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Making Life Easier For The Handicapped

Having proved their love for humans and their desire to serve, Labradors are now being trained throughout the world to assist many types of handicapped owners in the chores of everyday life. You have probably seen a handicapped man or woman being guided by a loving and well-trained Labrador Retriever at some time.  With some assistance, many people who would formerly have been confined in their activities are now entering the mainstream of society. Their extensively trained Labradors are their vehicles to freedom.

Because Labradors have extraordinary sense of perceptions, they are one of the breeds being widely used as Hearing Ear Dogs. After completing a rigorous four- to six-month obedience and auditory awareness program, they are specifically trained to the individual needs of their hearing-impaired or deaf owners. Their primary tasks are  to alert the owner to the noises that most people take for granted such as the doorbell or telephone, the alarm clock, a baby crying, smoke alarms, oncoming traffic, or emergency sirens. The Hearing Ear Dog makes his owner aware of any important sound by running between the sound and the owner until attention is paid, gently nudging an owner who is asleep, or pulling the owner from harm’s way.

Aid Dogs are trained to assist physically disabled people with tasks requiring dexterity or mobility. This variety of tasks include picking up items dropped on the floor to bringing in the mail or turning light switches on and off. These skills are taught to a Labrador by building on his natural intelligence, retrieving instincts, gentle nature, and his desire to please. After mastering a battery of advanced obedience techniques, each dog is placed with his disabled owner and taught the specific chores he will be required to perform in the home.

With an arthritis sufferer, for example, the Aid Dog will retrieve or carry objects as commanded. With a more severely handicapped individual, such as a wheel-chair-bound stroke victim or paraplegic, a system of communicating with the dog may also have to be devised to replace vocal commands or hand signals. Aid Dogs learn to assist their owners by performing many of the physical tasks they are unable to handle, in this way widening the owners’ abilities to take an active role in the world around them.

Making Life Easier For The Handicapped courtesy Dog Articles.

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Guide To Service And Assistance Dogs

Dogs are often said to be man’s best friend, and they certainly are, but there are some dogs out there who go above and beyond the call of that loving bond. From police service to personal guides to herding sheep or cattle, service dogs offer a lot to their trainers and masters.

In addition to working for us, there are some particularly trained dogs out there who work with us. Assistance dogs are there to aid those who have some sort of limitation and may not be able to get around without the help of a well trained four-legged friend. Those who are disabled and having an assistance dog will be more than willing to tell you how essential their animal is to their everyday life.

A short list of the different ways assistance dogs can aid the disabled is as follows:

Guide or ‘Seeing Eye’ Dogs:

If you were to ask someone about assistance dogs, this would be the first one that comes to mind. These dogs are specially trained to help those who are visually impaired  function more easily and safely in the everyday world. These dogs help their masters find their way around, get up stairs and cross streets. An indispensable tool to those who need them, they keep their masters safe in situations that could otherwise be dangerous.

Hearing Dogs:

Hearing dogs aid those who are hearing impaired. They are trained to get their owner’s attention when they hear specific noises. When someone comes to the door, calls on the phone, or when they hear a horn (among other sounds), they alert their masters to the sound.

Mobility Assistance Dogs:

For those of us who have a hard time getting around, these animals are trained to pull their wheelchairs, carry small equipment and items in their special doggy service backpacks and other such tasks.

Seizure Response/Alert Dogs:

These dogs are with their master all of the time and constantly on the look out for trouble. In case of cardiac arrest or seizure, they are trained to hit a certain button connected to a special phone line that directly dials 911. The 911 operators recognize that the incoming call is coming from a service dog line and will notify paramedics that there may be an emergency with the registered owner of the service dog.

Psychiatric Service Dogs:
For those with severe mental illness or phobias, these dogs are continually by their side and offer emotional comfort and security to their owners. Service dog owners with autism are helped to stay focused by their psychiatric service dog. This working dog provides a stable and constant relationship for their owners to seek comfort in.

Combination Service Dogs:

For some owners with multiple limitations or disabilities, their service dogs are trained to perform multiple assistance jobs. Their impressive ability to learn to aid their owners with more than one limitation is only surpassed by their consistency in doing their jobs. These dogs become a big necessity to their master’s lives and are widely recognized as very intelligent and very hard working.

The tasks these service animals learn are vital to their owners’ lives, but just as important is the constant companionship and comfort they offer to their masters. They function as helpers, but they are also incredible friends.

Guide To Service And Assistance Dogs courtesy of Dog Articles.

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