{"id":1072,"date":"2026-02-04T18:31:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T18:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pawhand.com\/?page_id=1072"},"modified":"2026-02-04T18:31:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T18:31:42","slug":"emotional-support-animals","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pawhand.com\/?page_id=1072","title":{"rendered":"Emotional Support Animals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>ESAs \u2013 Emotional Support Animals \u2013 provide comfort to\u00a0<strong>their owners<\/strong>\u00a0who have a\u00a0<strong>disability<\/strong>. The owner needs to have a letter from a medical professional&#8211;that letter makes the pet an ESA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Beware of scams<\/strong>: plenty of people on the Internet would love to sell you a useless certificate, registration, and\/or vest. These are unnecessary.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What does it take for a dog to be an Emotional Support Animal? <\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>First of all, the owner must be disabled. If the owner does not have a disability, the dog is not an Emotional Support Animal. While dogs commonly provide emotional support to their owners, ESAs are a protected group. ESAs do not need a vest or any identification, though the owner does need a letter from a medical professional. Any breed of dog can be an ESA&#8211;they simply need to have a strong bond with the owner. They are still considered pets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can my ESA go into stores with me? <\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>No&#8211; ESAs do not have public access rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What rights does my ESA have?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>ESAs are exempt from No Pets housing restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What training does an ESA need to have?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Only basic training so as to be well-behaved pets.  The dog needs no training beyond that required to not stress the owner with poor behavior. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">So, then, what training does Sidekicks provide for ESAs?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Paw In Hand Sidekicks can do multiple things for people looking for an ESA. We can consult with you on a good fit, if you haven&#8217;t already got a pet, and we can provide help with basic training to fix any behavior issues. We can also help guide you on any questions you might have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>See more: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More information:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ada.gov\/regs2010\/service_animal_qa.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.ada.gov\/regs2010\/service_animal_qa.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>FAQ:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.animallaw.info\/article\/faqs-emotional-support-animals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.animallaw.info\/article\/faqs-emotional-support-animals<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Confused on the difference between <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pawhand.com\/?page_id=85\">SERVICE\/THERAPY\/ESA DOGS<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ESAs \u2013 Emotional Support Animals \u2013 provide comfort to\u00a0their owners\u00a0who have a\u00a0disability. The owner needs to have a letter from a medical professional&#8211;that letter makes&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1014,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1072","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","no-post-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pawhand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pawhand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pawhand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pawhand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pawhand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1072"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.pawhand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1078,"href":"https:\/\/www.pawhand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1072\/revisions\/1078"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pawhand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pawhand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}