Table of Contents

Pg. 3: Dogs Purpose

Pg. 4-5: Service Dogs

Pg. 6-7: Therapy Dogs

Pg. 8: What's The Difference? Therapy and service dogs

Pg. 9: Library Dogs

Pg. 10-11: Food

Pg. 12: Caring for Your Dogs

Every dog has it's purpose. Some are service dogs. Others are therapy dogs. You may be wondering if there is a difference and to answer that yes. But many of these amazing animals are kept as pets for many different reasons. Also quite a few are used as guard dogs. Another thing dogs can do is become library dogs where they visit schools and libraries allowing children with disabilities to feel confident and letting anyone really read to them.

                Dogs Purpose

                Service Dogs

Studies have shown that dogs provide health benefits, and can increase fitness, lower stress, and improve happiness. Service dogs have all of these abilities, along with training to perform tasks for people with disabilities. During the last 10 years, the use of service dogs has rapidly grown. As service dogs have become more common, however, so too have problems that can result from a lack of understanding about service dog training, working functions, and access to public places.

The benefits service dogs can provide also continue to expand.  In the 1920s, a service dog was a Seeing Eye Dog and a Seeing Eye Dog meant a German Shepherd Dog.  In 2019, service dogs are trained from among many different breeds, and perform different tasks to assist disabled people. 

A service dog helps a person with a disability lead a more independent life. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a service dog is "a dog that is individually trained to do work or do tasks for a person with a disability.”   

Therapy dogs are dogs who go with their owners to schools, hospitals and nursing homes. 

From working with a child who is learning to read to visiting a senior in assisted living, therapy dogs and their owners work together as a team to improve the lives of other people. Therapy dogs are not service dogs. Service dogs are dogs who are specially trained to perform specific tasks to help a person who has a disability. 

                Therapy Dogs

An example of a service dog is a dog who guides an owner who is blind, or a dog who assists someone who has a physical disability. Service dogs stay with their person and have special access privileges in public places such as on planes and restaurants. It is not the right thing to do to attempt to pass off a therapy dog as a service dog for purposes such as flying on a plane or being admitted to a restaurant. But they are commonly seen in therapy centers.

What's The Difference?

Therapy dogs and service dogs

If you are wondering about the differences between service dogs and therapy dogs here is the answer. Service dogs are dogs who perform different tasks to assist disabled people. On the other hand therapy dogs and their owners work together as a team to improve the lives of other people. So in conclusion service dogs help disabled people while therapy dogs improve the lives of people in a hospital, nursing home, school and even in a therapy center.