For as long as Chris Picou can remember, he has been surrounded by the love of his loyal dogs. “I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t have a dog,” he says. “Today, I have a Goldendoodle named Roux. Roux is a task-trained psychiatric service animal. Everywhere I go, Roux is by my side. I couldn’t imagine life without him.”
While Picou may be known for being the CEO and founder of the digital marketing company Lido Labs, connecting people with their own emotional support animals has become his other business passion after he began developing the idea for American Service Pets in 2017 and officially launched the company alongside co-founders Kenny Parkerson and John Hernandez in 2018. Picou’s passion stems from a very personal place, as his dogs played a crucial role in navigating his own personal life challenges.
“In 2014, I was formally diagnosed with a mental health disorder. I hadn’t realized it at that time but dogs had helped me cope with my disorder throughout my life,” Picou recounts. They had offered the emotional support I never knew I needed.”
Picou saw American Service Pets as an opportunity to fill an important niche in an industry that is often plagued by scams and unwelcome surprises. Driven by a desire to introduce people to the therapeutic benefits of emotional support animals for people dealing with psychological issues such as anxiety and depression, Picou and his co-founders aimed to create a network of licensed psychologists and medical health professionals throughout the company.
This network of trained professionals was formed to quickly and efficiently evaluate and diagnose patients, determining their eligibility for an ESA (emotional support animal) or PSA (psychiatric service animal) letter and providing compliant, signed documentation authorizing patients to receive an emotional support animal, when clinically appropriate. Patients who have been granted ESA or PSA letters can then use their letters to claim reasonable accommodations through the protections granted to them by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Fair Housing Act (FHA). However, readers should note that documentation does not guarantee public access rights for service animals, and housing accommodations for service animals are still governed by federal housing regulations and property-specific eligibility.
The network’s first building blocks were laid in California, while the team at American Service Pets also combined efforts to create a digital infrastructure that would effectively facilitate the online evaluations between doctors and patients. After three years of sustained efforts, American Service Pets finished building its doctor network. The company went from helping 78 people find licensed medical professionals in California in June 2018 to helping over 300,000 people find medical professionals across all 50 states today. As a result of the company’s growth, it was named to the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest-growing companies in America in 2023, taking the number 764 spot.
In addition to the company’s services connecting customers with medical professionals across the country, ASP has made efforts to make service dog training more accessible to its customer base. In response to service dog trainers charging high fees for their services, American Service Pets has given people the opportunity to save money on dog training by learning training techniques step-by-step through their TVs and devices. In 2022, American Service Pets launched iTrain Academy, a service dog training curriculum helping dog owners train their dogs for psychiatric service dog tasks. ASP also expanded its dog training services by launching a new behavioral dog training program in 2024, giving its customer base new opportunities to connect with their dogs.
Today, American Service Pets continues to expand its reach, guided by a mission rooted in empathy, accessibility, and responsible mental health support. For Picou, the company’s success is measured not just in growth, but in the peace of mind and stability it helps bring to people who rely on the companionship of their animals every day.
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