Service dogs assist their partners in activities of daily living, providing their human companions with greater independence and a higher quality of life. Each dog is trained to meet the needs of people with disabilities, whether by retrieving objects that are out of their reach, pulling wheelchairs, opening and closing doors, turning light switches on and off, barking for alert, finding another person, assisting ambulatory persons to walk by providing balance and counterbalance, or a myriad of other tasks.
Service Dog Requirements
Not every dog is cut out for this special line of work. Service dogs must be intelligent, willing workers, large enough for the task—for instance to comfortably fit in a harness to guide a blind person—yet small enough to be easily controlled and fit comfortably under restaurant tables and on buses and other forms of public transit. They also must be able to ignore all distractions while doing their work.
The most commonly used breeds include Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, and German Shepherds, due to their temperament, intelligence, versatility, size, and availability, although other breeds are also used. Service dogs can be identified by a backpack or harness. Although proof or certification is not required, many organizations that train service dogs give their human companions some sort of ID for the dog.
Service Dogs are either rescued from animal shelters or bred in selective breeding programs and raised by volunteers for the first year to year and a half of their life prior to their formal training. Training most often takes place at a training center, although in-home training has become increasingly popular. Dogs are generally provided to owners with disabilities at little to no cost since training organizations are generally funded through private donations.
Type of Service Dogs
Assistance Dogs retrieve and manipulate a variety of objects and are able to distinguish between specific items. They can also pull a person’s wheelchair, carry things in a backpack, and—given some extensions such as rope handles on doors, drawers, and light switches—make a disabled person completely mobile within his or her home.
Dogs for the blind, also known as “Seeing Eye Dogs” or “Guide Dogs,” serve as eyes for their owner. They are trained to guide blind people through the world otherwise unassisted, avoiding all obstacles, including navigating sidewalks, streets, and stairs.
Hearing and Signal Dogs assist deaf people, alerting them to a variety of sounds, usually by coming up to the person then going back to the source of the sound. They can signal door knocking and bells, phones, smoke alarms, and crying.
A Seizure/Alert Response Dog responds when the handler has a seizure and either stays with the person or goes to get help. Some are even trained to hit a button on a console to automatically dial 911 then bark when the voice comes over the speaker.
A Psychiatric Service Dog keeps a person with a psychiatric disorder calm and able to be out in public, such as people with agoraphobia or those with autism who need help to stay focused.
Public Access
According to the federal American Disabilities Act, any dog assisting a person with a disability is considered a service dog—exclusive of therapy dogs, which provide therapeutic support in settings such as hospitals and nursing homes—and are thus entitled to freely access buildings and all public transportation.
Resources
Assistance Dog International (ADI)
Freedom Service Dogs (Coloradoans)
Canine Companions for Independence
Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind
NEADS Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans
See Related Articles
Discover how service dogs are helping those with disabilities, in Canine Companions for Independence: Muffy Davis and Liebe.
Man experiences new life after he finds a match with a service dog. Read his story in My First Year with Merlin – Nothing Less Than Magic.
