Are Therapy Dogs Allowed in Stores?

Therapy dogs are highly trained dogs that provide comfort and emotional support to individuals that are going through psychological distress. Typically, they can be found working in hospitals, schools, nursing homes, or other facilities where individuals are in need of psychological support. You may also find therapy dogs working in a counseling office due to their subtle and kind nature.

While therapy dogs are trained to provide comfort, they are not trained to perform specific tasks to help disabled individuals as a service dog would be. Service dogs are specially trained to meet the needs of disabled people in order to improve their quality of life. Therapy dogs are trained to work with numerous individuals, not one specific individual, and they are not trained to enhance the quality of life. This is important to note because a therapy dog does not meet the specific guidelines set by the Americans with Disabilities Act to qualify as a service dog.

The Americans with Disability Act has certain guidelines that qualify a dog as a service dog which permits them to enter facilities that dogs would normally not be able to enter. One such place would be a store, especially a grocery store. Most grocery stores do not allow animals of any sort to enter the premises due to health standards and regulations. Service dogs are permitted because they perform certain tasks for their owners and are considered a part of the owner rather than a pet.

Although therapy dogs are trained to do certain tasks, they are not trained to help their owner with tasks that improve their quality of life. It can be argued that emotional support and comfort do enhance the quality of life, but comfort is not the same as helping a blind individual have independence. Comfort can also be subjective, whereas performing a specific task to help a disabled individual is not subjective.

In short, therapy dogs are not generally permitted into stores because they are not covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Only legitimate service dogs are permitted into stores, and the store has the right to ask if the dog is a service dog before allowing entry.