The 7 Best Service Dog Breeds for People With Disabilities
A service dog, as defined by the ADA, is “a dog that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability. The task(s) performed by the dog must be directly related to the person's disability.”
Service dogs are a very special type of canine other than our four-legged companions. They are required to undergo months and even years of training to assist people with disabilities so that they can be functional in their daily lives.
However, not every dog can become a service dog. There are certain types of dog breeds that have been selected based on their commonly known mental and physical traits. These dogs with specific traits are then matched to a person with a specific disability.
This is a list of those dog breeds and the disabled people they are best suited for.
1. American and English Labrador Retrievers
Labs are one of the smartest dog breeds in the world. They are eager to please their owners and are very friendly to people and other dogs which makes them the best breed for a lot of service dog job types.
2. Golden Retrievers
Similar to Labradors, Golden Retrievers are chosen for service due to their even tempers and gentle natures. However, the Golden variety is a much more athletic dog and requires daily exercise. This dog breed is best to be trained as a guide dog for the blind and vision-impaired.
3. German Shepherd
Loyal, obedient, strong, protective, and easy to train, what more could one want from a GSD? Like Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherds are also a good dog breed for a variety of assistance work. But they are more in demand for children with special needs who need an extra layer of protection and soldiers who want to come to terms with battlefield trauma.
4. Poodles
Dogs are known to have a keen sense of smell. So keen that they can detect changes in our hormones that can signal an incoming problem. Pair that trait with strong instincts and you’ll have a highly efficient diabetic alert, allergy detection, seizure alert, and seizure response Poodle.
5. Pomeranian
While some people with disabilities are extroverted, there are those who are introverts as well. A Pomeranian is a great service dog breed for those who prefer to stay at home and go to a lot of places because they are small and can fit almost anywhere.
They are also highly social and are good at preventing their humans from feeling lonely. Pomeranians are best suited to be hearing dogs because they can easily alert their humans from the sound of alarms and doorbells.
6. Great Dane
Originally bred to be hunting and guard dogs, Great Danes nowadays are the most popular dog breed when it comes to assisting people who need mobility assistance. They are tall and strong enough to support a person or child move from point A to point B. Most importantly, they are gentle, kind, and patient to provide their humans psychiatric support as well.
7. Border Collie
Another good mobility assistance dog breed is the Border Collie. Although not as strong and tall as the Great Dane, Border Collies are energetic, quick learners, and intuitive problem solvers - traits that are needed to be efficient at retrieving items when a person cannot.
Before deciding on a dog breed to become your service animal, make sure that it has the right mental and physical characteristics for your needs. You don’t want to spend thousands to train a pooch that requires a lot of maintenance or can trigger your allergies.
Do you own an assistance animal? Register your pet today.
The Service Animal Registry of California invites you to have your assistance animal registered in order to designate its status. We also encourage you to take our online classes so you can be fully aware of your rights and gain more knowledge about your support animal.
Finally, we present to you our book entitled, “ASSISTANCE ANIMAL LAWS: LEARN YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING SERVICE ANIMALS, EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMALS, THERAPY PETS, AND OTHER DOGS, CATS, AND ASSISTANCE ANIMALS” to provide you with a complete education on assistance animals.
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