Being unable to see is a challenging experience. Living life as a blind person can bring frustration and aggravation because they may not always know where they are going or what is going on around them. Often blind people desire to be independent, but lack the ability to live and travel on their own. Fortunately, there is a solution to this dilemma, without the help of another person. For blind people, having a specially trained dog to support them in their complicated day to day lives is a great option. The dog can encounter a wide variety of situations in its career. For that reason, it takes a considerable amount of training to become a guide dog and the dog must be strictly obedient. Guide dogs are not pets, but have a very important role that requires them to be attentive and alert at all times. Guide dogs have a profound impact on people’s lives as well as a vast history, extensive training, and pairing dogs with the blind.
It is necessary for guide dogs to have a good disposition so that they are able to lead the blind person intelligently and safely. Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds, and Standard Poodles are most commonly used in leading the blind because they are intelligent and hard workers. These dogs are all well recognized breeds that have great dispositions. “These qualities include good disposition, intelligence, physical fitness, and responsibility” (“Guide Dog”). Dogs can also be cross-bred to gain desirable characteristics in a guide dog. For example, by breeding a Labrador and a Golden Retriever, the offspring would receive both the Labrador Retriever’s long life and the Golden Retriever’s calm temperament. The physical size and weight of a dog, also plays a significant role in rela...
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.... It has brought confidence, strength, and joy to the blind people, to what could have been a dependent, challenging life. Guide dogs have the ability to change the course of someone’s life, through training, obedience and love.
Works Cited
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The dogs of war by Michael Paterniti is an informative and heartwarming article about handler Marine Corporal Jose Armenta and his dog Zenit. And how handlers and dogs are trained without each other and how they are trained with each other. The way that Micheal Paterniti writes is excellent and well written but it is even better with the pictures, the pictures tie everything together.
Some medical professionals do not believe that mental health patients can benefit from therapy dogs and go as far as saying it is a risk far as to say that it is a to the patient and compromise the patients ability to take care of the dog. When people who suffer with mental health issues qualify to get a therapy dog. The mental health patient is tested to see if they are capable of taking care of the dog. Those in need of assistance should use therapy dogs frequently do to the part of the benefits to using these pets to improve mental and emotional health as and physical health. Therapy dogs are beneficial to people who suffer from mental health issues by providing companionship as well as support. Some people with mental health issues have a hard time trusting others and need someone to talk to; Service dogs are important because to make they people with mental health problems feel better and help people with these disorders deal with their emotions.
It can be a companion, an aide, or both. Pet dogs are loyal and make wonderful company, and an emotional support dog creates bountiful joy, but a service dog is much more. A service dog not only serves the same role as a pet, but creates a safer environment for its owner. Without the service dog it would be much harder for the owner to get around on a daily basis indecently. However service dogs and their owners are discriminated against because people are skeptical of the dog’s legitimacy, but instead the service dogs and their owners should be respected and treated as
My report is going to be on guide dogs. In this I will show how the guide dogs are used in everyday life. I will show how they are trained to help the blind. I will show you about guide dogs and service dogs. I will also show you the dog breeds used for guide and service dogs. In this I will show you the importance of guide dogs to the disabled.
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"US War Dog Association." US War Dog Association RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2014.
According to the ADA, dogs are the only kind of service animal. These dogs are especially trained to help
Sweeney, Michael S. Dog Tips from Dogtown: A Relationship Manual for You and Your Dog. Washington, D.C: National Geographic, 2010. Print.
My dog Shadow raced toward what sounded like water to me and as (1) a blind college student at Texas State University this could only mean one thing and that was the San Marcos River that flowed through the campus! I know naming a service dog Shadow when I was using him due to my blindness was ironic yet it was precisely what he was my constant companion and shadow. The sounds of people in the water playing and other dogs in the area only drove Shadow faster toward the fun. As a blind student I had complete trust and faith in my guide dog but the unknown of the water much less the stairs and hills between us were more than unsettling it was frightening. (1) I am an eighteen year old freshman that had complete vision until an auto accident
When most people think of blind people, they tend to picture a person with dark sunglasses, a seeing eye dog, and a walking stick. These are stereotypes and obviously do not remain true in the case of all blind people. In Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral," the main character is jealous and judgmental of his wife’s friend who happens to be a blind man. It is the combination of these attitudes that leads to his own unique “blindness." It is through this initial blindness, that the character gains his greatest vision.
Having a dog can be a great experience for people who enjoy their company. These animals are usually friendly and active; they are intelligent and can develop a strong relationship with their owners based on love and care. However, having dogs is a big responsibility for the person who owns them, because they are animals, so they cannot support themselves. Dogs need someone who can feed them, give them love, and someone who can help them exercise. Moreover, these animals need big spaces in order to run and develop their muscles, so the owner has to know that he needs to take a walk with the dog several times a day.
Emert, Phyllis Raybin., and Howard Schroeder. Search & Rescue Dogs. Mankato, MN: Crestwood House, 1985. Print.
Armbruster, K. (2002). “Good Dog”: The stories we tell about our canine companions and what they mean for humans and other animals, 38 (4), 351, 26. Retrieved from http://www.siue.edu/PLL/
“A dog is a man’s best friend” goes much deeper than the phrase might initially imply. Recently many medical journals have begun to identify with the many and varied benefits of pet ownership. Men have always relied upon animals for work, transportation, and survival. As times have changed, man has begun to appreciate a different bond with animals. Gone are the days of animals running free outside around the homestead, for now animals are allowed inside and are considered by many to be an integral part of our daily lives! Medical studies have found that animals have a much greater intelligence level than originally thought. Through proper training and experience, animals are not only household pets, but also are becoming an accepted form of medical treatment.
Dogs are wonderful creatures. They are loyal, dependable companions if given the opportunity. In recent years I have come to the opinion that we could learn something from these animals. We should also take a look at the manner in which they are being treated. Abandonment, irresponsible breeding, and neglect are only some of the ways that humans are failing the canine species.