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Service Dogs Are Not Slaves

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I generally don't write much to contradict animal rights activists because most of the time they don't want to hurt anyone. However, in the case of service dogs, it's a case of animal rights activists versus human well-being. Let me explain.

Many animal rights extremists (such as PETA) claim that service dogs are slaves. Yes, you heard me right. This comes from the fact that animal rights extremists think they believe that animals are equal to humans and have the same intrinsic rights as humans. However, to take service dogs away from the people who need them is to place the dogs' rights above the humans' rights. By banning service dogs, they are asking diabetics, epileptics, and others to suffer. In essence, when people want service dogs to be a thing of the past, it's not about equality anymore, it's about making animals more important. There are obvious issues surrounding the idea of "animal equality," but for the sake of argument, I won't address them here. Feel free to believe what you want about that. I'll address the common claims that animal rights activists use to make service dogs out to be enslaved. 

During this stamp description, I will refer to the person who needs the dog as the dog’s “person,” because in many cases service dogs are owned by a training agency and the person who needs the dog is actually not the owner.

 


Claim #1: "Service dogs are abused / are not socialized."

There are actually very few cases of abuse towards service dogs. Of course you could bring up the case of Inky the black lab who was beaten by her handler, but in general, there are very, very few cases of abuse towards service dogs. This is because the dogs’ people need them. If they were to abuse the dogs, the relationship would fall apart and the dog would no longer be useful, not to mention that the agency that owns the dog would take the dog away and revoke the person’s rights to have a service dog in the future.

Most service dogs are trained using only positive reinforcements. Clicker training and treats is strongly established especially among the many, many trainers. 

As one service dog trainer writes: I can tell you for a fact that my boys love to work. They see their gear and tails are wagging. I've left Mugen (my service dog in training) behind before and he actually broke out of the door to follow me to the car. My boys also have plenty of freedom. They have plenty of time to be dogs and do what they enjoy. Drifter loves swimming, going to the park, playing fetch, etc... Mugen loves to go play with other dogs at the park or friends’ houses, play fetch, hopefully swim this summer, etc. If they don't want to work one day (which hasn't happened yet) they wouldn't work. I also would like to add that Drifter (medically retired service dog) is depressed now that he is not working which is why he is going into therapy work. If the dogs you are talking about aren't happy, then the wrong dogs were chosen for the job.”

In the words of another trainer and the administrator of servicedogcentral.org/: “Service dog training is almost always done positively with little to no punishment or force, specifically because a disabled person is not in a position to force a dog to do something he does not want to do.  By definition, the dog is doing something the person cannot do for themselves.  How then could they force a dog to do something they cannot themselves do?  A person who cannot pick up a pencil is not going to be able to deliver an ear pinch to force the dog to pick it up for them either.  Punitive techniques work only so long as the dog believes there will be a negative consequence for refusing to comply.  A dog is not something that can be programmed like a machine where you set it up and then it performs the same task flawlessly for the rest of its working life (if you have a good machine, lol).  The relationship between a service dog and his person is dynamic and based on communication, mutual trust, and mutual respect.  The dog does what is asked not because he believes his trainer or person is going to beat him if he doesn't, but because he likes to work cooperatively as a member of a team and thrives on the approval and appreciation of his human partner and the relationship they share.  That is what maintains the dog's training throughout his working life.
If your program is not in the habit of selecting dogs that actually want the job, you should find a different program.”

Another trainer/owner writes:Bella showed me her natural wanting desire to work long before I started training. Bella showed me there was something wrong with me. Then I needed help she was there. She was a house dog nothing more...through time I realized she has a strong desire to work and we fostered her desire with my need for assistance. A true service dog wants to work and desires the bond with their handler. Training won’t work without the dog’s desire. Down time is essential and I don't know anyone who doesn't allow their service dog time to enjoy just goofing off and playing.”

 

 

 

Claim #2: "Service dogs are brainwashed."

Okay, aside from the fact that it’s debatable whether or not you can actually brainwash a dog, let’s look at the claim in detail. Animal rights activists believe that all service dogs are bred and raised in near isolation, and are trained to be service dogs from the moment they are born. This is simply not true.

Many programs actually take rescue dogs and dogs in shelters and train them to be service dogs. Not only does this help a disabled person have a normal life, but it saves a dog from death row. Some programs will also train your dog to perform service dog tasks, provided he/she is capable and willing to do so. Other programs breed dogs specifically for their program. While different programs train their dogs in different ways, all give the newborn puppies several months of “puppy time,” where the puppies grow up and can play with each other just like normal puppies. This socialization helps to prevent behavioral problems later on in life. Animals raised in isolation often develop behavioral problems. Once this puppy time is over (generally at a few months old), the dogs are moved to the program training center (if they weren’t already there), and are exposed to some odd situations (such as people pretending to faint, being asked to do something while being tempted to do something else, etc.) to see how they react. The testing isn’t rigorous, difficult, or traumatizing to the dogs in any way. They don’t even realize they’re being tested. The dogs who choose of their own free will to help the humans in “trouble” or to listen to the humans as opposed to the distraction/temptation advance to the next stage of training. This type of training and testing is continued with gradual increase in complexity of tasks until the dog graduates and is matched up with a disabled person. Many dogs don’t graduate. Those dogs are given away or sold as pets. No harm done there. They just didn’t want to be service dogs. They live out the rest of their lives as normal pet dogs.

During every single step of the training process, the dogs are observed extremely carefully to make sure that they enjoy what they’re doing. If at any point the dog does not appear to want to continue the training, he is released from the program. No dog is ever forced to be a service dog. All are given the choice.

 

 



Claim #3: "Service dogs don't get anything out of the relationship with their person."


Animal rights activists also claim that service dogs don't get anything out of the relationship. They believe that the dogs are giving and giving and are not getting anything in return. This depends on your point of view. If you expect the dog to be paid a salary, no, that's not going to happen. The dog would chew up the paper money and choke on the coins. However, look at it from the dog's perspective. He has an interesting, engaging life filled with challenges, fun, and activity. He gets to go places that no other animals are allowed to go. He has a human who loves him and cares for him. He has down time to be a dog and play. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a pretty sweet deal if you ask me!







Claim #4: "Service dogs are not cared for."

Animal rights activists believe that disabled people are not capable of caring for their service dogs. In some cases they are not (such as if the disabled person is a child or their disability is severe), and in those cases, the agency that provides the dogs is legally required to make sure another family member can care for the dog, or they cannot give the person a dog at all. If a person’s disability is so severe that they can’t care for their dog and they have no family or friends to help, then the only thing that a service dog program can do is recommend that the person move into an assisted living arrangement.

That said, if the disabled person can prove that the dog will be cared for, the agency doesn’t forget about them. The person has the agency’s contact information for the rest of the dog’s time with him/her, and the agency can and usually does perform home checks to make sure the dog and his person are both doing well. The more severe the disability, the more home checks they receive. Some people with service dogs get checkups as often as several times a week!

 

 


Claim #5: "No one needs a service dog."

The idea behind this claim is that a person or a machine can do everything that a service dog can do. This is not true.

Dogs can sense things that no human can. A human cannot sense when another person is about to go into an epileptic seizure. A human cannot sense when a diabetic is about to experience a dangerous blood sugar or blood pressure crisis. My dog, the dog I grew up with from age 2 to 16, could sense when my mother was about to go into a severe kidney infection. When she started following my mother in that characteristic posture with her head down, ears forward, never taking her eyes off my mother, and wagging her tail slightly, we know my mother was about to have another kidney episode, and we got her to the doctor straight away. My dog was the only member of our family who could tell this. On top of this, there is no known way to train a dog to sense such physical changes in a person. When a dog begins warning their person of an impending illness or crisis, it’s because the dog wants to, not because he’s trained to. Even more to the point, if these animal rights people got their way, search and rescue dogs would be banned as well, because they are a form of service dog. These people are asking hundreds of innocent people to die every year just so they can sleep easier about a moral issue that the dogs can't even comprehend!

A machine cannot offer companionship. Machines can be entertaining (such as television and the internet) and can provide physical help, but they just can’t offer companionship in the way that an animal or person can.

Service dogs give their people a sense of purpose in ways that a human caretaker cannot. Many disabled people struggle with depression and a sense of worthlessness. We know they are not worthless, but many still feel that way. Many feel (and some believe) that no one needs them. They feel as if they just take up other peoples’ time and can’t give anything in return. A dog can break this cycle. A service dog needs their person’s care as much as their person needs their dog’s help. Many people with service dogs have explained how they feel a sense of purpose in caring for their canine friends. Here is someone who appreciates them and needs them. Many people say that their service dog is the reason they can get up in the morning.

In the words of Bridget Reynolds, a young woman who has a service dog: If you are not a disabled person with a service dog I don't expect you to understand. My boy is my world. He helps me live my life. He is a lifeline. Regular pet owners might spend an hour or two with their pets at night. Maybe a half hour actively engaging them. I spend all day with my service dog. From the moment I wake up until the moment I fall asleep. And that entire time is not him working. That is us playing in my yard, swimming, going to the park, going to a store, going for a walk, etc. I benefit from having him around, but he also benefits by having a much fuller, more active life by being a part of mine. He is much more excited at the prospective of being with me all day than being stuck at home alone for 8 hours. He is not a robot despite what you may think. If a dog isn't bonding with the disabled person, you didn't make the correct match. Service dogs should be matched based off of skills and personality. People enjoy having purpose. So do dogs. Many were bred for jobs whether it be for farms, for herding, for hunting, etc. Are those dogs unhappy, too? Many of those breeds are often destructive around the house when they don't have a job or task to do. Many intelligent breeds get bored and therefore depressed or unruly.”

 

 

 

 

In the end, it all depends on who you get your service dog from. Some programs are better than others. If you or someone you know needs a service dog, do some careful research into the program to decide if you think their methods of training and matching up are ethical and right for you.

 

 

Sources:

www.cci.org/site/c.cdKGIRNqEmG…

www.chicagonow.com/steve-dales…

servicedogcentral.org/forum/in…

servicedogcentral.org/forum/in…

www.paws4autism.com/asd

usdogregistry.org/?gclid=CJO8-…

www.pawsitivityservicedogs.com…

support.freedomservicedogs.org…

collegian.csufresno.edu/2013/0…

www.warriorcanineconnection.or…

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menslady125's avatar

Service dogs are loving companions to their owners.