Did you know that modern guide dogs came to the United States in 1929? Guide dogs help people whose bodies do not work quite right. Learn more about the work these dogs do in Guide Dogs, a title in the Dogs with Jobs series. Each title in this series profiles a specific type of working dog, showcasing the role it performs and the training required to get the job done.

Unlike many working dogs, a guide dog is not praised or rewarded on the job. There should be no distractions when the dog is in work mode. As it teams up with its handler to get from place to place, a guide dog must use its own judgment to decide if a path is safe. In this book, discover the remarkable concentration of a dedicated companion.

Dogs as an assistive aid for people with disabilities date as far back in time as the first century CE. Today, dogs are used in various settings to help and assist humans. ‘Assistance dogs’ is an umbrella term for guide dogs, hearing dogs and service dogs. They are custom trained to help and support their owners in their everyday life and thereby give them greater independence. Dogs who perform dog-assisted interventions are another type of working dog, where the dog and the owner work together as a team visiting people with various needs in different settings such as hospitals and nursing homes. These visits aim to strengthen people’s inner motivation, using the dog as an external motivator. There is a lack of evaluations of working dogs in the health technology assessment context, and in the health economic evaluation context. Hence, there is a need for structured analyses that include both the short and long-term effects and the costs of assistance dogs and dog-assisted interventions. The overall aim of this thesis is to explore and assess the use of assistance dogs and dog-assisted interventions. The research questions were investigated using a variety of methods. In paper I, inferential statistical analysis was used to analyse patient-reported outcomes measures. In paper II, a thematic content analysis was employed to explore the experiences of service and hearing dogs. To study the long-term cost-effectiveness of physical service dogs and diabetes alert dogs, a decision analytic model was used in paper III. The input data in studies I, II, and III was obtained from the Service and Hearing Dog Project. In paper III, the data was also supplemented with information from published literature and expert opinions. Paper IV investigated the effects and cost-effectiveness of dog-assisted interventions, and takes the form of a systematic review. Paper I showed that a service or hearing dog may have positive impact on its owner’s health-related quality of life, well-being and activity level. Paper II showed that owners of service or hearing dogs experienced both positive physical and psychosocial effects from their dog. Negative experiences were also identified, for example being denied access to public places and negative attitudes from other people. Paper III showed that physical service dogs and diabetes alert dogs are cost-effective in comparison with regular companion dogs, resulting in both lower costs and a gain in QALYs. The one-way sensitivity analysis did not change the results, but the probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed that the results were uncertain. Synthesizing the results from the review in paper IV showed that dog-assisted interventions for therapeutic purposes led to minor to moderate effects in psychiatric conditions. Dog-assisted interventions as an activity had minor to moderate effects on cognitive disorders, and dog-assisted interventions for support purposes were beneficial in different types of medical interventions. Studies of cost-effectiveness were lacking. To conclude, assistance dogs are valuable and may be cost-effective for use as assistive aids and dog-assisted interventions render minor to moderate effects in certain situations in healthcare settings. Användning av hundar som hjälpmedel för personer med funktionsnedsättning går att spåra ändå tillbaka till första århundradet e.Kr. Idag används hundar i människans tjänst i en mängd olika sammanhang. Assistanshundar är ett samlingsbegrepp för ledarhundar, signalhundar och servicehundar. De är specialutbildade för att hjälpa och stödja sina ägare i deras vardag och på så vis ge dem möjlighet till att leva ett mer självständigt liv. Hundar som utför hundassisterade interventioner är en annan typ av tjänstehund, men deras jobb är inte att hjälpa sin ägare. Istället arbetar hundar som utför hundassisterade interventioner och deras ägare som ett team. Tillsammans besöker de personer med olika behov i olika miljöer som exempelvis sjukhus eller äldreboende. De arbetar med att stärka motivationen hos personerna de träffar. Idag saknas det övergripande utvärderingar som tittar på olika aspekter av den här typen av hundar. Det saknas även utvärderingar som specifikt studerar effekter och kostnader av assistanshundar och hundassisterade interventioner. Det finns därför ett behov av strukturerade analyser som inkluderar både kort- och långsiktiga effekter samt kostnader för denna typ av hundar och interventioner. Det övergripande syftet med denna doktorsavhandling är att utforska och utvärdera användningen av assistanshundar och hundassisterade interventioner. Frågeställningarna studeras med ett brett urval av metoder. I studie I analyseras patientrapporterade utfallsmått med statistiska metoder. I studie II genomförs en tematisk innehållsanalys för att undersöka förarnas upplevelser av service- och signalhundar. För att analysera den långsiktiga kostnadseffektiviteten av fysiska servicehundar och alarmerande diabeteshundar i studie III konstrueras en beslutsmodell. Datamaterialet i studie I, II och III hämtas från service- och signalhundsprojektet. I studie III kompletteras data med information från publicerad litteratur och med expertutlåtande. I studie IV studeras effekterna och kostnadseffektiviteten av hundassisterade interventioner genom en systematisk litteraturöversikt. Studie I visade att en service- eller signalhund kan ha en positiv inverkan på deras ägares hälsorelaterade livskvalitet, välbefinnande och aktivitetsnivå. Resultaten från de tematiska analyserna i studie II påvisade att ägare av en service- eller signalhund upplevde både positiva fysiska och psykosociala effekter av sin hund. Negativa erfarenheter av hunden identifierades också, till exempel att hunden begränsade möjligheten att vistas i offentliga miljöer och andra personers negativa attityder. Studie III visade att fysiska servicehundar och alarmerande diabeteshundar är kostnadseffektiva i jämförelse med vanliga sällskapshundar, de var både kostnadsbesparande och innebar en QALY-vinst. Känslighetsanalyser av specifika parametrar påverkade inte resultaten, men den probabilistiska känslighetsanalysen visade att resultaten var osäkra. Resultaten från den systematiska litteraturöversikten i artikel IV visade att hundassisterad interventioner som ges i terapeutiskt syfte hade små till måttliga effekter vid psykiatriska tillstånd. Hundassisterade aktiviteter hade små till måttliga effekter vid kognitiva störningar och hundassisterade interventioner som gavs som stöd vid olika typer av medicinska insatser var fördelaktiga. Studier gällande kostnadseffektivitet av hundassisterade interventioner saknades. Sammanfattningsvis, assistanshundar som hjälpmedel ger positiva effekter i flera dimensioner för sina ägare och är sannolikt kostnadseffektiva. Hundassisterade interventioner uppvisar små till måttliga effekter i vissa situationer i hälso- och sjukvården.

Service dogs play an important role in society, assisting their handlers in leading independent, fulfilling lives. These amazing dogs are trained to work with a wide range of disabilities, from visual impairments to PTSD, and come from a variety of breeds and backgrounds. Some service dogs are custom bred and trained by large charities, while others are rescue dogs of indeterminate breed, trained entirely by their owners. Disability knows no bounds and can strike anyone, at any time, leaving us alone, scared and confused, with many of us wondering how feasible it would be to integrate a service dog into our lives. This is a practical guide, written from the perspective of an ordinary dog owner turned service dog trainer, following her own need for a service dog. It covers everything from service dog breeding and selection, how to acquire a service dog, basic training, and public access work, to your dog's eventual retirement. Chapters also detail the day-to-day realities of living with and loving a service dog.

This report had endorsed draft laws to extend dangerous dogs offences to attacks on private property and on assistance dogs. But the MPs criticise the Government for failing to bring in wider measures, including Dog Control Notices, to tackle out-of-control dogs. MPs also endorse the proposed amendment to the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 making attacks on private land the same as attacks on public land. The current law makes it impossible to bring criminal charges against an owner whose dog attacks someone in a private place, such as a home. The Committee welcomed the proposal to enable action to be taken regardless of where a dog attack happens. The Committee agree with the Government that the protection from prosecution should apply only when an attack takes place on a trespasser in the house, not in a surrounding area such as the garden or drive. However, measures taken by the owner to minimise the likelihood of their dog acting aggressively toward someone unexpectedly in such places should be taken into account by enforcement agencies and the courts. MPs fully support the measures to extend offences to those committed against an assistance dog, such as a guide dog, in the same way as if the attack were on a person. This reflects the significant consequences such attacks have on the daily lives of people who rely on assistance dogs. The Committee recommends that such offences should be extended to apply to any attack which injures a protected animal, such as a horse or livestock.

Dogs partner with humans in a wide array of work-related disciplines. As detectors, guides, guardians, stock herders, assistants and professional canine athletes, there is demand for more scientific knowledge to enhance the performance and success of human and working dog partnerships. This topic encompasses a holistic approach to the science of working dog performance. The ability of a dog to complete tasks depends on their physical and behavioral traits; their ability to exert themselves at various demanding tasks requires both physical and behavioral stamina, agility, and resilience. The influence and interactions of genetics, health, environment and training are areas that can provide new insight to improve performance in current dogs and future generations. The human impact on the success of the working dog team encompasses the human's physical, psychological and analytic perspectives, and the intersection of human and canine interspecies communication.

This book is one of a series of textbooks on the Welfare of Animals. This book discusses the welfare of dogs used for many different purposes. The book has an international perspective on the welfare of dogs in developed and under-developed countries. The welfare of laboratory dogs which is of concern to many people is discussed, as is the welfare of animals held in shelters waiting for re-homing or euthanasia. The book successfully combines an appreciation of how the health and nutrition of dogs has improved with an understanding of the social difficulties dogs experience. The book’s outlook on the subject of dog welfare is positive.