Apart from being a human’s best friend, dogs are known to support humanity in many different ways.
They not only become a part of someone’s family but also showcase their unique qualities in challenging situations. These amazing creatures are able to perform various tasks such as herding sheep, sniffing out explosives or drugs, and offering a loyal companionship.
Besides, various research studies have proved that the presence of dogs creates positive effects on our physical and mental health. Indeed it is true that some dogs help humans with physical and mental illnesses.
If you want to know more about how other pets play an important role in the environment and human life, then you can visit Pets Petz. In this article, you will find five interesting ways in which dogs help humans and help them lead a better life.
1. Service dogs: The ones to assist someone in need
• Guide Dogs
Although visually impaired people are blessed with special abilities, they need the support of a white cane or someone’s hand while walking on the streets and performing daily tasks.
But not everyone can have a person by their side all the time. That is when the guide dogs come to the rescue.
These dogs are trained to help visually impaired people by guiding them to navigate around obstacles. So, the guide dogs eventually help visually impaired humans to perform their daily tasks with more confidence and walk on the streets without any worries.
• Hearing Dogs
The hearing assistance dogs are trained to alert a deaf person by physically contacting and leading them to the sound’s source.
These dogs are trained for various sounds such as alerting the person to doorbell or door knock, an oven timer, a smoke detector, an alarm clock, a phone ring, the individual’s name being called, a baby crying, sound of an intruder, etc.
Although there’s an option to use the hearing aid, people with admiration towards dogs can have one at their assistance.
• Mobility Dogs
Mobility assistance dogs are known to help people with physical disabilities, such as those who use walkers or wheelchairs. In general, they help people with physical tasks and make their work easier. But training the dogs for such tasks can take one year or sometimes even longer.
These dogs can be trained to stabilize a person while he/she is walking, pick up dropped objects, open and close doors, pull wheelchairs, turn lights on and off, etc.
2. Medical Alert or Response Dogs: The ones to alert in difficult situations
• Diabetes Assistance Dogs
These dogs are trained to help people dealing with Type 1 diabetes. They assist diabetic individuals by sniffing a particular odor in their breath which determines the rapid drop in blood sugar levels.
They alert the person with diabetes by contacting them in a special manner like licking their face, nudging a hand, or pawing at them. Most of these dogs are also trained to retrieve glucose tabs or juice, get an emergency phone, or seek help from other people in the proximity.
• Seizure Assistance Dogs
These dogs are trained to sense illnesses like seizures, even before they occur. It is still unclear how they do this, but some studies show that these dogs can sense changes in human body chemistry or tiny muscle movements that humans can’t detect.
They also help people during the seizure attack by licking their faces and offering comfort while the person is recovering from the attack. In addition to helping, these dogs carry a backpack with pockets so that they can hold medicine and communicate with people in case the person is not able to communicate properly.
• Cancer Detector Dogs
The medical alert dogs are also trained to detect the odor of cancer. This is possible as the cancerous cells present in the human body release some metabolic waste products that are different from healthy cells.
So, the difference in smell is so powerful that the dogs can detect cancer even in the initial stages. More importantly, these dogs can detect different cancer types like lung cancer, skin cancer, bladder cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer.
3. Detection or Sniffer Dogs: The ones to save a life
It is no surprise that dogs are blessed with an incredible smelling sensation. They are trained to use their senses and detect harmful substances like illegal drugs, blood, explosives, illicit devices, etc.
Most importantly, they can distinguish individual scents even if they are masked by other objects.
4. Therapy Dogs: The ones to offer peace & comfort
As the name suggests, therapy dogs are used to provide affection, comfort, and cheerfulness to humans. Their presence can eventually help you relieve stress and ease depression or anxiety. These dogs are generally pet dogs that are trained and socialized properly by their owners.
Moreover, the owners ensure to screen these dogs for checking their temperament and behavior. The therapy dogs and their owners mostly visit places like schools, hospitals, long-term care facilities, and sometimes disaster areas to offer care and affection after a traumatic situation.
The therapy dogs need to be comfortable while giving and receiving affection from others, especially strangers.
They also need to stay calm, confident, and at ease with unfamiliar people and loud noises to serve their purpose of therapy. People with therapy dogs have shown that individuals who are uncommunicative with other people often open up and talk to therapy dogs.
5. Search & Rescue: The ones to find and save lives
These dogs help find and save lives in case of natural disasters, accidents, etc. They are known to search people under the snow, underwater, or under collapsed buildings.
That’s because they detect human scent skillfully and rescue them from challenging situations. They are trained to work in diverse environments with the ultimate goal of saving lives.
Conclusion
No matter which dog you choose to have, it will always add something special to your life and make it worthwhile. More importantly, these dogs will not only help you in difficult situations but also add comfort and affection to your heart. It eventually means that dogs are the best companions, whether you want to keep them as a pet or just for safety.
