Home Page › Blog › California Service Dog Requirements
California Service Dog Requirements

California law allows for people with disabilities to live, travel, and go about their daily lives in the presence of a service dog. Service dogs are afforded certain rights in the State of California that cannot be denied due to local laws and regulations.
If you have a disability that requires the help of a Service Dog, you are (under Federal law) entitled to such an animal.
Read on for more information on California Service Dog requirements and regulations.
Definition of a Service Dog
A Service Dog is any canine that is trained to perform a disability-specific task for the person who has a medical, physical, psychiatric or mental disability. Miniature horses are also recognized as a “service animal” in California as long as it is being used for a disability-related task.
Although service dogs are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), similar protections do not apply to Psychiatric Service or Emotional Support Dogs, unless you live in San Francisco. This city allows both service dogs and emotional support animals at any building, program, or agency of the City and County of San Francisco and its contractors.
How is the Service Dog Trained?
For your dog to be considered a legitimate Service Dog, it must be trained to perform a task for you that you cannot do for yourself. This can include opening doors, alerting, guiding, or pulling a wheelchair.
Dogs can be trained by the person with the disability, a professional canine trainer or a friend or family member (as long as the dog is obedience and task-specifically trained).
Identification Requirements for Service Dogs in California
It is not mandatory in California to have an identification tag or vest on your Service Dog. However, it is highly recommended. To obtain an identification tag, your Service Dog must meet certain explicit requirements (in training) to be considered legitimate. A service dog must provide a service to a person with a disability in order to qualify as a service animal. Once you have fulfilled all requirements, you and your service animal will be protected under state law.
Service Dog Registration in California
Unless you have a Guide Dog for vision impairment, a California resident seeking training, certification, registration and licensing information for a service dog should contact Service Dog Certifications, a local service dog trainers, or the county animal enforcement department in your area. These agencies approve and register trained service dogs, issue identification tags, and keep paperwork on file and available for public inspection.
Please note that service dog registration is not required by law, but instead can assist in identifying your dog as a service dog. Service dog registration can provide privacy, access, and protection from unnecessary harassment from uninformed individuals.
Psychiatric Service Dog Requirements
California is one of the states in which a dog can be trained to perform tasks that will benefit a person with a psychiatric disability. A psychiatric disability is a “mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of an individual”.
A trained dog that performs a task for their owner is considered a “Psychiatric Service Dog” and must perform tasks that are identifiable and directly related to an individual’s diagnosed psychiatric disability. The dog’s trainer or handler is required to teach that animal to recognize and respond to the unique needs of the person with the disability.
California considers the following as psychiatric disabilities:
- Eating Disorders
- Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Anxiety Disorders
- Depression
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders
- Personality Disorders
- Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder
- Substance Abuse
Psychiatric service dogs can be trained to alert their owner by performing the following tasks:
- Deep pressure therapy
- Reminding the owner to take medication
- Posting and watching the owner’s back in open areas
- Tactile stimulation
- Alerting the owner
- Waking up the owner
- And More
Service Dog or Emotional Support Dog in California
People using Service Dogs in this state must have their canine on a leash or harness and should have an official identification tag. Even though California does not limit the dog’s size or breed, the animal’s handler is liable for any damage done by the service animal. There is also no specific legal requirements in existence as to how much or what type of work a service dog must provide to benefit the disabled person, but a dog that is just a friend (or a pet) is not considered a Service Animal.
If your dog is not specially trained to provide a service for your disability, it may still qualify as an emotional support dog. Emotional support animals do not have the same level of access as service animals, but they are recognized as assistance animals. Emotional support dogs can live and travel with their owners without having to pay additional pet fees. Emotional support animals provide support and comfort to owners that suffer from depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc.
Qualify for an emotional support dog letter by completing the online questionnaire below.
You and Your Service Dog in California
Once you have your Service Dog trained and registered, you are allowed by Federal law to bring your Service Canine with you in all areas where the general public is allowed. Since California’s law has a broader definition of public accommodations, the state requires “reasonable modifications to be carried out at any place “to which the general public is invited.”
This means that Service Dogs are also allowed legally on all types of public transportation, including buses, planes, and trains. You can also be asked whether the animal is a service animal, and what it is trained to do.
If you think you could benefit from the help of a Service Dog, then ask your medical professional for their opinion. Whether you train your dog yourself or enlist the help of a professional, a family member or a friend, know that your dog must be trained to perform a task you cannot do for yourself. Once you have this in place, then be sure to register your Service Dog to ensure you comply with California laws.
Latest Posts

How to Register Your Dog as a Psychiatric Service Dog
Do you have psychological or emotional disorder that make it difficult to live a normal life? If so, you may qualify for a Psychiatric Service Dog. To learn how to register your dog as a Psychiatric Service Dog, keep reading. A Psychiatric Service Dog is a type of Service Dog trained to do specific tasks […]


Can a Small Dog Be a Service Dog?
Blame it on famous small dogs like Bruiser Woods from “Legally Blonde” or Toto from “Wizard of Oz,” but small dogs have the unfortunate reputation for being pretty and portable, but not very useful. They’re known as excellent lap dogs and fit snugly into a purse. And small dogs are the supermodels of the canine […]


How to Train a Psychiatric Service Dog
Do psychiatric service dogs need training? Yes, they do. But because psychiatric service dogs (PSD) often are confused with emotional animal support animals (ESA), people sometimes assume that PSD’s aren’t trained. While psychiatric service dogs help people with mental or emotional disorders, just like ESAs, they receive extensive training to learn vital skills that will […]

To whom it may concern,
I’ll share my challenge and hope you’ll be able to help.
My friend dog kobi is an emotional support dog.
he is with him everywhere He go, keeps him come at a all kinds of stressful situations that life throws at us and basically there him at all times .
A few days ago when he wanted to buy a plane ticket for them to fly celebrates his birthday with family and friends he sadly discovered that the law has changed and when a dog is recognized as an emotional dog it’s not enough to get him on a plane with him.
As a result he dropped the idea of going there and won’t be able to get a real celebration for his birthday.
It’s very important for him to register kobi from “just an emotional dog “ to a service dog so he can keep his normal come lifestyle , take it with him places and most of all his other celebration experience will be better.(a specially on days like this who’s not easy days to anyone).
Kobi is a sweet discipline gentle dog.
What is the quickest easiest process for him to make it a registered service dog?
I’ll appreciate you contact me by mail with an helpful answer as quickly as possible
Sincerely yours,
Inbal
Kobi sounds like a great dog with service dog ambition. However, an ESA doesn’t simply switch to become a service dog. Service dogs need extensive training to fulfill a task that the handler cannot complete due to their disability. This training usually takes months to complete. The owner must self-certify that their dog has been trained to perform tasks relating to their psychiatric disability. Once the service dog is fully trained, it cannot leave the handler’s side as it has become a part of their daily life. You may find this article on how to make your dog a service dog interesting: https://www.servicedogcertifications.org/how-to-make-my-dog-a-service-dog/
Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.
I suffer from anxiety and depression, I have been researching if I qualify for a service dig, but I can’t find a solid answer, it says I do but I don’t at the same time? I just need a solid answer, if someone can give it to me please leave a reply.
You might qualify for a Psychiatric Service Dog. But you may find this article on service dogs for anxiety interesting https://www.servicedogcertifications.org/service-dog-for-anxiety/ .
Hello. JG. My son has issues of anger management, and self-harm also. Where did you have your dog trained?? Also what techniques does your dog use to alert you, and what do you do when alerted (time out, take meds, etc.?) My son needs a service dog but how to describe the service he can’t do for himself (to qualify as a “service dog?”
LF
Anger management is not considered a disability under the ADA nor is self harm considered a disability under the ADA. So your son doesn’t qualify for a service dog. Unless your son gets a specific diagnosis from a licensed doctor and that diagnosis must is considered a diagnosis under the ADA your son will not qualify until he gets a valid diagnosis and until the diagnosis is actually considered a disability.