Assistance dogs; why shouldn't they be protective?

Assistance or medical dogs are very helpful in a variety of ways. They can do everything from alerting on cancer in a person to bringing the TV remote to their handler.  However, there is one thing that an assistance dog should NEVER be allowed or trained to do~ being protective of their handler.  Although this may sound like it would be very helpful for someone often alone in a rough part of town, this protectiveness may also cause the dog or handler to lose his life.

Imagine this;
    A young women in her twenties is walking down the street with her well-trained seizure alert dog. Dusk is falling and she is on her way to her job, a night shift in a rough part of town. This young lady, whom we will call April, is feeling very safe because of her adorable new seizure alert dog. Because of this dog, April has gotten her seizures under control.  They are a great team and have bonded well together. All of the sudden April slips, and falls to the ground! Her head slams into the concrete sidewalk and she is knocked unconscious!  A worried bystander hurries over to see what's the matter.  However, April's dog suddenly goes into protective mode. He will not let anyone close enough to see what's the matter or help her.  Paramedics are called and they arrive in record time.  However, this dog is not relenting at all from his protective state.

What might happen to this dog or his handler?
The dog may have to be tranquilized or even put to sleep, so that help can be administered to April.  Worse yet, April's protective companion may cause help to be so late that she may have major complications or even die!

This is why we do NOT train ANY service dogs to be protective of their handlers or aggressive in any way. Service dogs should be friendly with everyone and never even growl at another dog or human, no matter what it may be up to.   Hence the reason you will never find any of our dogs named "Killer".




Posted by dutydogs.com