Working dogs

This working dog is a border collie mix.

A working dog refers to a canine working animal, i.e. a dog that is not merely a pet but learns and performs tasks to assist and/or entertain its human companions, or a breed of such origin.

Arguably the variety of -often exclusive- canine jobs is a better justification for the dog's honorary title "man's best friend" than the more accidental popularity as pet number one in western cultures.

Definition

Within this general description, however, there are several ways in which the phrase is used.

• To identify any dog that performs any task on a regular basis to assist people. In this context, a dog who helps a rancher manage cattle or who performs tricks for a trainer who receives pay for its acts is a working dog, as is an assistance dog. This might be in comparison to a companion dog, whose purpose is primarily as a pet.

• To distinguish between show dogs that are bred primarily for their appearance in an attempt to match a breed club's detailed description of what such a breed should look like, and working dogs that are bred primarily for their ability to perform a task. For example, a Border Collie that is a champion show dog is not necessarily good at herding sheep; a Border Collie that is a champion at sheepdog trials might be laughed out of the show ring for its nonstandard appearance. It is possible that a specimen may excel in both appearance and performance, but it is very unlikely.

For some breeds, there are separate registries for tracking the ancestry of working dogs and that of show dogs. For example, in Australia, there are separate registries for working and show Australian Kelpies; the working registry encourages the breeding of any Kelpies with a strong instinct to herd, no matter their appearance or coat color; the show registry encourages breeding only among Kelpies whose ancestors were registered as show dogs and who have only solid-colored coats.

• As a catch-all for dog breeds whose original purpose was to perform tasks that do not fit into a more specific category of work. For example, the American Kennel Club uses Working Dogs to describe breeds who were originally bred for jobs other than herding or hunting. Such jobs might include pulling carts, guarding, and so on. See Working Dog Group.

New Advancements in Water Rescue

Several cities in Italy are experimenting with working dogs as rescue swimmers. In this situation, a strong and well-trained dog is equipped with flotation devices and dropped in the water near a floundering swimmer. The swimmer then grabs onto the dog, and the animal tows the swimmer to shore. The Newfoundland has long been used for water rescue, not only on shore, but from fishing boats as well.

Rescue and Disaster Dogs

Dogs are commonly used as search and rescue workers in cases of lost persons and disasters. The St. Bernard was historically used in Europe in the case of avalanches and lost travelers. Rescue dogs in the US are used in thousands of lost person searches each year saving countless human lives. In the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks in New York, rescue dogs searched the rubble pile for survivors. When searching such large disaster sites some dogs become so disturbed at being unable to find any survivors that people are "planted" for the dogs to find so that the dogs retain their enthusiasm and work ethic.

Sources and References

• The National Geographic Channel has aired several dozen episodes of a documentary program "Dogs with Jobs"[1], portraying dogs in useful, often less-common, jobs.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.