Okay, so going to start off by saying I have had a PSD for years. I am part of a number of support groups for people with SDs and I train SDs. So I'm not just speaking out of my arse here.

A psychiatric service dog is like any other service dog and takes about two years to train. The only reason you would need a letter for the dog, from your doctor, is if you need to live in "no pets" housing or to fly or possibly the Uni might ask for it, as they are a school and you may have to request a reasonable accommodation with them.

The Americans with Disabilities Act defines a service dog as a dog that is trained to help a person with a disability by performing specific tasks. So you can't just be receiving support from the dog, it has to actually perform tasks. Here is a link to tasks that are trainable for people with psychiatric disabilities. http://www.iaadp.org/psd_tasks.html

It can't just be any dog either. And by that, I don't mean breed or rescue versus being purchased. The dog needs to be temperament tested and socialized and have impeccable obedience training. This is why training takes a couple of years. Depending on what state you are in, once your PSD in training is disciplined enough, you may be able to take it with you places. Some states give trainers (and you can owner-train, I did) the same access rights as fully trained service dogs.

Don't get pulled into one of those internet scams that call themselves a service dog registry. There is no legal certification or registration of service dogs in the United States.

My service dog was a rescue from a shelter. When I was diagnosed with my disability, I had already had him for a couple of years, and I was just truly lucky that when I asked our trainer if she felt he could handle being a working dog, she did some testing on him and determined that he would be acceptable for public access work.

It's very difficult to train a dog from puppyhood to being a fully trained service dog. There is an extremely high percentage of "wash outs."

But it's not impossible with a good trainer at your side and if you are invested in the training, to be consistent and devoted to that training.

If you have more questions, you can PM me.

Good luck, I hope this information was helpful.

Seesaw