Week 8: How Service Dogs are Selected
Faith R -
Hello everyone and welcome back to another week of the service dog blog! To summarize, last week we talked about setbacks and failures that I have endured during this process of trying to learn about and document the service dog training process, such as my inability to take photos or my interactions with the people themselves. This week we will discuss how dogs are selected to become service dogs.
Because of the general service dog shortage, the criteria to have a dog begin service dog training is not as strict as one would think. The dogs may come from a specialized breeder but they may also come from shelters or rescue groups. What really matters are factors like temperament and physical health, temperament being the dog’s inherent nature and how that affects its behavior. For example, the dog must ideally be friendly and gentle and very compliant to commands given by the owner so that they can perform any given tasks but also not get distracted by other dogs or their surroundings. But, as stated by the American Kennel Club, the Americans With Disabilities Act considers service dogs to primarily be working animals that are not pets. This means that the dog cannot be too friendly and cannot have too much energy or require too much playing time in order to be a service dog.
Another important factor is the physical health of the dog. The dog must be able to be alert most times of the day to care for their owner. Things like breed would also be taken into account when considering physical health because some breeds are predisposed to have breathing problems.
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