Photos of service dogs and their humans have always captured our attention. Dogs have lived among us from the earliest recorded history, as documented in prehistoric cave drawings.
They have long helped humans in many ways, both personally and professionally. As we gained more knowledge we developed a greater understanding of our beautiful and loving canine companions.
We created more opportunities for canines to take on greater roles in our families and communities. Nowadays, dogs are an important part of society.
They help us in many ways every day. Things would definitely not be the same without them!
The First Contact between Humans and Dogs Was A Primitive Substitute for Photos of Service Dogs
The first documented canine-human bond dates back to around 15,000 years ago when humans started living in small groups. Wolves would hang around the human settlements and find scraps of food.
After some time, wolves became accustomed to being in the vicinity of humans. Ancient cave paintings depict canines in association with humans.
As generations passed, the wolf puppies bonded even closer with humans. With time, this bond grew stronger and humans started utilizing wolves to do tasks that made their lives much easier.
That led to the creation of the first ancestral dog from which all canine breeds developed.
Photos of Service Dogs
Guide Dogs
Maybe the most common example of a service dog that comes to mind is a guide dog. These dogs help blind and visually impaired people navigate through life more safely, helping them to lead normal lives!
They are known as service dogs, guide dogs or seeing-eye dogs. These dogs must have a special temperament to be chosen and trained to do this important work.
The First Service Dog Was A Rescued German Shepherd Named Blondie
One of the earliest schools designed to train these special service dogs was for servicemen and women blinded in WWII. Blondie, a rescued German Shepherd was the first canine to graduate from that school.
Guide Dogs for the Blind is not only the oldest such training school, but it is also the largest in the United States. It now has its own breeding program as well.
Now, Many Breeds Serve As Guide Dogs
For a long time, German Shepherds were the primary breed chosen and bred for this important role. Now, Labradors and Golden Retrievers have joined their ranks.
These breeds are often mixed as well. This group of breeds is known for wanting to please their humans, high intelligence, and a strong work ethic.
Therapy Dogs
Therapy dogs provide people with comfort, love & affection. They help to reduce stress and to ease grieving periods. These dogs are required to have an excellent temperament and good health in general.
Helping people get through many turbulent life situations, they are called upon to serve in many environments.
Service Dogs improve the lives of their human partners regardless of location. They are found working in many places.
- hospitals
- nursing homes
- schools
- retirement homes
- with disabled persons
- in disaster areas or
- in private homes
- with extremely distressed persons
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Defined But Not Protected
Therapy dogs have been defined but they are not given protection under the Federal Housing Act or the American With Disabilities Act. They can be rejected by places of business, restaurants, and airports.
Neither do they have public access privileges other than to the specific sites they are invited to visit or work. Usually, any rights that they might have granted to them by the individual facility.
What are the requirements?
Therapy dogs must be able to work with people of all kinds of disabilities and need to be easy going. Further, they need to be able to ignore distractions and to maneuver on all kinds of terrain.
Additionally, they must get along with a wide variety of people and to adjust to loud noises without fear. It is vital that they be able to move quickly. Labs and Retrievers are often good candidates for this role.
Training Is Minimal For Therapy Dogs
While there are some programs that provide some minimal training, their selection is primarily based on temperament and good health. There is an AKC Therapy certificate that can be earned.
If you are interested in pursuing more info, there is a national organization. It offers training for both dog and handler called Pet Partners.
It is unethical for people to pass off their Therapy dogs as Service dogs to fly or to visit restaurants, although this is sometimes seen.
Some Service dogs also serve as Therapy dogs so do not assume you can identify an offender on sight.
Search and Rescue Dogs
Dogs save many lives when natural disasters strike. Search and Rescue dogs are able to sniff out people trapped in collapsed buildings.
They can also track down lost people in forests and other places. Some are further trained to tell the difference between living people and cadavers.
Police Dogs
Police dogs are very common and serve a variety of roles in the police force. They can do many things such as pin down criminals.
They also sniff out drugs and help perform crowd control. Police dogs help us every day by making our society safer!
Hunting Dogs
Hunting dogs help us retrieve game and drive prey out of burrows and bush. Typically, hunting dogs are usually instinct-driven and purposely bred to retain and enhance any instinctual hunting characteristics.
Herding Dogs
Herding dogs help farmers move livestock. The classic herding example is a border collie rounding up sheep. These specially bred dogs are also used to herd other livestock and not just sheep.
Interestingly, herding dogs also protect the livestock from wild animals, including wolves and coyotes.
Military Dogs
We have all seen military dogs on TV. These dogs go through extensive training and provide support to soldiers on the battlefield.
Here are two articles featuring military heroes
https://excellentdogsclub.com/k-9-heroes-on-american-soil/
https://excellentdogsclub.com/k-9-hero-of-the-al-baghdadi-raid/
Guard Dogs
Dogs are trained to protect a person and their possessions. Consequently, these kinds of dogs usually have a powerful and quite intimidating appearance. This is essential for them to carry out their job!
Certain breeds have a reputation for being assertive or even downright aggressive. Some of this may be deserved but some is more myth than fact.
While some breeds of dogs are easier to train to act aggressively, even those breeds start off as sweet puppies and can be brought up to be gentle.
Mobility Dogs
Mobility dogs assist people with limited mobility. Such dogs can carry out a multitude of tasks from turning lights on or off as well as opening and closing doors.
They are able to pick up items and take them to their owner.
Medical Alert Dogs
Dogs are more in tune with their surroundings and are able to detect minute changes that we humans cannot.
Medical alert dogs are able to detect physiological changes such as seizures and give a warning when it is about to happen. These specially trained dogs help us every day to save lives!
Autism Assist Dogs
Dogs are man’s best friend and autism assist dogs are every child’s best friend. Autism assist dogs help children suffering from autism by being very calm.
They provide a sense of safety and stability to autistic children. They are often the best friend the child has and is a constant companion.
Dogs Help Us Every Day in Many Ways
Without a shadow of a doubt, dogs help us every day in many aspects of our lives. Thanks to that first interaction between our ancestors and wolves.
According to historians, 15,000 years ago, humans and dogs happily lived together and help each one another!
We Hope You Enjoyed These Photos of Service Dogs And Their Humans
Dogs are such a huge part of our lives on a daily basis. Sometimes they are like members of our family or, at least, our best friends.
Other times, we depend on them to perform special tasks that enhance our lives. Occasionally, they save our lives.
We Enjoy Stories and Photos of Service Dogs As Well
Please feel free to share your stories and photos of your favorite service dog with us.
