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Working dogs are purebred dogs that were developed to perform tasks like herding cattle/sheep, pulling carts or sleds, rescue people, fetch shot animals or birds, guard property and so on. Rottweilers used to pull carts. As time passed by much of the tasks done by the working dogs also changed. Hence working dogs in the modern world can be categorized as follows -:

1) Police Dogs – We have all seen police dogs and they are used to assist policemen and law enforcement officers. These dogs can be trained to attack a fugitive and nail him down so as to not let him escape. These dogs also serve to protect their handlers. These dogs have tough temperaments and are energetic animals. Some of the most well know dog breeds used in police are German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois. Under police dogs, another type of dog is Detection dog who sniffs out bombs, drugs, and other illegal stuff.

2) Therapy Dogs – These dogs are used for providing companionship and emotional support to people who are ill or have suffered trauma/depression or accident and also children. Naturally, therapy dogs should be very friendly, social and even temperaments. An aggressive dog should never be allowed to become a therapy dog. These dogs are taken to hospitals, schools, and Day-Care centers to spend time with people. Just their presence cheers up the environment. Labrador and Golden retrievers make very good therapy dogs. Sometimes even a pit-bull can become a therapy dog.

3) Service Dogs – Service dogs are not therapy dogs. Service dogs are trained to provide physical assistance to people who are physically challenged (permanently or temporarily). These dogs are trained to fetch objects, open the door, etc. Service dogs can be dogs for blind people, mobility assistance dogs, medical assistance dogs (dogs who alert the owner before seizures/epilepsy attacks or alert other people in case of a medical emergency, etc), hearing dogs for deaf people.  Labrador and Golden Retrievers, German Shepherd are usually trained to be service dogs.

4) Military Dogs – These dogs are tough guys and help army personnel in detecting bombs and mines, help in search and rescue operations, guard army camps and ammunition, tracking enemies and so on. German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois are considered the best dogs for the army. In India, the Mudhol Hound is now a part of the army as these dogs have been found to be amazing.

5) Search and Rescue Dogs – These dogs have an excellent sense of smell and are trained to rescue people lost in mountains, jungles, remote areas or trapped in snow, etc. They are also used for rescuing drowning people. Another use is detecting dead bodies. The breeds used are Border Collies, Labrador, and Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds.

6) Herding Dogs – These dogs are used for herding cattle/sheep and we have often seen them in the movies. They are fiery and gutsy dogs with the power to lead. It is no easy job for a herding dog to herd and control animals much bigger it. There are certain breeds that are specifically suited to herd cattle and these breeds are Border Collies, Australian Sheepdog, Icelandic Sheepdog, etc.

7) Detection Dogs – These dogs have an excellent sense of smell and are used by police, army, law enforcement agencies to detect drugs, weapons, bombs, human remains, blood or any other specific substance. Some detection dogs can be trained to detect diseases like cancer, epilepsy attacks, abnormal sugar levels, other health aberrations in the human body. Hence such dogs are used for medical research and healthcare agencies. The breeds used for detection are Beagles (Beagles have an excellent sense of smell), Labrador and Golden Retrievers.

Some working dog breeds (besides Labrador and Golden Retrievers, German Shepherd) are Siberian Husky, Akita, Bernese Mountain Dog, Great Pyrenese, Bullmastiff, etc. If you keep a working breed dog as a pet, you need to ensure that it gets adequate physical activity/exercise. If not then some breeds can display destructive behavior (can also result out of boredom) as a means of channelizing excess energy.

The above article is written by Manish Jaitly

Photo by Luzelle Cockburn on Unsplash

Manish Jaitly

I am a dog lover and creator of this site. I am also the author of ‘Keep Sleeping Keep Missing- if only you knew’ (available on Amazon, Flipkart, Kobo, Google Store, etc.).

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