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Every dog serves us in some way, if only to provide us with companionship and unconditional love. But service dogs are in a special category, trained specifically to help people with disabilities or life-threatening conditions.
The best service dogs have traits that make them indispensable to their owners by helping them in ways that restore their independence and improve their quality of life.
Service dogs are trained to help people with physical or mental disabilities lead more independent lives. Perhaps the best-known type of service dog is a guide dog for the blind. But, they also include dogs who aid the hearing-impaired, mobility dogs who can fetch or carry items for owners, and medical alert dogs who can detect and warn owners of an allergen or impending seizure or attack. Psychiatric service dogs also perform tasks that can make life more tolerable for those diagnosed with psychiatric disorders or mental disabilities.
Service dogs are a type of working dog, different from emotional support animals and therapy dogs. While those dogs also provide services to people, service dogs are trained specifically to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities.
The Different Types of Service Dogs
Although the terms therapy dog, service dog, and emotional support dog are often used interchangeably, they do refer to different things. We’ve written about how to identify a service dog extensively before, but we’ll provide a quick synopsis below.
Hearing Dogs
Like their name suggests, hearing dogs are trained to assist their deaf and hard-of-hearing partners. When the dog hears a particular cue, they alert their owner and lead them towards the noise. These cues include smoke or fire alarms, doorbells, door knocking, phones, alarm clocks, and even the person’s name.
Like other support dogs, hearing dogs increase their partners’ independence and awareness, both in and out of the home. Common breeds used include labradors, golden retrievers, cocker spaniels, and poodles (miniature or standard). While they aren’t required to wear special gear, some owners outfit their hearing dogs in bright orange.
Top 10 SERVICE DOG BREEDS
Service dogs perform an invaluable service to people every day. Certain physical and psychiatric conditions can be helped by having a highly trained animal companion to assist you as you move about your day.
What kind of animal companion are you allowed to have? Can any dog be a service dog? Are there any restrictions? If you’ve ever asked these questions, we’ve got the answers for you.