What is an assistance dog?
An assistance dog (also known as a service dog) is trained to perform specific tasks for one person with a disability. The tasks are tied directly to that person's needs - alerting before a seizure, guiding someone with low vision, or interrupting distressing behaviour in an autistic person. Training is intensive and tailored to the individual handler.
What is a therapy dog?
A therapy dog is trained to offer comfort to many different people, usually in a hospital, school or care home setting, alongside a handler who isn't necessarily the person being supported. The dog isn't trained for one person's specific tasks. It's trained to stay calm and friendly across a range of people and unfamiliar settings.
What is an emotional support animal?
An emotional support animal, or ESA, provides comfort simply through companionship, to its own guardian. It doesn't require specific task training. The role is more about presence than performance - an ESA may simply need to be there, not perform a learned function.
How they differ
A few ways to tell them apart:
- Who they work for. An assistance dog works for one specific person. A therapy dog works with many people through its handler. An ESA works for its own guardian, with no wider public role.
- How much training is involved. Assistance dogs go through the most extensive, individualised training. Therapy dogs need solid temperament work and exposure training. ESAs typically need no specialised training at all.
- Where they're allowed to go. In countries with public access laws, assistance dogs can usually accompany their handler almost anywhere. Therapy dogs are allowed only into the specific institutions that invite them. ESAs generally have no special public access rights.
- What they're actually doing. An assistance dog performs trained tasks. A therapy dog offers a calm, comforting presence to others. An ESA simply needs to be present for its guardian.
| Factor | Assistance Dog | Therapy Dog | ESA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who they help | One person | Many people | Their own guardian |
| Training required | Extensive, individualised | Temperament and exposure | None required |
| Public access rights | Broad (where laws exist) | Invited institutions only | None |
| Primary role | Task-based | Comfort and presence | Companionship |
Why this confusion matters in India
India has no legal framework that defines or protects any of these three categories. That means the terms get used loosely, sometimes interchangeably, by pet guardians, institutions and even some service providers. This makes it harder for people who genuinely need a trained assistance or therapy dog to be taken seriously, and harder for hospitals or schools to know what they're actually saying yes to when someone asks to bring a dog in.
Getting the terminology right is a small but necessary step towards building real programmes and real trust around this work in India.
What we are doing about it
HeartDogs trains Indies - India's native landrace dogs - for both assistance and therapy roles, depending on each dog's temperament and the needs of the person or institution involved. The dogs are trained in real homes in rural Karnataka by women working as paid foster-trainers, with training tailored to whichever role a dog is best suited for.
We're building India's first credible model for this work, with the training, structure and clarity that the field needs to be trusted.
