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Our dogs are integral to our daily lives. They follow our commands, work with us in various capacities, and act as faithful companions. Dog ownership has increased dramatically over the last 100 years, and today, dogs as companions and working partners are valued by more than 80 million U.S. owners.
Studies have shown that dogs provide health benefits, and can increase fitness, lower stress, and improve happiness. Service dogs have these abilities, combined with training to perform specific tasks for individuals with disabilities. During the last decade, the use of service dogs has rapidly expanded.
As service dogs have become more commonplace, however, so too have problems that can result from a lack of understanding about service dog training, working functions, and access to public facilities. In response, AKC Government Relations is working with members of Congress, regulatory agencies, leading service dog trainers and providers, and transportation/hospitality industry groups to find ways to address these issues.
The benefits service dogs can provide also continue to expand. In the 1920s, a service dog was typically a guide dog, assisting an individual with a visual or hearing disability. German Shepherd Dogs were commonly used as guide dogs. Today, service dogs are trained from among many different breeds and perform a variety of tasks to assist disabled individuals.
A service dog helps a person with a disability lead a more independent life. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a service dog is “a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability.”
“Disability” is defined by the ADA as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, including people with history of such an impairment, and people perceived by others as having such an impairment. The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, state and local government, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunications.
A service dog is trained to take a specific action that helps mitigate an individual’s disability. The task the dog performs is directly related to their person’s disability.
For example, guide dogs help blind and visually impaired individuals navigate their environments. Hearing dogs help alert deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals to important sounds. Mobility dogs assist individuals who use wheelchairs or walking devices or who have balance issues. Medical alert dogs might also signal the onset of a medical issue such as a seizure or low blood sugar, alert the user to the presence of allergens, and myriad other functions.
Psychiatric service dogs assist individuals with disabilities such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, post–traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, and other conditions. Examples of work performed by psychiatric service dogs could include entering a dark room and turning on a light to mitigate stress-inducing condition, interrupting repetitive behaviors, and reminding a person to take medication.
The ADA considers service dogs to be primarily working animals that are not considered pets.
Service dogs can range from very small to very large. The dog must be of a size to comfortably and effectively execute the tasks needed to help mitigate a disability. For example, a Papillon is not an appropriate choice to pull a wheelchair, but could make an excellent hearing dog.
Breeds like Great Danes, Saint Bernards, and Bernese Mountain Dogs possess the height and strength to provide mobility assistance, while Poodles, which come in Toy, Miniature, and Standard varieties, are particularly versatile. A Toy Poodle puppy can begin early scent training games in preparation for the work of alerting on blood sugar variations, while a larger Standard Poodle puppy may learn to activate light switches and carry objects.
Canine Companions for Independence, Inc. (CCI), ), now publicly rebranded as Canine Companions, maintains a breeding program for Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers. CCI states, “Breeder dogs and their puppies are the foundation of our organization.”
The predictability of dogs in a breeding program yields improved results. According to CCI, “Our breeding program staff checks each dog’s temperament, trainability, health, physical attributes, littermate trends and the production history of the dam and sire. Only then are the ‘best of the best’ chosen.”
NEADS World Class Service Dogs maintains a breeding program and also obtains puppies that are sold or donated by purebred breeders. Using primarily Labrador Retrievers, NEADS “works closely with reputable breeders to determine whether their puppies are appropriate for our program based on the temperament, health and behavioral history of both the dam and the sire.” NEADS also selects alert, high-energy dogs from animal shelters and rescue groups as candidates for training as hearing dogs.
Regardless of breed or mix, the best service dogs are handler-focused, desensitized to distractions, and highly trained to reliably perform specific tasks. They are not easily diverted from their tasks at home or in public and remain attentive and responsive their owners while working.
FAQs
A service dog is legally defined by the U.S. Department of Justice as “dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.”
What Are Service Dog Requirements?
If you plan to get a dog, or you already have a dog that you want to train to become a service animal, below are the requirements associated with owning a service dog:
1. A person is qualified for a service dog if they have a physical or mental disability.
2. A service dog must be under the control of its handler.
3. A service dog is trained to perform specific tasks that assist the handler.
4. When it is not apparent what service an animal provides, these two inquiries are allowed to ask the handler. (1) is the dog a service animal required for a disability, and (2) what task has the dog been trained to perform.
Service Dog Training: How Long Does Service Dog Training Take?
Dogs are a common staple in U.S. households. In fact, as of 2020, there are approximately 90 million dogs in the USA. Most of these dogs are pets and compassion animals with no formal training, but a surprisingly large number also includes service dogs. In fact, there are over 500,000 service dogs living in the USA and assisting their owners.
Most commonly, when we hear service dogs, we think of seeing-eye-dogs for the blind, but there are actually many types of service dogs, such as psychiatric service dogs.
A service dog is legally defined by the U.S. Department of Justice as “dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.” On a broader spectrum, a service dog is a licensed dog that provides assistance to a person with disabilities. These support dogs can provide assistance to people with mobility issues, emotional support, comfort for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and much more. Out in public, these well behaved pups wear a vest to set them apart from regular pets.
As you can tell, there are many types of service dogs. Let’s go over the ones we will discuss in this article.