Service Dogs
What they are and what they do
Service dogs are highly trained dogs that are used along with traditional medical treatment to assist their handler in living a more full and complete life
They do this through mitigating their handler’s disability via a task, either independently or on cue.
Tasks, also known as Work, are behaviors which assist a service dog’s handler.
Tasks can vary greatly between dogs, and may include things such as:
- Opening a door
- Responding to an alarm
- Placing themselves between their handler and another person
- Alerting their handler to a medical issue
- Bringing an item to their handler
- Guiding their handler
A cue is a command given by the handler for the dog to respond in the manner they’ve been trained.
Tasks are usually cued by the handler either consciously, or subconsciously. They may also come from a change in the environment around the service dog team.
Cues may take many different forms including:
- A hand signal
- A spoken word or phrase
- A touch
- Movement of the leash
- A shift in the handler’s body language
- a person nearing the handler or dog
Interacting With a Service Dog Team
ALWAYS
- Be courteous
- Acknowledge the dog and its handler
- Be aware of the dog and its handler
- Remember the dog has a job to do
NEVER
- Touch the dog without the permission of the handler
- Interfere with the dog performing its tasks
- Ask personal information about the handler
- Be offended because the handler doesn’t want to interact with you.
If you ever see a service dog alone, or it is acting significantly different than expected.
FOLLOW THE DOG
The handler may be incapacitated.
In this situation DO NOT
- Ignore the dog
- Touch the dog
- Attempt to restrain the dog
- Attempt to distract the dog