Skilled Service Dogs Can Be ‘Game-Changers for the Whole Family’ 

A new breed

Service dogs today go beyond the traditional German shepherds, Labradors and golden retrievers and encompass many breeds, shapes and sizes. Although larger dogs remain best suited to physical tasks such as opening doors and adjusting light switches, dogs of any size can serve in cases when psychiatric assistance or medical alerts for epilepsy or diabetes are needed, says Kerri Rodriguez, assistant professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Arizona. “A Chihuahua can be just as good of a service dog as a golden retriever, depending on the tasks they are trained to do,” she says.

That isn’t to say that just any dog is fit for service. Goffe says the dog must have the ability to maintain a calm temperament around other people, hone new skills and perform reliably in different environments.

Skilled service dogs can assist with a wide range of tasks, including opening drawers.

Jackie Molloy

In high demand

No government agency regulates the use of service dogs. Assistance Dogs International (ADI), a coalition of service dog organizations around the world, provides some structure, listing the agencies that have completed its accreditation process.

More organizations and nonprofits have gotten into service-dog breeding, training and placement, but they can’t keep up with demand and often carry waiting lists of a year or more. The cost of getting a trained service dog ranges from $10,000 to $30,000, according to Bankrate, although nonprofit organizations raise money to make them affordable or even free for those in need. Private health insurance typically doesn’t pay for service animals. Nor does Medicare. To avoid the wait and expense, some people opt to train their dogs privately, though there is no guarantee that a pet will make a good service animal, says Chris Diefenthaler, ADI executive director.

Helping the handler and caregiver

Studies have found that the benefits of service dogs extend far beyond the handler. According to research by the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Arizona, service dogs can have a positive impact on caregivers, reducing their caregiving burden. 

The research team found that mobility and medical alert service dogs deliver unique benefits for caregivers, by performing tasks such as picking items off the ground, helping their handlers navigate the public or accompanying a handler to work, in the case of a medical alert dog.

Diabetic and seizure-alert dogs can be “game-changers for the whole family,” according to Kerri Rodriguez, one of the lead researchers studying the impact of service dogs on caregivers, noting that the dogs helped reduce the anxiety of always being on alert for a medical emergency. Caregivers did cite some drawbacks, Rodriguez found, mostly the added time and energy spent taking care of the service dog — grooming, walking and maintaining its training.

And while a service dog can ease the overall caregiving workload, they can very rarely replace a caregiver entirely. Sheila Robeck, 60, from St. Michael, Minnesota, who has a spinal cord injury and uses a wheelchair for mobility, says she relies on a caregiver just as much as before getting her service dog, Coal, from Can Do Canines almost seven years ago. Still, having Coal is a comfort for Robeck and her husband, whose long work hours mean Robeck often spends weekdays home alone.

“If I did drop my phone [while home alone] and had no access to it, I’d feel really vulnerable,” she says. “[Coal] can’t fix my wheelchair or help dress me, or get me up, but just knowing he’s here is definitely easier on my mind.”

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