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If there’s a dog in your home, you have a friend, confidant, and devoted, unqualified admirer. You can depend on that devotion and it will never fail you. For a disabled person lucky enough to be partnered with a service dog, that steadfastness can make a life possible.
The Americans with Disabilities Act considers any dog assisting a person with a disability (excluding therapy dogs) to be a service dog. The most familiar of these is the guide dog, which has been used in this capacity since the early 40’s. Seeing Eye, started in Morristown, NJ, was the first organization to systematically breed, train and partner these animals with humans in need. Guide Dogs for the Blind (on the West Coast) was started in 1946 to help Armed Forces men and woman blinded in combat. Many of the dogs used were initially trained to be used in combat as guards, scouts, messengers and mine detectors. Returned to civilian life, their superb obedience skills and devotion to the service of people made them naturals as guide dogs.
Guide dogs act as the eyes for their owners and must learn to negotiate anywhere their human wants to go...busy streets, packed sidewalks, stairs, all manner of buildings...while avoiding obstacles, even those overhead which would not impede the dogs themselves but could be a hazard to their human partner. The breeds most often used are yellow and black Labs or German Shepherds, occasionally Golden Retrievers. They’re bright, easily trained, and have a natural disposition for the work. They’re not too big to fit comfortably under a desk, or on the bus or subway, and not too small to work in harnesses.
Their earliest training is received in the homes of “foster families”, frequently from children, such as 4-Hers. As puppies they learn basic obedience skills, polite manners and how to live with humans. Their futures are decided during this period; not all the puppies have the proper temperament for the work. Their formal training, which takes about six months, starts at 1 1/2 to 2 years. If they don’t do well as a guide dog because they miss the family who raised them, or because of doggy stress, they can go back home or are placed with other families. Their potential partners must be trained at the guide dog center as well, usually for several weeks. Since 1990, a new concept in which the training is done at the home of the student is being utilized. These are small, strictly regional programs; most training and partnering is still done at large residential facilities.
Hearing and signal dogs alert the hearing-impaired to door bells, telephones, smoke alarms, or crying babies. They train for a week with their new human partners. Although not as universally recognized as their guide dog counterparts, they are allowed everywhere on the Americans with Disabilities Act. Service dogs also lend a sturdy back to lean on for those with balance problems, pull wheelchairs and tote and pick things up. Small dogs are now being trained that can retrieve objects from counters or desk tops and return to their owner’s laps.
Social dogs are, as one would expect, sociable animals that provide with folks, both adults and children, with a dear friend who’s always available for a long talk and a face lick. As well as being dedicated to one person, these dogs visit nursing homes, children’s hospital rooms, half-way houses, and psychiatric facilities. These positions are open to most breeds, the only qualifications being a calm and gentle bearing and a sympathetic nature.
For more information about dogs in service, contact Guide Dogs for the Blind, or the Southwest Guide Dog Foundation, San Antonio, TX. NEADS(National Education for Assistance Dog Services, through whom you can adopt a "Fabulous Flunkie" or foster a puppy for a year and help make an extradinary difference in someone's life, can be reached at PO Box 213, West Boylston, MA.
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