Service Dogs Provide Positive Benefits Beyond Their Training, Research Shows

Labor Day may be known as the working man’s holiday, but we also want to recognize our working animals today. Approximately 500,000 service dogs — defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as having been “individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability” — are currently helping their handlers. And a previous study by Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine suggested that service dogs have “positive effects on the health and well-being of individuals with physical disabilities” in ways that surpass their direct training, according to a press release. The study, published in the journal Disability and Rehabilitation, found that “compared to those on the waitlist, individuals with a service dog exhibited significantly better psychosocial health including higher social, emotional, and work/school functioning.” The research showed that service dogs provide handlers with psychosocial benefits in addition to functional benefits. “Our findings are important because they empirically validate the numerous anecdotal reports from individuals with service dogs that say that these dogs really have an impact on their life,” said Kerri Rodriguez, an author of the study. Let this be your reminder to honor all workers — even the four-legged ones — today.

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