Psychiatric Service Dog Essay Example

đź“ŚCategory: Animals, Environment, Health, Life, Mental health, Pets, Psychology
đź“ŚWords: 881
đź“ŚPages: 4
đź“ŚPublished: 15 June 2021

Abstract

A Psychiatric Service Dog acts as an assistant to provide a better and safer life for those who have mental disabilities like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and many other disabilities. There are many different types of service dogs but Psychiatric Service Dogs are mainly used for mental disabilities. These dogs go under extensive training to help learn the individual’s behaviors and triggers in order to help calm these individuals down whenever the trigger is set off.

Keywords: behaviors, triggers, mental disabilities

Psychiatric Service Dog in Action

In order to have a Psychiatric Service Dog, you must have a Psychiatric disorder. However, this isn’t the only thing that can stop you from having a Psychiatric Service Dog you could have a doctor’s note saying why you need it and or a letter from the Veterans Administration. A service dog acts as an assistant with someone who has a disorder like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression, Anxiety, or OCD. Having a Psychiatric Sevice Dog allows you to bring your trained dog to any place anywhere. 

The benefits of having a Psychiatric Service Dog have significantly increased the outcomes of one’s disorder in a positive way. Having an assistant to help alert one when an episode is about to occur can help one put themselves in a safe position for themselves and others. Megan L. Kloep, Richard H. Hunter, & Sarah J. Kertz. (2017) For instance states, “psychiatric service dogs may help by alerting the owner to increasing anger, fear, anxiety, agitation, or unhealthy levels of arousal by responding to visual cues (e.g., fidgeting, clenching fists). Examining the effects of a novel training program and use of psychiatric service dogs for military-related PTSD and associated symptoms.” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 87(4), 425–433. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000254 These Service Dogs can help provide a safe mindset for families who can not be there for their love every second of the day. Having a Psychiatric Service Dogs has many perks like helping one get medications that they may need or get another individual to come for help so they can call for help. They make one not feel so lonely and acts like a friend but in a fluffier way. They help one calm down after having an episode that causes them to panic or to fall out.

Getting a Psychiatric Service Dogs is a pretty costly thing but if needed it’s a priceless thing to one. Getting a dog trained depends on a lot of factors like, breed, how much obedience it has, and the time the owner has to handle it properly. The tricky part is also finding out whether or not the dog can perform in different environments. The time it takes to train them could take up to a couple of years which makes the price go up, even more, each hour that passes. In the article, Service Dog Certifications, states, “Depending on what part of the world you are in, professional dog trainers can start around $150/hour up to $250/hour. This can run into thousands of dollars and will, once again, depend greatly on the dog you are training for service and what he needs to be able to perform.” This quote is pretty self-explanatory trainers charge per hour depending upon the dog you have wanted to get trained. Having your service dog trained properly keeps one out of a liability issue. If a psychiatric service dog were to attack someone while working with someone with a disability it could be really bad news for the dog and the owner who failed to get proper training done. Depending on where one has located the offensive varies. 

Training for Psychiatric Service Dogs go under a lot of training- intensive training in fact. They have to be able to complete a disability task for their owners in order to be able eligible to become a Psychiatric Servie Dog. These service dogs are worked hard on because they have to stay focus in order to help their owner with their needs. In the article, Service Dog Certifications states, “Service dog training can take up to two years and these dogs usually wear a vest in public for easy identification. Any dog can enter service dog training, regardless of breed or age. However, unless they have a certain set of characteristics, they might not do well.” Psychiatric Service Dogs go through two years of training in order to complete the service dogs training process. After Psychiatic Service Dogs are finally approved with papers they can anywhere they need to with their owners in order to protect them. 

Psychiatric Service dogs should not be banned from restaurants and grocery stores because these indivduals need their animal with them at all times. Psychiatric Service Dogs go through many hours of extensive training for two years. As long as the Sevice dog is approved with papers they should be allowed to be anywhere they want as long as they are with their individual owner.

In conclusion, Psychiatric Service dogs are very important. These psychiatric service dogs help people who are in need of assisting around in public places. They can numerous things to help make sure their partner is okay and is not in distressed. Psychiatric Service Dogs go through enough training to help them stay focus while working. Having a Psychiatric Service Dog can help one become more social in many activities boosting social skills and confidence.

References

Kloep, M. L., Hunter, R. H., & Kertz, S. J. (2017). Examining the effects of a novel training program and use of psychiatric service dogs for military-related PTSD and associated symptoms. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 87(4), 425–433. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000254

servicedog. (2017, May 11). How Much Does It Cost to Train a Service Dog. Service Dog Certifications.

Psychiatric Service Dogs. (2013). Pawsible Angels. https://www.pawsibleangels.org/psychiatric-service-dogs

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