It’s common for emotional support animals and service dogs to get confused with each other. Most people assume that their qualities overlap, but in reality they are two distinct animals.
An ESA, better known as an emotional support animal, is an animal that provides therapeutic support to its owner. A service dog, on the other hand, is a dog that has been trained to perform special tasks for individuals who have disabilities.
Note that it’s illegal to misrepresent your emotional support dog as a service animal, so it’s important to understand the difference.
Attempting to pass your emotional service dog off as a service dog, even if unintentionally, can have harmful consequences. While there is the issue of legality, there is also the issue of presentation. If someone is trying to claim that their emotional support dog is in fact a service dog to be allowed in a certain establishment, this can affect any surrounding people and the reputation of service dogs in general.
Service dogs receive specific training, which emotional support dogs are not required to have. If your dog misbehaves while trying to pass as a service dog, this makes it harder for individuals with actual service dogs to easily be allowed to go where they need to.