Assistance Dog Day is celebrated every year on August 4 to recognise and honour the importance of assistance dogs and their trainers.
These dogs provide invaluable assistance to people with disabilities, helping them to live more independent and fulfilling lives. There are many different types of assistance dogs, including guide dogs, hearing dogs, mobility dogs, and service dogs and each of these trained dogs help people with different disabilities.
These dogs help with medical/seizure alerts, help blind people to navigate effectively, alert about smoke, carry medicines and many more other tasks.
Assistance dogs are trained to be calm, well-behaved, and obedient. They must be able to focus on their work even in distracting environments. They also need to be able to get along with other people and animals.
These dogs are trained by professional trainers, who teach them the skills they need to help their owners. The training is rigorous and demanding, but it is essential to ensure that the dogs are able to perform their duties safely and effectively.
Assistance dogs provide a wide range of benefits to people with disabilities. They can also provide emotional support and companionship. This day is a part of International Assistance Dog Week (IADW) where the organisation celebrates the services of these little furry friends.
The dedicated week for assistance dogs begins from the first Sunday of every August. IADW mentions: “The celebration takes place each year, starting on the first Sunday of August.”
On this special occasion, here are some interesting facts about assistance dogs:
- Assistance dogs are not pets. According to the American Kennel Club, service dogs are primarily working animals.
- A service dog or assistance dog learns 50 to 60 commands according to NEADS.Org
- According to NationalToday.com retrievers are known to be the best service dogs.
- Training a service dog can be quite expensive. The American Kennel Club mentions that the cost of training an assistance dog can be over $25,000.
- In many states, service dogs are legally protected.
To conclude, Assistance Dog Day is an event to celebrate the amazing work of these dogs and their trainers. It is also a day to raise awareness of the importance of assistance dogs and to encourage people to consider getting an assistance dog if they have a disability.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education