make the best service dogs?

The key predictors of service dog success are a calm temperament, low reactivity, strong focus, and an eagerness to please. “In service dog work, temperament can matter far more than breed,” Young says. “Individual temperament testing and quality training are essential. And appropriate service dogs can come from a variety of purebred and mixed-breed backgrounds, with those factors and temperament characteristics present.”

While it’s true that any dog can be trained as a service dog, certain breeds combine desirable traits with trainability. Young says many service dog training programs favor Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, and Lab-Golden crosses, which combine the Lab’s strong work ethic with the Golden’s solicitous people-oriented nature. Sullivan says she often sees Poodle cross-breeds, thanks in large part to their low-allergy appeal. She also knows someone with a hearing disability who has a Yorkshire Terrier to alert them to sounds. 

Regardless of breed, quality training is essential. “Investing in high-quality training and ethical sourcing yields profound, long-lasting impacts for individuals, families, and communities,” Young says. 

How do you acquire a service dog?

Sullivan suggests the book Understanding Assistance Dogs: Is an Assistance Dog Right for You? as a first step towards acquiring a trained service dog. Assistance Dogs International connects people with service dog organizations in their area, while Canines for Disabled Kids guides parents through the process of getting a service dog for their child. 

At Liberty Dogs, Young says veterans acquire their dogs through various channels, including reputable breeders, overcrowded shelters, and Liberty Dogs’ own purposeful breeding program. Each potential dog undergoes extensive temperament and health screening to confirm their suitability for service work. “This strategy ensures strong health, suitable temperaments, ethical sourcing, and the ability to intentionally develop traits needed for service work — while also creating opportunities to rescue dogs in need,” Young says. 

Where can service dogs go?

Under the ADA, service dogs have broad public access rights, and businesses are limited in what they can ask. Service dogs can accompany their handlers in most public places where pets are not allowed, such as restaurants, stores, hotels, public transportation, and public institutions. They are also generally permitted in workplaces as a reasonable accommodation, though housing and air travel fall under different federal rules. 

As Young explains, “Staff may only ask two questions: ‘Is the dog required because of a disability?’ and ‘What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?’” He adds that handlers are responsible for making sure their dog stays under control and doesn’t disrupt the environment.

Sullivan emphasizes that access is broad, but not unlimited. “Within the United States, service dogs can legally go almost anywhere, with very few exceptions,” she notes. Among those exceptions are sterile surgical units, certain hospital rooms, and private events where entry is invitation-only. She explains that a business would need solid justification to deny entry, usually by demonstrating that the dog would genuinely disrupt operations. For anyone seeking further guidance, Sullivan recommends the official ADA website, which she says offers “excellent resources for understanding service dog accessibility.”

Under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), landlords are required to make reasonable accommodations for service animals and waive "no pet" rules, pet deposits, and breed or weight restrictions as long as the animal does not pose a direct threat to the health and safety of others or cause substantial damage. 

Bottom line

Service dogs play vital roles in helping people with disabilities live safer, more independent lives. Their training is far more complex than many people realize. Service dogs are trained to perform highly specialized tasks tailored to their handler’s individual needs — from guiding someone with limited vision and detecting medical emergencies before they occur, to pulling a wheelchair, interrupting panic attacks, and preventing an autistic child from wandering. Although any breed can potentially become a service dog, success comes down to temperament, focus, and rigorous training — qualities that matter far more than size or pedigree.