PSD?

[Steviesacowgirl]

I am agoraphobic and have started to train my dog to be a PSD, but I don't know if she would qualify. What we are working on now is when I start having symptoms of a panic attack, she will nudge my hand and force me to concentrate on her, thus helping to stop my attacks. Right now we are about halfway there She already knows everything she needs to to pass the public access test. Does she qualify for a PSD?

[caring canine]

There are many here to give you guidance of what tasks may be required to classify your dog as a PSD under the ADA.

I just wanted to say  to the group. 

[Roxie]

Welcome to the group!  Happy you are here!

To qualify to have a Service Dog, one must be legally disabled under ADA definition. A SD must be task trained to mitigate the person's disability.

Roxie

[Ilghaus]

Welcome to SDC.

Has she been trained any solid tasks? Remember to be legally considered a task per the DOJ it must be trained to mitigate your disability.

Nudging the hand is something many pet dogs do to get attention. Dogs do it when their owner is upset, sick, or just not paying attention to them. You would have to document exactly how you trained her to do so and be able to demonstrate to a judge that she could do so on a trained cue (visual or verbal). In my opinion, I would say it might be borderline a very weak task at most but I would have my doubts it would be enough. I personally would not recommend it be in itself considered a task toward fulfilling the legal requirements.

Remember, you have the option to contact the Attorney Gerneral's Office in your State for a legal answer.
If you do so by mail remember to keep your return letter in case you need to present it to a judge or if questioning by telephone request the information received over the phone to be followed up by a letter. Again, you would need to keep that in case it is needed in the future.

I see Roxie had already posted the first part of my slow response.