Service Dog
More and more countries and regions have realized the importance of service dogs, and China has begun to allow guide dogs to enter public places such as subways. Moreover, according to research, service dogs not only give their owners help in specific actions. Service dogs can also help the owner and his family gain benefits in psychological, physiological and social relations. It may be that animals distract people's attention from disability, and bring positive concerns to the owners and their families.
< br> 1. Service dogs help owners socialize. < /strong > The role of service dogs can be seen from the following examples. A group of disabled children often go to a busy shopping mall. Sometimes they bring service dogs, but sometimes they don't. Whenever a service dog is taken, children will get more friendly treatment from pedestrians. The emergence of dogs seems to break the sometimes existing barriers between people, and give people a neutral topic to enhance their ability to integrate into the community.
< br> 2. Service dogs help owners to establish a positive attitude. < /strong > This can be seen from another experiment. In this experiment, forty-eight people who have used wheelchairs for at least two years were divided into two groups, and each group was matched with people of different ages, genders and disabilities. One group was equipped with a dog for the disabled at the beginning of the experiment, while the other group was equipped with a dog for the disabled after one year of the experiment. In both cases, once the experimental subjects get a dog for the disabled, their dependence on others is significantly reduced, while the control group has no such change during the waiting period. At the same time, with the decrease of dependence on others, their self-esteem is enhanced and their mental state is improved. It's also easier for people with disabled dogs to keep their jobs.
But even so, keeping an animal is a lifelong responsibility of the owner, and the disabled must make their own decisions. Moreover, service dogs must be trained according to their needs and integrated into their living habits.
The technology of training service dogs is the most advanced in the United States, but other countries are beginning to realize the significance of training high-quality service dogs, and many regions have begun to take action. However, due to the late start and large demand, demand is still in short supply in many areas, especially in China, hoping to change the prejudice against service dogs and make them better integrate into life.