ESA Doctors’ Guide to Training Your Emotional Support Dog

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Emotional support dogs play a key role in managing mental health conditions of their handlers. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, ESAs aren’t service animals. They don’t require any specific training to provide mental & physical assistance to individuals with disabilities. So, does that mean an ESA should be untrained? Well, definitely not. People can easily recognize a well-behaved dog, especially when you visit a public place or are finding a new apartment. Here’s quick advice by ESA doctors to train an emotional support animal-

Teach Your ESA Basic Obedience Commands

Although you can teach your emotional support dog with endless commands, here are the important ones-

Sit

  • Hold a treat and take it closer to your pet’s nose
  • Move the treat backward until your dog sits, and say “sit” immediately
  • Reward your dog with a treat when they did it correctly

Down

  • Take a treat closer to your emotional support dog’s nose.
  • Lower the treat and your dog will follow it
  • When your dog is fully down, give them a reward.

Stay

  • When your dog is sitting, show them your palm.
  • Step back and increase the steps backward ensuring your dog is not moving.
  • Say “stay”, and give your dog a treat if they did it correctly.

Come

  • Hold the leash and pull it gradually.
  • Say the word “come”
  • Give your dog a reward if they did it correctly

Train Your ESA to Relieve Your Anxiety

Emotional support dogs go beyond just simple obedience commands. They help their owners calm their anxiety, stress, self-harming behaviors, etc.

Deep Pressure Therapy (DPT) is one of the specific techniques ESAs can learn to relieve anxiety in their owners. It involves applying pressure to certain areas of the body to provide relief.

How to Teach Your Emotional Support Dog to Apply DPT

  • Begin with teaching your dog to climb up and down on the sofa. You can use the command “paw up.” Give a reward each time they come closer to the sofa.
  • Keep practicing. If you have a small dog, aim at getting all four paws on the sofa. For larger dogs, go for only front paws on the sofa with the command “paws up.”
  • Next is “paws off” command, opposite to “paws up.”
  • Teach your dog to lay or sit on the sofa. To apply the DPT, your dog needs to lie vertically along your body. For larger dogs, putting their front paws on your shoulders is fine.
  • Now, train your dog to identify symptoms you experience during stressful situations so that they can provide support when required.

Covering it up, emotional support animal training involves basic obedience commands such as sit, down, stay, come, etc. Along with that, you should train your ESA to help you calm anxiety with pressure therapy called the DPT.

To live with your pet in an apartment under the FHA, get an ESA letter. Get it online at My ESA Doctor in three simple steps-


  • Submit a form online
  • Talk to ESA doctors via video call
  • Get your ESA letter via email

Location: 2001 E First St #102e, Santa Ana, CA 92705, USA

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