The Process of Becomng a Service Dog Essay

I have been doing research on mental illness service dogs for almost a year now and I feel like it would be extremely beneficial for me, especially since I am leaving for college next year. I have a few actions service dogs can be trained to do in mind that I found on a service dog website.

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 are 3 different types of service dogs people can have: Emotional Support Animals, Therapy Animals, and Service Animals. Emotional Support Animals have one task and that is to provide comfort and support, emotionally, to someone who needs it and has a documented health condition. Therapy Animals are registered through an agency and their purpose is to provide therapeutic value to those who need it. Service animals are trained to perform tasks the owner simply cannot do on their own, guiding blind people, detecting seizures, helping people who have lost legs or arms.

At first sight, service dogs look like any other dog. They are furry. They walk on all fours. They have a tail. But they have many differences from other dogs. Service dogs are well behaved and are obedient. They wear clothing that no other dog wears such as a vest to make people aware that they are service dogs. Service dogs perform tasks that no other dogs can do, like paying for meals and carrying objects for their owners, sometimes in a vest compartment like a backpack. Service dogs are unlike other dogs because they are trained to do tasks that human beings normally do, but can’t because of some disability. Service dogs help their owners navigate the world they live in by assisting their owners in overcoming day to day

When the Labs are just three months old they will be assigned a foster home. This family will care for the puppies for the next year. They family will more than likely have children in the home because this offers a better way of socializing the dogs from the start. This family will teach this puppy many basic commands like: sit, stay, walking on a leash, fetch, and come. It will be put into as many

The well-trained, educated staff have a vital role in coordinating and providing the necessary information to the individuals and families regarding the four types of assistance dogs. Service dogs, Facility dogs, Hearing dogs, and Skilled companion dogs. Having a knowledgeable staff who are able to deliver services, advocate when necessary, provide referrals as well as brokering for the client. These aspects in addition to, it’s structure, funding, collaboration and delivery of services, cultural competence, systems thinking, worker and leadership effectiveness are used in order to enhance or change the lives of individuals. Empowering the consumer is crucial to creating independence, thus meeting the goal of this organization.

Work animals, including dogs and horses, have been around for centuries, used for working on the farm or for transportation. In Mark Ostermeier’s article he explains that after World War I, people started training animals, specifically dogs, to escort veterans with disabilities. The 1960’s, is when the first formalized dog training schools started to emerge in America. As service dogs became more prevalent in public places, the public did not understand the training involved for these dogs to do their job. Due to the lack of knowledge of the purpose of a service animal, business owners, corporations and airlines prevented Americans with service dogs from gaining access to public places.

Not all service dogs are allowed in all public places. This paper explains all the reasons

The dogs have to be able to follow the person around and not run away. The dogs can not be distracted, they need to focus on what they are doing. The dogs need to be able to learn quickly. If dogs fail to do all of these things then they can put their owner in big danger.

There should be certain measures taken to become a service dog. It should not be made as simply as going online, buying a vest and calling a dog a service dog when in reality they are not.

It isn’t uncommon for people to have service animals and i do think that it is reasonable to spend extra to keep those animals in good health. I remember a time when i was taking a train to Georgia to see my family and a man had died from a heart attack. The said that he had a service animal who was meant to alert everyone when things like this happened but he didn’t bring his animal. The man sat with other people with service animals but none of the animals alerted anyone. This scenario has me wondering if maybe it’s because only his dog was trained to be service for him. If this is true I understand why it would be easier to save a service animals than to train

Seizure alert dogs are taught to alert their owners that they are going to have a seizure, to lay on top of their owner while that are having the seizure, and know how to get help when they can. While not all dogs are trained to recognize the signs of a seizure, but they still are able to detect that something is wrong. Science still does not fully know how dogs are able to sense this illness in the body.

Dog owners have to put in a lot of effort to keep their dog healthy, happy and looking good. In addition to feeding and bathing your pet, you will have to trim their nails. You may be tempted to trim your dog's nails yourself to save yourself a couple bucks, but when looking at the many ways you and your dog can benefit from you allowing a pet groomer to tackle this task, you may actually change your mind.

It is often said that a dog is a man’s best friend. In the last 14,000 years, dogs have accompanied man by helping him hunt, guard, and protect. In our modern world, dogs help us combat in war, search-and-rescue, guide the blind, deaf, discapacitated, rehabilitate patients in therapy, aid law enforcement, and are part of our family as beloved pets (Coren). Although canine superstars such as Lassie, Old Yeller, and Rin Tin Tin portray the perfect dog we all want in our lives, these ideals are far from the truth. Many first-time dog owners expect dogs to know behaviors such as how to walk on a leash, not bite, not destroy the house, and in addition to many others. In reality, dogs must be trained on what their handler wants them to do. It is

Every animal has their own level of intelligence, take a rat for example, they are extremely intelligent and are capable of learning quickly. All throughout this paper, I will talk about what tools to use and how to train dogs, cats ferrets, rats, and even Monkeys. Most animals that we are able to have as a pet are trainable but not all.