Top 5 modern occupations for man’s best friend

With the economy in decline some of us might be taking a second look at our dogs. They lounge about the house all day without a care in the world while we go to work to put food in their bowls. Some of us might be thinking about ways that we could send them to work while we lounged on the couch in their place. While this is an entertaining thought, it is unlikely that our adult dogs have what it takes to perform as modern working dogs. Today’s working dog performs difficult tasks that require significant training and in some cases, a hefty financial investment. Working dogs of the past herded cattle, retrieved game and hunted small game on their own. While these were valuable tasks in their day, today’s dogs are more high tech than their hunter ancestors. Here is a list of the top 5 modern occupations for man’s best friend:

1. Service dogs are dogs who are trained to assist handicapped persons complete everyday tasks. Service dogs live and work with individuals who have experienced a loss of hearing, sight or mobility. These dogs guide the blind, signal to the deaf and retrieve objects and pull wheelchairs for those confined to them. These dogs start training at a young age and it can take over a year to fully train and place them with individuals in need. There are several avenues to take when training service dog; private companies which are the most expensive; prison inmate programs which sometimes have long waiting lists and self training where an owner trains his own dog to be of service.

2. Police dogs are dogs who are trained to work with police officers and are often referred to as K9 officers. These K9 officers perform a variety of tasks including chasing and detaining fleeing suspects, detecting illicit substances such as narcotics and searching for cadavers. Dogs have a sense of smell almost 50 times more sensitive than a human’s and they are well equipped to perform tracking tasks when armed with the proper training. The most popular police dogs are German Shepherds, but other breeds who do well in this role include Rottweilers, Dobermans and American Pit Bull Terriers. 

3. Detection dogs are an offshoot of police dogs. They do not work with suspects and are concerned only with sniffing out various substances. These “sniffer” dogs are trained to detect drugs, explosives and other contraband in airports across the country. These detection dogs work on the borders to detect the same substances, but they are also able to detect certain agricultural products not allowed across borders. These amazing dogs can detect mold, termites, money, blood, guns, cellular phones and even cancer. Dogs such as beagles, spaniels and hounds are well suited for this canine occupation.

4. Search and rescue dogs are specially trained to find disaster victims or their remains and alert their handlers to the source. They are often called in after earthquakes, tornadoes, building collapses, hurricanes or bomb blasts. These dogs work in extremely dangerous conditions and serve as a comfort to rescue workers and families searching for their loved ones. There are very few teams of search and rescue dogs out there, but the most popular breeds include German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois, Labrador Retrievers and Blood Hounds.

5. Dogs as actors are extremely popular and have been for years. While this job is less strenuous and does not carry as much risk as some of the others it does provide entertainment relief in various forms. Dog acting is so popular that there is an actor’s guild designed specifically for dogs. Some of the factors that are considered when casting dogs for commercial or film roles include breed, size and level of training. All aspiring canine thespians should be trained in advanced obedience to increase their chance of finding roles. Dog actors can range from mutts found in shelters like Benji to purebreds with documented lineages so do not despair if your talented little guy isn’t of pure pedigree.

Always remember to make training a fun and rewarding experience for you and your dog. He might just be able to be of service in your home if you make training a game for him. Reward his good behaviors and he will be more likely to repeat them. Whether he will get off the couch and get a job is another story!

This article was provided from the authors at pet-super-store a site carrying orthopedic dog bed, wireless dog fence, and dog doors.