What the letter is for
Psychiatric service dogs
A clinician can document a disability and a recommendation. She cannot certify your dog, and no letter boards a plane.
The split that defines it
A psychiatric service dog rests on two facts: that the handler has a disability, and that the dog is individually trained to perform tasks that mitigate it. Those two facts are known by different people.
A licensed clinician is in a position to assess the first and to form a recommendation about the second. She is not in a position to certify that your dog performs a task reliably, because she has not trained it and does not live with it. That attestation is yours, which is why federal air travel rules put it on you and not on her.
The letter therefore records two different kinds of statement: the clinician's own professional opinion, and the handler's attestation about the dog. Keeping those visibly separate is what makes the document honest, and it is how ours is written.
What the letter says
- That the clinician assessed the handler, and is licensed, with the licence number, type, state and expiry printed so it can be checked against the board.
- That in her professional opinion the handler has a condition that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
- That a psychiatric service dog performing particular tasks is recommended to mitigate it, naming the tasks.
- That the handler has attested to the dog's training and accepts responsibility for its behaviour.
- A verification ID, so a housing provider can confirm the document is real without contacting anyone.
Where it carries weight
- A housing accommodation request, where a provider may ask for documentation of the disability-related need.
- A university disability services office, which generally requires documentation on its own form or alongside one.
- An employer's interactive process, where reasonable documentation of the disability and need may be requested.
- A foreign carrier or a destination country, which may lawfully require documentation that US airlines may not.
- Some training programmes and some trainers, who ask for a clinical recommendation before taking a client.
Where it does nothing
- A US domestic flight. The airline wants the DOT Service Animal Air Transportation Form, which you sign. The Department of Transportation's guidance is that carriers may not require other documentation from service animal users.
- A shop, restaurant or hotel. Staff may ask two questions and may not require documentation at all.
- Proving your dog is trained. Nothing proves that except the dog.
- Making a dog a service dog. The training does that. The letter documents the clinical side of it.
If someone sells you a psychiatric service dog letter as the thing that gets your dog on a plane, they have sold you a document that will not be asked for and would not be accepted in place of the form that is. Ask what the letter is for before you buy it, from us or from anyone.
Common questions
- Do I need a letter for a psychiatric service dog?
- Not for public access or for a US domestic flight. A letter documents the underlying disability and the clinical recommendation, which matters in housing, at university, at work and sometimes abroad.
- Can a therapist certify my dog as a service dog?
- No. A clinician can assess the disability and make a recommendation. Whether the dog performs a trained task is attested to by the handler.
- Will a letter get my dog on a plane?
- No. US airlines may require the DOT Service Animal Air Transportation Form, which the handler signs, and may not require other documentation from service animal users.