I love dogs.

My family has two — a pug/Boston terrier mix named Rosie and a fluffy mutt named Pixie.

They can get annoying sometimes, like when they follow you all around the house or constantly bark to be let outside. But they’re also great faithful friends, showing appreciation just for scratching or petting them.

Various studies have showed that owning a dog (or cat) can lower stress and depression, as well as provide an outlet for exercise and social interaction (namely with other pet owners).

However, some dogs are turning their natural tendencies into a job. They’re serving as service dogs for people with mental illnesses, similar to seeing-eye and hearing-ear dogs, as my classmate Erin G. Edwards reports.

“Psychiatric service dogs” get the same access to businesses and public places as similar animals do under the Americans with Disabilities Act. And they’re also being used with veterans who have post-traumatic stress disorder:

“One of the main things is helping the veteran to be comfortable … away from home,” [Pat Schwartz of Golden Kimba Service Dogs] said. She said they train the dogs to meet the veterans’ needs and that the dogs provide a “constant, non-judgmental presence.”

That lack of judgment makes dogs a great companion — whether you have mental illness or not.