Is this a service dog? Maybe

An increasing number of people are masquerading their pooches as service dogs.

It might be for a good reason, like having a “comfort” dog for anxiety, but it has possible repercussions.

Because the dogs don’t go through the rigorous training that a service animal would, they are more likely to misbehave and cause wariness or misunderstanding.

A service animal is a dog or miniature horse that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability, says the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The task performed by the dog must be directly related to the person’s disability.

The law makes a distinction between service animals and a comfort animals.

If a person who suffers from anxiety attacks had a dog trained to sense an impending attack and performed an action to lessen its impact, that dog would be considered a service dog.

If the dog is only there for comfort, it is not covered by the disability law.

Though comfort animals can contribute positively to therapy, stress and grief, they lack the training needed.

The line between the two keeps getting blurred and it shouldn’t. If Fido isn’t a proper service dog, keep him at home.

This story was originally published June 15, 2016 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Is this a service dog? Maybe."