There’s nothing better than coming home to see the happy wag of your pup’s tail or hear the smooth purr of a cat. Some of these pets have a job though; they lead the blind, locate objects, open doors, and can even sniff out bombs while working with the police. However, these friendly faces are not just pets, they are service animals. A service animal is defined as follows, “Dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities” (Service Animals). This one sentence is the difference between a loveable pup and a working dog. Service animals are constantly on duty to perform their job, whether it is pulling a wheelchair or making sure a patient properly takes their medication, these dogs have a purpose greater
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Due to the limitless possibilities for what a dog can learn, the term service/assistance animal is also too broad when speaking of the specific tasks these dogs are trained to execute. Within the term “assistance dog,” there are three main categories these dogs can be classified in: Guide, Hearing, and Service.
Guide dogs are for blind or visually impaired individuals. The main tasks completed by guide dogs are; obstacle avoidance, signal changes in elevation, locating objects on command, and retrieval of objects. It takes approximately four to six months to train a guide dog to master these commands. In order to keep the dog fully trained, proper reward is necessary to alert the dog that they are still exhibiting desired actions. Remember, although they are not pets, dogs still seek the same reward and praise for a job well done.
Most Hearing Dogs come from shelters and take about three to six months to train. They provide assistance to deaf and hearing-impaired people. The jobs of hearing dogs include alerting to specific sounds either at home or away from home, retrieval dropped objects that went unheard, and providing warning for approaching objects. Hearing dogs can improve a family’s communication between one another and provide better protection/security to the hearing impaired individual in case of emergency
Due to the limitless possibilities for what a dog can learn, the term service/assistance animal is also too broad when speaking of the specific tasks these dogs are trained to execute. Within the term “assistance dog,” there are three main categories these dogs can be classified in: Guide, Hearing, and Service.
Guide dogs are for blind or visually impaired individuals. The main tasks completed by guide dogs are; obstacle avoidance, signal changes in elevation, locating objects on command, and retrieval of objects. It takes approximately four to six months to train a guide dog to master these commands. In order to keep the dog fully trained, proper reward is necessary to alert the dog that they are still exhibiting desired actions. Remember, although they are not pets, dogs still seek the same reward and praise for a job well done.
Most Hearing Dogs come from shelters and take about three to six months to train. They provide assistance to deaf and hearing-impaired people. The jobs of hearing dogs include alerting to specific sounds either at home or away from home, retrieval dropped objects that went unheard, and providing warning for approaching objects. Hearing dogs can improve a family’s communication between one another and provide better protection/security to the hearing impaired individual in case of emergency