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.
