All About Working Dogs

Have you ever seen a dog with a vest on? If so, they are most likely a working dog. A working dog is a type of dog that is not merely a pet, but learns and performs tasks to assist and/or entertain its human companions. There is a lot about working dogs that most people don't know. The first guide dog school was established in 1929.In 1960 the practice of using dogs to enhance the life of persons with disabilities became more widespread. In 1975 canine companions for independence highly trained assistance dogs for children and adults was established. (http://victimsofcrime.org)

There are three major kinds of working dogs. The first type of dog is an emotional support dog. An emotional support dog is a dog that provides comfort and support in forms of companionship for an individual suffering from various mental and emotional conditions. The next type of dog is a service dog. A service dog is a type of assistance dog specifically trained to help people who have disabilities, such as visual impairments, mental illnesses, seizure disorder, mobility impairment, and diabetes.The third kind of dog is a therapy dog. A therapy dog is trained to provide affection, comfort and love to people in hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, schools, hospices, disaster areas, and to people with anxiety and autism.

Working dogs train a lot of the time, but each kind of working dog trains a little differently. For a service dog they must obey basic verbal and/or hand signal obedience commands such as sit, stay, come, down and heel. When the dog is off the leash, they must come when called. Service dogs must be handler-focused, desensitized to distractions, and highly trained to do specific tasks. Service dogs training can last up to two years before they are placed with a client. For therapy dogs the dog first needs to socialize to new people, places, objects, and surfaces. The dog must obtain the AKC good citizen title which is recognized as the gold standard for dog behavior. They need to train behaviors for therapy work including, look, leave it, loose leash walking and not jumping on people. Emotional support dogs don't have any specific tasks to perform, the emotional support dog must be well behaved and under your control at all times.

All working dogs help their client in many different way, but all the types help their client a little differently. Service dogs help their clients by helping them with a disability to complete essential tasks so they can increase independence and improve their quality of life. Service dogs help for physical disability, debilitating chronic illness or neurological disorder. Therapy dogs help people with mental health challenges. For example, therapy dogs assist people with PTSD and children with autism. Therapy dogs work with professionals and their clients, often within a traditional therapy session, providing comfort, support and helping engage people. Emotional support dogs help with people with an emotional or psychiatric disability confirmed by a counselor.

If your dog is calm, cool, and collected, but also alert and responsive, chances are they're a good fit to be a working dog. If you want your dog as a working dog they will need to be professionally trained. Legally, in order for a dog to qualify as a service animal, the owner must have documented disability defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the dog must be trained to help its handler with the disability and the service animal can't disrupt its environment, according to petparents.org. If you become a service dog trainer you can make up to 30,510 dollars a year.