pittsburgh: I am a sexual assault survivor, and a few days ago, my counselor suggested getting a service dog. She said that there are programs that provide service dogs for this reason, but after attempting to reasarch online, I haven't been able to find any around Pittsburgh that seem applicable. If anyone would be able to suggest any organizations that do this, it would be greatly appreciated.|||As I stated before in the dogs section: There's a difference between a personal protection dog and a service dog. Personal protection training does not qualify a dog as service dog in the sense of being able to take it with you to places where pets are not ordinarily permitted. As another answerer said, you must be not only mentally ill, but so severely mentally ill that you are disabled by that illness in order to qualify for a service animal. An emotional support dog is also an option. They are not permitted any place that pets are not permitted with two exceptions: they can live in "no pets" housing and can accompany their disabled owner in the cabin of aircraft during flights. If you don't need either of those things then there's no real need to have him called an emotional support animal. You should share this article with your counselor: http://www.iaadp.org/ptsd.html Note that giving a service dog additional protection training can be very problematic. If you are ever in need of emergency assistance and the dog interferes with emergency personnel, he may be shot on site. Additionally, protection training turns a dog into a weapon. Many businesses and almost all government offices exclude weapons and that would include protection trained dogs, even if they are also service dogs. If you are disabled, there are other things that a dog can be trained to do that might help you. http://www.iaadp.org/A-dogWorld.html http://servicedogcentral.org/content/nod鈥?/a> To find a service dog provider, try the information in this article, which includes links to several online lists of providers: http://servicedogcentral.org/content/nod鈥?/a> Be prepared to give the program detailed information about your disability and some medical documentation to prove you are disabled. They'll need the proof of disability as part of the criteria to determine your eligibility and they'll need the details about what you cannot do because of your disability to determine what sort of task training the dog will need.|||BNF didn't say she needed a dog for protection. Just as soldiers suffer from PTSD so do survivors of other traumas, rape and sexual assault most definitely included. Likewise, just as soldiers suffering from PTSD can benefit from a service dog so can sexual assult survivors, no mental illness needed Report Abuse |||Please see my answer in the "Dogs" section.