Psychiatric service dogs (PSD) are a specific type of service animal trained to help individuals with a psychiatric condition function more fully. Instead of providing emotion support like an emotional support dog, a PSD performs tasks to enable to handler to function in ordinary ways. The handler must have a prescription from a licensed mental health professional certifying that the dog is needed to assist with a major life task.

Our Service Dogs 101 Guide tells you everything you need to know about service dogs, including what is a service dog, what makes a good service dog, what breeds are the best service dogs, how much a service dog costs, whether or not insurance covers them, and the different types of service dogs: Visual Assistance (Seeing Eye) Dogs, Hearing Assistance Dogs, Mobility Assistance Dogs, Psychiatric Service Dogs, Medical Alert Dogs, Diabetic Alert Dogs, Seizure Alert and Response Dogs, Cardiac Alert Dogs, Oncology Alert Dogs, and Allergy Detection Dogs.