If dogs had to look for jobs like people do, would your dog be standing in the unemployment line? Or would your dog have plenty of offers to choose from? I know this is a silly thought but when I was reading an article recently about dogs that help people with diabetes it made me think, how many jobs are there for dogs?
Apparently there are tons of jobs for dogs, tuition is not cheap however, and there aren’t government grants for canine students so a lot of the organizations rely on contributions from generous people. Here are some of the jobs I found that aren’t your ordinary guide dog jobs.
Scent tracking dogs. Bloodhounds are known for their amazing ability to track and are after more than just criminals, they are called upon to locate anything from lost children to disoriented Alzheimer’s patients. It’s not just Bloodhounds for hire, dogs of all breeds are used for their wonder snouts, searchdogfoundation.org uses nothing but rescue dogs of all breeds for locating disaster victims buried under rubble. Some other scents dogs are trained for are, narcotics, accelerants and termites.
Seizure alert dogs. Dogs that help people who have epilepsy or a seizure disorder. They can alert other family members when the person has a seizure, and also will attempt to wake an unconscious person. Some dogs learn to actually alert the person of an impending seizure. This allows the person to get to a safe place before the seizure takes place and give them peace of mind when leaving the house. Seizure alert dogs cannot be taught to alert for seizures this is something they develop on their own. How do they do this? Well, no one knows for sure, it may be a change in heart rate or some other subtle change in the body that the dog can sense.
Peanut detection dogs. For people who are deathly allergic to peanuts a Peanut Detection Dog (PDD) can provide much needed peace of mind. Peanut detection dogs are trained to detect peanuts in any form, raw, butter, cooked, oil, dust, etc. Poodles are often used as PDDs because they do not shed and have low dander so allergy sufferers can tolerate owning the dog. More information can be found at peanutdog.com
Grief Therapy Dogs. The role of the therapy dog is now expanding into grief therapy in funeral homes. More and more funeral homes across America are adding a canine staff member to their support team. The International Cemetery, Cremation, and Funeral Association (ICCFA) former president Mark Krause helped to pave the way for these service dogs, encouraging his members to get involved and share with other members at the industries conferences. Some grief therapy dogs are naturals at their jobs never receiving any formal training. Most however, have undergone therapy training and are certified therapy dogs.
Pain Relief Dogs. A rare breed Xoloitzcuintlis or Xolos (pronounced show-lows) provide pain relief in the form of their hot bodies. This Mexican dog is known for their ability to create an unusually high body heat. Nancy Gordon was so impressed with the relief her little dog gave her she was inspired to create a non-profit organization for chronic pain sufferers Paws for Relief! Xolos for chronic pain relief. More information can be found at pawsforcomfort.com
Bear Dogs. The rare breed Karelian Bear Dog is a special breed that is working to save bears and people. Beardogs.org is a unique program teaching bears to stay away from people. Founded by Carrie Hunt the Wind River Bear Institute is the only one of its kind. Training this special breed a technique Hunt calls ‘bear shepherding’, using the dogs along with other methods to teach the bears to avoid human boundaries. The Karelian Bear Dog is the only breed used for this job, and only a few pups out of each litter have the instinct to hunt bears.
These are just a few of the many titles canines hold. In my house my dogs have some unofficial titles like, therapist, guardian, entertainer, and vacuum (for all those dinner time spills!) among the many, many other ‘jobs’ they take on.
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