Canine Companions for Independence incorporates Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers, and mixtures of the two.
You may have seen those benevolent-looking dogs in the grocery store or restaurant -- places where mere canines fear to tread -- diligently focused on helping their humans perform the day-to-day actions that the rest of the world takes for granted. Their eyes are clear, their countenance gentle and their discipline unrivaled, these dogs wear service vests of green, red, yellow or blue. You have to remind yourself that you cannot pet them, for they are working. As it turns out, helping the disabled is not just for canines anymore.
Canines
German shepherd dogs are the breed of choice for The Seeing Eye, the oldest guide-dog organization in America.
By far, the most popular of all the service animals are still canines. In 1975, Canine Companions for Independence became one of the first service dog organizations to breed and train dogs for the disabled. Prior to this point, dogs had been used to help people who were blind or nearly-blind. The Seeing Eye, founded in 1929, is the oldest guide dog organization still in existence today. Located in Morristown, NJ, The Seeing Eye uses purebred, specially bred German shepherd dogs in their programs.
Horses
Miniature horses can be housebroken and are suitable to living indoors but prefer a protected outdoor area.
The Guide Horse Foundation, located in Kitrell, North Carolina, begins training miniature horses from about the age of 6 weeks to assist disabled and blind people. With an average weight of about 85 pounds, a miniature horse is about the same size as a large dog. With proper training, these animals can be trained to enter taxi cabs, buses and subways, and are entitled to the same public transportation protections as dogs under the Americans with Disabilities Act. According to Guide Horse Foundation, a guide horse can be trained to respond to 23 different voice commands.
Monkey Helpers
Helping Hands trains capuchin monkeys to help people with disabilities.
Helping Hands, monkey helpers for the disabled, trains monkeys to help disabled people with everyday chores and activities. Since they have opposable thumbs like humans do, monkeys have the dexterity to perform certain chores that canines and horses cannot. As of 2011, the organization had been in business for 30 years, training monkeys in their Boston facility, Monkey College. Monkeys, they assert, are the perfect helper companion because of their long life span of 30 to 35 years, their tiny size, weighing 6 to 9 pounds, and their high degree of intelligence and sociability.
Other Animals
A parrot is the service animal of choice for a St. Louis man who suffers from psychotic tendencies (see Resources).
A variety of other animals, such as parrots, cats, ferrets, guinea pigs and potbellied pigs, are also helping in ways that could only be imagined a century ago. While many of these animals cannot perform a physical service for their human, they do provide emotional, heart and neurological support. Some alert the person to an impending cardiac event, while others pick up brain waves that fire moments prior to someone's epileptic seizure. People who struggle with issues such as the panic disorder agoraphobia, or social anxieties, find they do quite well in the presence of a quiet, calm service animal. Inasmuch as the Americans with Disabilities Act does not well define what can be considered a disability, the range is wide and open to interpretation.
Tags: Americans with, Americans with Disabilities, Canine Companions, Canine Companions Independence, Companions Independence