Service Dogs Affect Human Health

There are between 45 to 55 million dogs per household in America (American Humane Association 2012). Furthermore, according to a national survey, the majority of dog owners chose to get a dog for the companionship as the major reason for having a dog (American Animal Hospital Association, 2004). After all, dogs are nonjudgmental, give unconditional love, can be trusted with our most intimate feelings and emotions, and are highly intelligent. These dog characteristics can significantly enhance the lives of thousands of youth and adults, especially those with disabilities and/or those who live in continuing care facilities. There are approximately 20,000 service dogs in the U.S., which includes 10,000 guide dogs (American Humane Association 2012)

There is a reason people say dogs are a man’s best friend. When I was younger, I was always afraid that some “bad guy” would break into my house. This fear caused me to have nightmares and lose sleep. Then I got a dog and I felt so much safer! Right now there is a case going to the Supreme Court to decide if service dogs should be allowed in schools. Service dogs should be allowed in schools because they help people with disabilities, they provide comfort to people, and because dogs are frequently used in fields of medicine. If I found comfort with a dog, so can students with disabilities.

In today’s evolving society, there is more mobility that ever for people with disabilities. One of the things that allows this to happen is the use of service animals. Problems however arise when people try to cheat the system. Attempts to pass off pets as service animals, improperly trained animals, and businesses with lack of knowledge on laws all contribute to ongoing frustrations. The need for a centralized training standard as well as government registration and regulation of service animals is clear and immediate. If standards can be established within breeding clubs for “Good Citizen” training, then it can be done for service dogs. Then, once

The guide dog performs functions and tasks for the person that has disabilities and cannot perform for him or herself. A sighting seeing dog is one of the services for who are blind. This is the type of service animal with which most people are familiar. The guide dog is not a pet, but not licensed or certified. But there are service animals that assist persons with other kinds of disabilities in their day-to-day activities. Some examples include: Alerting persons with hearing impairments to sounds. Pulling wheelchairs or carrying and picking up things for persons with mobility

It is misunderstood that service dogs are only for the blind but this is not true. Service dogs assist people with many types of disabilities. According to Dr. Demling, Certified Behaviorist at Pet Wellness Academy, dogs also provide “Unconditional love. A 100% acceptance without judgment when a person is depressed, anxious, lonely, wearing the same clothes as yesterday and can’t get out of bed helps people feel like they have a true friend during their difficulties.” (qtd. In Bennett). There are service dogs for the blind, deaf, people with anxiety, depression, people who have seizures and people with autism. Service dogs make their owner’s lives happier by helping them overcome their disabilities and

A therapy dog is skilled to care and offer comfort to patients in hospitals, retirement homes, schools, catastrophe area, and people with learning complications. From a different perspective, a service dog is an assistance dog trained specifically to help persons with disabilities including autism, hearing and visual difficulties. The dogs aid cognitive therapy enabling the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) victims to expose themselves gradually to feelings and thoughts reminding them of the past. The dogs offer comfort, affection, and companion that enable the victims to relax triggering the sense of flashback within them. Flashback is critical in the treatment process of PTSD.

Service dog are very helpful to people in need that’s why they are so important. When the puppies are about 8-12 months they are away from their moms, so they can be trained to help people in need. According to “The wonders Veterans”,The dogs can help other people when they are not able to do things on their own, so they can help a lot. Also these dogs are very well trained and very smart.

There has been a long history with animals and their natural bonds with humans for many decades now. Dogs have helped people with a multitude of illnesses for some time now, however Americans were not the first to discover this natural trait in animals. The Germans during World War 1 were the first to discover this. In the book, History of Guide Dog Use by Veterans it states that the German army in particular “relied heavily on the use of German shepherds as ambulance and messenger dogs. The Germans reportedly used more than 25,000 dogs during World War I. ' these dogs were ideally suited for this type of work, with ell-known traits such as trainability, loyalty, intelligence, strength, and endurance” (Ostermeier 587). In today 's society, we have numerous people who are unaware of the services that animals can provide for humans. Specifically humans with mental or physical disabilities. In this paper I will present various types of service animals as well as the many services they provide.

Among guiding the blind, service dogs also assist people with a range of physical disabilities, as well as mental. Suffers of PTSD have seen great improvement, and service dogs have also made a mark on sufferers of mental illnesses such as Asperger's Syndrome, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, and Autism. Among many tasks, one is innate, comforting. Service dogs can be trained to use their natural instinct to protect and love their “pack” members in a more focused way. These dogs alert their owners and others to their owners attacks and prevent self-harm as well as providing either a distraction or comfort. This comfort comes from the chemical oxytocin, which is released when we look into our dog’s eyes or pet

Service dogs are trained to assist people with physical and mental impairments. They are not pets. It was not until after World War I that a modern guide dogs school was founded. However, the United States did not have a Seeing Eye dog until 1928. Today there are many service dog schools such as Guide Dogs of America and Occupaws. The American’s with Disabilities Act guaranties that people with service dogs cannot be refused service at restaurants, stores, health care facilities, places of lodging, or recreational settings. To obtain a service dog, a person must be legally disabled and able to train with the dog for 3-6 months. It costs an average of $25,000 to breed, train, and certify the dogs. It is usually free of charge for the visually

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, or depression, amongst many other disabilities deserve to be acknowledged because of the medical advancements in the past several years which support the effectiveness of service animals. These disabilities affect the everyday lives of thousands of people throughout the United States, which is why I believe that service animals can be a beneficial component that may boost a person’s endurance. In the article, Service Dog Training Program for Treatment of PTSD in Service Members, a study written with the United States Army, results concluded that service animals were deemed effective in their practices. The article reports that veterans and service members had an “increase in patience, impulse control, [and] emotional regulation” (Yount, et al.). As a helpful practice for disabled persons, it is a civil injustice to discriminate against a person with a service dog. To neglect a disabled person’s accessibility to basic public services in modern society is a violation of human rights. I think that the lack of accommodations for service animals and their handlers is an overlooked issue in society, which is why I believe that my research is a relevant issue in modern

A service animal is any dog that is trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability. The difference between a service animal and a regular pet is that a service animal does work/tasks that must be directly related to the handler’s disability. Service animals have been helping disabled humans since 1927. There are three types of service animals: guide animals, hearing animals, and service animals. A guide dog helps to guide the blind; a hearing dog helps to signal the hearing impaired to noises; a service dog helps do work for patients with disabilities other than blindness and deafness.

Service dogs are a type of dogs that are specially trained to do specific responsibilities to help people who have disabilities, such as people with visual impairment. The dog’s role in this case is to guide them around the obstacles, stop at step ladders, and help them cross the street. Also, service dogs trained to help people with hearing impairment. They trained in a way to alert their partners to sounds and lead them to the source of it. On the other hand, service dogs help people with mental illnesses to take their pills at certain times of the day and carry medical supplies for them.

Malamud explains, “Though my definition seems concisely focused- ‘service animals rendered assistance to people with disabilities’- consider the propositions that, in some sense, all people have disabilities: none of us is perfect” (Malamud). People who have problems after difficult situations in their lives or even if they have been in the military do have service dogs to help guide them. They also help people that are blind, deaf, or even some that have autism. They are important because the dog will take care of them and help with any trouble they

Dogs have been by our sides for thousands of years. Where did it all begin? The relationship between dogs and humans have changed over time and it just began just recently, unless you had a lot of money and the only reason you could keep a dog was for the work that it could do. Dogs were hunters and warriors, then went from workers to pets and from becoming a pet most dogs now have a special bond with their owners.