Psychiatric

Our Psychiatric Service Dogs (PSDs) will be specially trained for individuals diagnosed with a mental illness or learning disability that is debilitating. Once paired with a PSD, an individual will gain an independent lifestyle thought to be unrealistic or impossible before meeting their 4-legged partner.

Psychiatric Disabilities

The types of diagnosed conditions that qualify for Psychiatric Service Dogs include:

  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Anxiety Disorders – In addition to PTSD include Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder
  • Severe Depression
  • Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) – Psychiatric symptoms following a TBI

Trained Tasks

All PSDs will be proficient with foundational behaviors that include basic obedience, public access training and advanced socialization. Specialty training will be dictated by the individual receiving the PSD. Some common tasks associated with specialty training include:

  • Provide warning of anxiety attack before it happens
  • Provide physical and emotional support during and after anxiety attack
  • Perform actions to redirect its human when necessary
  • Retrieve medication 
  • Alert medical personnel
  • Provide sense of safety through various means
  • Provides space or stand-off distance from others 
  • Physically awakens individual if nightmare occurs
  • Reminds individual to take medication