The Definitive Service Dog

Service dogs require proper certification and this allows them to be allowed to any type of business, including food businesses.

When they are in public, they are generally harnessed and perform their tasks while in close proximity with their owner.

Types of Service Dogs

Now that we understand what a service dog is, it is time to look at the types of service dogs working today.

There are quite a few of them and while you may be familiar with many different branches of service dog careers, you may be surprised by some of them as well.

The types of service dogs are:

Guide Dogs for the Blind

Obviously, the first type of service dog on our list is a guide dog for the blind or visually impaired. They are the most commonly known service dog and have a long history of providing their owners with independence, security and freedom. In public, the guide dog helps navigate the world around their owner while providing them with safety from unseen hazards. The dogs work closely with their owners and need to be able to make quick decisions for the benefit of their owner.Although they provide a very important service in public, guide dogs are also helpful at home and are often trained to help with tasks such as retrieving dropped items, opening doors and other tasks.

Mobility Assistance Dogs

With mobility assistance dogs, there are several different sub-categories but the primary task of a mobility dog is to assist their owner with mobility. This can be by providing them with stability and balance, turning on lights or even answering the phone.
They can work as:

Wheelchair assistance dogs: Assist their owners with tasks such as retrieving dropped objects, providing stability when they are moving from their wheelchair to another seat or bed, opening doors and even picking up the phone for answering. In addition, they may help pull the wheelchair or anything else that is needed by their owner.

Mobility Support: Also known as a brace dog, this is a dog who is trained to work as a brace for someone with a balance disability. In addition, they will help open doors, turn on lights and retrieve dropped items among many other tasks. Only larger dogs over 23 inches in height can be mobility support dogs.

Medical Assistance Dogs: This can be for mobility or it can be for any disability that doesn’t fit into other categories. Like other service dogs, their tasks are customized to the needs of their owner.

Mobility support dogs, and all of the tasks they perform, help their owners live a more independent life.

Mental Health Service Dogs

Also known as psychiatric service dogs or PSD’s, mental health service dogs are difficult to describe. The main reason for this is because their roles vary greatly depending on the diagnosis of their owners. They can perform tasks from things such as pulling back blankets, turning on lights, to opening curtains and answering phones.

In addition, they can be trained to identify when an anxiety attack is about to occur and they will use calming tasks such as deep pressure stimulation to help calm their owners. The scope of their training will range but they are trained to work with people who have an emotional or psychiatric disability such as PTSD, anxiety or ADHD to name a few.

Diabetes Assistance Dogs

Also known as diabetic alert dog guides, these are dogs that are specially trained to work with diabetics, especially those who are insulin dependant and are hypoglycemic unaware. They can work with anyone 10 years or older and will help them monitor their blood sugar levels.
While they offer companionship to their owners, the main purpose of these dogs is to detect sudden drops in blood sugar. When they do, the dog will alert the owner so they can eat something with sugar to help level out their blood sugar levels.

Hearing Guide Dogs

Although we are often very familiar with guide dogs for the blind, fewer people are aware of guide dogs for the deaf or hearing guide dogs. However, they are a very important service dog that has allowed many to live independently without worry.
As you can imagine, hearing guide dogs work with people who are hearing impaired. You do not need to have full hearing loss to qualify for a hearing guide dog and many people who are hard of hearing can qualify for one.

The main role of the hearing guide dog is to alert their owner, though physical contact, to a sound. They will aid their owner both at home and in public.
At home, hearing guide dogs will alert their owners to household sounds, both normal or unusual. They will make physical contact before they lead their owners toward the sound. In the event of an alarm, they will lead their owner away from the danger. Sounds that they will alert to in the home are:

Baby cries
Oven timers
Doorbell or someone knocking on the door
Smoke Alarm, CO2 Alarms, etc.
Alarm Clock

In public, hearing guide dogs bring awareness of the environment to their owners. They are not trained to draw their owner towards or away from a sound, however, in public, they are trained to look towards a noise. In this capacity, their owner can look toward the sound to see what is happening around them. In addition to drawing their attention to the sounds, the hearing guide dog helps ease anxiety since owners will feel more confident with understanding what is happening around them.

Seizure Response Dogs

Although many people think of a seizure response dog working to identify when a seizure is about to take place, seizure response dogs offer much more than that to their owners. Like many other service dogs, they work to make life easier for their owners by doing things such as retrieving medication. In addition, if a seizure hits, they are trained to perform deep pressure stimulation to help reduce the length of a seizure. Furthermore, they can be trained to fetch help in the event that their own has a strong seizure.

Allergy Dogs

Similar to other alert service dogs such as diabetes assistance dogs, allergy dogs offer companionship for their owners while they provide a service. They offer allergy sufferers, especially those with anaphylactic allergies, a sense of security when they are out with potential allergens in their environment. Allergy dogs, or allergy alert dogs, are trained to scent specific allergies that the owner has. When they scent the allergen, they alert the owner to the potential allergen. This helps them avoid eating the food or interacting with the allergen.

Autism Support Dogs

This is an exciting time for service dogs and I remember being part of the initial breeding programs when autism dog training started to become very successful. Unlike most service dogs, autism support dogs work with people of all ages, including children as young as 6 years old. Autism support dogs are trained to work with people with autism or sensory processing disorders found within the autism umbrella. They provide security for parents as they are trained to maintain boundaries as well as find their handlers if they’ve run.

For the handler/owner, autism support dogs are trained with identifying times of distress in their owner. They will provide calming tasks and are trained to provide tactile or deep pressure stimulation.

Popular Service Dog Breeds

Although there are a large number of dog breeds that are capable of being a service dogs, especially if they have all of the traits above, there are some breeds that seem like the perfect fit.

Many service organizations have their favorite breeds, or breed mixes, that they use for their programs, however, if you are training on your own, here is a list of breeds, which would include their mixes, that are excellent service pups.

Labrador Retriever: Perfect for every type of service dog career, Labrador retrievers are one of the most popular service dogs.
Pomeranians: Small but hard working and excellent as mental health service dogs, allergy dogs and diabetes assistance dogs.
Great Danes: Although they are quite large, they do very well as service dogs. Specifically, they are excellent as mobility service dogs, especially when it comes to balance and support.
Mastiffs: Another giant who is perfect as a service dog. Again, mastiffs are excellent for mobility service and their calming, caring nature makes them excellent as mental health service dogs.
Golden Retrievers: Like Labrador Retrievers, golden retrievers work very well in all areas of service dog fields. Their sweet and friendly disposition makes them excellent mental health service dogs.
German Shepherds: Their intelligence makes them perfect for a wide range of service dog roles, however, their strength makes them excellent mobility service dogs and their keen sense of smells make them perfect for diabetes assistance dogs and allergy dogs.
Poodle: Poodles have shown a high capacity for service dog jobs and even the smaller varieties can do well as diabetes assistance dogs and allergy dogs.
Newfoundland Dog: Newfoundland dogs, or Newfoundlands, are known for their ability as a water rescue dog, however, they excel in service work as well. They are very good for mobility service jobs and as mental health service dogs.
Border Collie: Intelligent, quick to learn and able to do a variety of jobs, border collies can fit into any type of service work.
American Staffordshire Terrier: While there can be some restrictions on this breed due to breed specific legislation, there are none when it comes to service dog careers. They excel in a range of roles and are excellent for mental health service roles.

As you can see, there is a wide range of breeds that do well with service dog work.