While most people are familiar with guide dogs that help people who are blind or visually impaired, there are also a variety of assistance dogs trained to help people with physical disabilities, hearing loss and other various medical conditions.
Unlike most pets, assistance dogs are highly trained canine specialists — usually Golden and Labrador retrievers, and German shepherds — that know about 40 to 50 commands, and are amazingly well-behaved and calm.
Here's a breakdown of the different types of assistance dogs and what they can help with:
Service dogs: These dogs are specially trained to help people with physical disabilities due to multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease, chronic arthritis and many other disabling conditions. They help by performing tasks their owner cannot do or has trouble doing, like carrying or retrieving items, picking up dropped items, opening and closing doors, turning lights on and off, assisting with dressing and undressing, helping with balance, household chores and more.
Hearing dogs: For those who are deaf or hearing impaired, hearing dogs can alert their owner to specific sounds such as ringing telephones, doorbells, alarm clocks, microwave or oven timers, smoke alarms, approaching sirens, crying babies or when someone calls out their name.
Seizure alert and response dogs: For people with epilepsy or other seizure disorders, these dogs can recognize the signs that their owner is going to have a seizure, and provide them with advance warning, so he or she can get to a safe place or take medication to prevent the seizure or lessen its severity. They are also trained to retrieve medications and use a pre-programemd phone to call for help. These dogs can also be trained to help people with diabetes, panic attacks and various other conditions.
For more information on assistance dogs go to Working Like Dogs an educational website for people who are interested in getting an assistance dog.
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