Working Dogs Are Canines
That Make A Difference
By Danielle Rexrode

Will Rogers once said, "If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went."

For thousands of years, dogs have had a special relationship with man. Although their primary job may still be "man's best friend," dogs have gradually been expanding their repertoire of job skills over the centuries and have become an invaluable part of the workforce. From guide dogs to rescue dogs, from dogs working in the movies and on TV to dogs making the rounds at hospitals, and on the battlefields, dogs make great employees.

The Right Dog for the Job

Not to long after dogs first came to share their lives with humans at least 12,000 years ago, we discovered we could train them to perform certain tasks. The first working dogs may have helped humans on the hunt or protect their livestock from predators. Over the years, dogs have been carefully bred to highlight particular natural traits, creating dogs perfectly suited for specific jobs.

Lending a Helping Paw

Assistance dogs are the eyes for the blind, hands for the disabled, ears for the deaf, and companions for those in need. These highly intelligent, dogs are trained to provide a specific service to their handler and above all promote their independence.

Groups like Assistance Dogs International, Inc., a coalition of over 95 not-for-profit organizations from places like California, Ohio, Canada, England, Germany, Australia, and Japan, place assistance dogs for those in need around the world.

A number of criteria are considered when selecting assistance dogs, including confidence, temperament, size, and alertness. Labradors and Golden Retrievers are often good candidates; however, any intelligent dog with a suitable disposition can be trained to be an assistance dog.

Doggone Good Detectives

It's been said that one trained search and rescue (SAR) dog is as effective as ten trained human searchers. That's because a dog's sense of smell is about 100,000 times more sensitive than a human's sense of smell.

Search dogs are trained to find missing people and save lives. Perhaps the most memorable example of work of these amazing dogs was during the September 11th terrorist attacks. More than 250 search and rescue dogs worked around the clock at the World Trade Center and The Pentagon, searching for survivors beneath the debris and rubble.

Many of those dogs were trained by the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (NDSDF) in Ojai, California. NDSDF, founded in 1995 by Wilma Melville in response to the Oklahoma City bombing, is the country's leader in training search and rescue teams.

"Disaster search requires very specific skills for both dog and handler," explains Melville on her website www.ndsdf.org. In order to prepare, the dogs undergo a vigorous training program that takes about one year. NDSDF works hand in hand with Sundowners Training Kennel in Gilroy, California where the dogs learn to walk on unstable, uneven surfaces like rubble, climb up and down ladders, craw into small openings and through dark tunnels, all in response to verbal and nonverbal commands.

"We look for dogs for our training program in shelters, breed rescue groups, and other service dog organizations, say NDSDF's Canine Manager Miki Klocke, who recruits and manages the canine candidates. "The dogs must be between the ages of 6-18 months and we look for very specific characteristics. The dogs are fostered by volunteer families in canine prep homes before they enter formal training," says Miki. NDSDF guarantees that any dog that enters the program is provided for, even if the dog cannot complete the program.

"One of the best parts of any job is organizing our graduation ceremony," says Miki. The graduation ceremony is held twice a year, is where firefighters and rescue handlers are presented with their new canine partners. "The meeting of the handler, the dog, and the canine prep home foster family is the most heart-warming event that I have ever witnessed," she concludes.

Paws-itively Perfect Performances

Some of the most celebrated actors of our times have been of the canine variety-from Toto in The Wizard of Oz to Petey from Little Rascals, Lassie, Benji, Beethoven, and Wishbone, the lovable Jack Russell Terrier who stars in his own PBS children's television series.

Dogs are movie stars, models, and spokes animals for everything from restaurants and electronics to department stores and beer. Hollywood's first canine superstar, Rin Tin Tin, the German Shepherd who starred in 27 black and white films, made front-page news when he died in 1932.

How can your dog get his big break in show business?

According to Anne Gordon, a columnist of www.hollywoodpaws.com, a website that specializes in helping animal actors get discovered, good looks aren't the only job requirement. Your dog also needs "a high degree of training, an outgoing friendly personality, and the ability to accept command and focus while many distractions are occurring." To get your dog's paw in the door, Anne recommends contacting your local film animal trainers for help with promoting your pet.

Canine Characteristics

So exactly what characteristics contribute to the success of these canine careers?

Just like our jobs, working dogs require different skills for different jobs. and so the physical requirements for working dogs vary--herding dogs spend much of their day on the move and require stamina. Police dogs, on the other hand, need to be fast and expend burst of energy.

On thing is certain--we humans are the ones who benefit from all the hard work our canine friend do for us everyday.

© 2004 The Erickson Tribune (March 2004 Edition). Written by Danielle Rexrode.

Related Topics:

• Peggy Faith, a member of BRASC, and Callie, her Aussie which is a FEMA Disaster Search & Rescue Dog (now retired), were deployed to the Pentagon after the September 11, 2001 attack. Visit Callie's page >>
  
  
• Kobe, a rescued Aussie, was trained to be a service dog. Read Kobe's story >>