So many people I seem to meet online appear to be under the impression that service dogs are "born" knowing what to do. That they can innately understand what the person needs, and act accordingly. Whether that be alerting to a medical condition, providing comfort at the right time, guiding someone home or out of a store, or whatever.
While these actions may help the individual, unless it is an actual trained behavior, it can't be a task, and it's also most likely not even the dog acting because they know you're having a hard time. In some cases, it can be stressful for the dog and cause adverse behavioral and physiological issues.
In this post I will break down some of those common behaviors, share some links to licensed behaviorists discussing those behaviors (if possible) and/or studies done (peer reviewed studies, also if possible) that explain or lay out the behaviors as well.
So... here goes.
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"My dog/puppy understands that I'm upset, and came and did DPT or interrupted my crying!"
This seems to be a very common thing among psychiatric service dog handlers. They have a panic attack or meltdown or whatever, and their new dog or puppy reacts to it, usually by licking the face, crawling onto their lap and providing DPT (Deep Pressure Therapy), etc.
It helps calm the handler down, and then of course, they go posting on facebook or other social media platforms that their dog helped with their (insert issue here), already, only a few days after they got them (usually).
Because of that behavior, usually the dog is praised, and nothing more is done with it, and it turns into a "task".
Now... it seems as though the dog is responding and helping the handler. So what's the problem?
The problem is that the dog is not responding out of concern for you and in an effort to make you happy, but because the dog doesn't like the noise and the stress, so they provide appeasing behaviors to attempt to calm down the situation. It is also an instinctual reaction that can be shown physiologically through the increased levels in cortisol that was caused by the crying noise. This was shown by Min Hooi Yong and Ted Ruffman in a study done by the University of Otago that was published in October of 2014.
Why is this increase in cortisol such a problem? When it regularly happens, especially when constantly increased because of the dog not actually knowing how to act, it can result in a lot of unfavorable health concerns in the dog, including immunosuppression, diabetic millitus development, muscle wasting, and gastrointestinal concerns, as explained by Jennifer Coates, DVM, in this article. Not all amounts of increased cortisol is a bad thing. Dogs do need stress in their life. But constant stress with no understanding or training to decrease those levels of stress is not a good thing, regardless of how it makes the handler feel. Some dogs are more sensitive and will present higher levels of cortisol and increased symptoms of stress, others minimal. But that still doesn't make it a good thing.
These actions are also done using submissive or appeasing based behaviors, as explained by a study done by Deborah M. Custance and Jennifer Mayer in 2012. In this study, they worked with both strangers and owners, and it showed that the dogs still provided those behaviors (sniffing, licking, and nuzzling). The abstract does explain that it's not necessarily due to empathy, but due to some learned behavior and encouragement of said behavior by owners in the past.
Dogs present behaviors in response to upset. Not all dogs, but the majority does. Even to people who the dog doesn't even know, or just to the sound.
This isn't your dog or puppy being some sort of psychiatric service dog prodigy, but simply doing what dogs do. Appeasing their handler in a situation with noises or stressful stimuli that their brain interprets as something that needs to be appeased, through nuzzling, licking, crawling on your lap, etc. And due to the health concerns related to that increased cortisol, those natural instinctive behaviors should be discouraged, and calm trained behaviors encouraged. Just about every dog is born knowing how to appease and respond to crying. But that doesn't make every dog a born psychiatric service dog.
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"My dog just led/guided me to ____!"
Sankalpa Neupane,
Robert Peverall,
Graham Richmond,
Tom P.J. Blaikie,
David Taylor,
Gus Hancock, and
Mark L. Evans
that shows that in hypoglycemic conditions, isoprene levels increase, which could be what the dogs are smelling.
While these actions may help the individual, unless it is an actual trained behavior, it can't be a task, and it's also most likely not even the dog acting because they know you're having a hard time. In some cases, it can be stressful for the dog and cause adverse behavioral and physiological issues.
In this post I will break down some of those common behaviors, share some links to licensed behaviorists discussing those behaviors (if possible) and/or studies done (peer reviewed studies, also if possible) that explain or lay out the behaviors as well.
So... here goes.
-
"My dog/puppy understands that I'm upset, and came and did DPT or interrupted my crying!"
This seems to be a very common thing among psychiatric service dog handlers. They have a panic attack or meltdown or whatever, and their new dog or puppy reacts to it, usually by licking the face, crawling onto their lap and providing DPT (Deep Pressure Therapy), etc.
It helps calm the handler down, and then of course, they go posting on facebook or other social media platforms that their dog helped with their (insert issue here), already, only a few days after they got them (usually).
Because of that behavior, usually the dog is praised, and nothing more is done with it, and it turns into a "task".
Now... it seems as though the dog is responding and helping the handler. So what's the problem?
Why is this increase in cortisol such a problem? When it regularly happens, especially when constantly increased because of the dog not actually knowing how to act, it can result in a lot of unfavorable health concerns in the dog, including immunosuppression, diabetic millitus development, muscle wasting, and gastrointestinal concerns, as explained by Jennifer Coates, DVM, in this article. Not all amounts of increased cortisol is a bad thing. Dogs do need stress in their life. But constant stress with no understanding or training to decrease those levels of stress is not a good thing, regardless of how it makes the handler feel. Some dogs are more sensitive and will present higher levels of cortisol and increased symptoms of stress, others minimal. But that still doesn't make it a good thing.
These actions are also done using submissive or appeasing based behaviors, as explained by a study done by Deborah M. Custance and Jennifer Mayer in 2012. In this study, they worked with both strangers and owners, and it showed that the dogs still provided those behaviors (sniffing, licking, and nuzzling). The abstract does explain that it's not necessarily due to empathy, but due to some learned behavior and encouragement of said behavior by owners in the past.
Dogs present behaviors in response to upset. Not all dogs, but the majority does. Even to people who the dog doesn't even know, or just to the sound.
This isn't your dog or puppy being some sort of psychiatric service dog prodigy, but simply doing what dogs do. Appeasing their handler in a situation with noises or stressful stimuli that their brain interprets as something that needs to be appeased, through nuzzling, licking, crawling on your lap, etc. And due to the health concerns related to that increased cortisol, those natural instinctive behaviors should be discouraged, and calm trained behaviors encouraged. Just about every dog is born knowing how to appease and respond to crying. But that doesn't make every dog a born psychiatric service dog.
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"My dog just led/guided me to ____!"
Usually this takes place when the dog and handler are looking for a car in a parking lot, the handler needing to get back to their house/apartment, the handler wants to leave the store, or something similar. This is usually only seen in dogs that have been out doing things for a while, but no actual guidework training has been done. Oftentimes, it involves letting the leash somewhat loose (allowing the dog to forge ahead) and following behind them repeating words they have heard before, like "car" or "home" or "exit" or "outside" or something similar.
This may seem like a dog doing something extraordinary, and then the handler immediately plops "guidework" onto their list of tasks and begins looking for guide handles or pull straps to add to the vests or harnesses, or continue to let the dog do so from the collar.
However, it is less extraordinary once you sit down and think about it. It's simply a display of the dog's memory. An extraordinary thing when you think about how their memory of that routine is so powerful... but not something that is exclusive to one dog or another.
Dogs can remember routines, especially if you take the same route most times, with very little variation. If you park in the same area, your walks go to mostly the same place and back, you shop at the same story and exit the store in the same way... and word association can come from that if you talk to your dog or yourself. Such as "find the car, find the car, go to the car" or "need to get out, ready to go outside? Exit, exit, exit." or "time to go home, let's go home", and so on.
Sometimes you don't even realize you are doing it, but you are building up those word associations.
On one hand, this isn't really harmful for the dog. The dog understands the routine, and can help their handler get to places when they are a bit disoriented. My own foster dog led me to and from her "pee and poo" spot behind the apartments this morning when the sun and worsened sensory issues today caused me to have difficulty seeing. She had only been here for a little over a week. She just began to learn the route, and be confident in what to do when I took her out.
Some might see these actions, and assume that their dog is guiding them, and then they begin to rely on their dog to do those things. And that is where the problems can occur. Dogs that aren't trained to avoid obstacles won't avoid them, but they'll go a way that works for them, perhaps cutting corners resulting in an already confused handler running into something. Dogs that aren't trained to stop when cars are coming may lead their handler straight into traffic. Dogs that are used to only a few stores or routes may not do anything or lead their handler somewhere wrong when those routes change.
That is why the actual training for guidework (if the handler needs it) needs to occur. Not just praise for the dog following their normal routes.
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"My dog just alerted/responded to my ___(insert medical condition here)__!"
Can dogs smell or sense in some other way a medical condition you might have? Things such as seizures, syncope, diabetes or hypoglycemia, migraines, and so on? Yes. There is a lot of evidence for it, including a study that was done by Adam Kirton, MD, Elaine Wirrell, MD FRCPC, James Zhang, MSc and Lorie Hamiwka, MD FRCPC that shows that approximately 15% of dogs in homes with epileptic children are able to anticipate it beforehand, and that approximately 40% of the 90 tested in that 2004 study responded to the seizures already taking place. While it is not known why, and the efficacy rate is still shown to only be in the 80% range, companion dogs do have a chance at being able to alert to and respond to seizures.
In the case of diabetic alerts (high or low blood sugars) there has been a study on handlers with hypoglycemia that goes into detail with trained dogs that shows that it's not just chance that they are alerting to. The study by Nicola J. Rooney, Steve Morant, and Claire Guest shows that they make a significant impact on their handler's well-being. There was also a study performed in 2016 by
In the case of migraines, a much larger survey with 1029 adults with migraines were studied by Dawn A. Marcus and Amrita Bhowmick in June of 2013 showing that approximately 54% of dogs responded prior to the migraine in some way.
And so on (go look up your condition on google scholar with the word "alert dog", some things might not yet be studied or surveyed, others are). So yes, dogs, both companion pets and trained dogs, can alert to and respond to various conditions. That is not being disputed. The issue that comes up though, is that people have their dog do it once, get excited, and then begin to assume their dog will continue to do so, and lower their guard, go out alone with the dog feeling as though if something happens, the dog will alert, and so on. That is dangerous for the handler for multiple reasons. First is that, in a home setting, there isn't much to distract the dog from it noticing those changes to not noticing them due to other things going on in the environment, putting their handler at risk.
Another issue is that "respond" or "alert" is a very vague term. In some cases, it will be by barking. In others, by pawing at their handlers. In others, it could be an aggressive response. The dog does not know what to do, so it goes with whatever "comes to mind". That response to your grand mal could result in your dog biting you, even if the first two or three times or so they were just standing there or perhaps fearfully trying to offer appeasement behaviors because it doesn't know what else to do.
This study by Val Strong and Stephen W Brown published in 2000 goes in depth into 36 pet dogs who had adverse health effects from responding to or anticipating seizures in their owners. Three cases of dogs who died, and twelve of dogs who responded with aggressive behavior towards humans. While of course, this is a small subset, those concerns do still exist. A dog being able to respond or anticipate to a medical condition does not necessarily mean that they are able to do so in a way that is helpful or safe for either party.
A dog may be aware of the change in your body, and able to let you know, but it's not a safe or effective alert that the handler should until their behavior and knowledge has been trained, and tested as accurate for several months.
This is an issue of the handler's safety. Just like with the "guidework" mentioned above.
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"My dog blocked someone from getting too close to me!"
This, just like the distress response, is commonly seen in handlers with psychiatric disabilities, particularly those with conditions that cause high levels of anxiety, including PTSD, Anxiety Disorders, Panic Disorders, etc. They take their dog out in public, and the dog will put itself between the handler and another person, sometimes just lowering their head in a menacing way, or staring the other person down, or perhaps raising their lips or offering a growl or bark. Sometimes just in general, and sometimes in a response to the handler's building anxiety.
Surprisingly, there are many owner handlers and even program trainers who don't see the problem with this. According to them, the dogs are simply doing their job and "blocking" and "keeping away" people from their handler. The dogs aren't trained to do this, but they do, and it makes the handler feel safer, so it is allowed and even encouraged.
While of course most cases aren't like the image above, they can be.
Dogs become "protective" for two primary reasons. The first is fear, and the second is possessiveness.
In the case of fear, it is usually due to a lack of socialization towards unfamiliar people or dogs, as addressed in this article by Lore I. Haung, DVM, MS, DACVB (she also addresses hormones and medical causes, which should always be ruled out first). Dogs that haven't been exposed to or properly exposed to other people or situations, the dogs will react out of the fear, and when pushed, fear can turn into aggression, even if that aggression had never presented to the dog before.
Another cause of fear induced "protection" is related to handler anxiety combined with the dog responding out of instinct. This is the reason why certain breeds are not recommended for individuals with certain conditions, particularly if they are wanting to owner train their first service dog. Dogs from certain intentionally bred lines or breeds involving property, human, or livestock guarding will have those behaviors as their instinctual basis. That is how they will respond to a perceived threat. And if the handler is afraid and teaches (even inadvertently) the dog that people coming up behind them or close to them is a threat, the dog will react according to their bred in instincts. Which could include trying to scare someone away, or alerting the handler with some barking, or attempting to eliminate the threat altogether.
In the case of possessiveness, think about yourself as a favorite toy or treat. Your dog wants you, and only he is allowed to have you. He will move his body to discourage other people or dogs coming too close, giving off whale eyes, a lip raise, maybe a snap. This may be the more common cause of the "built in blocking" behavior that most people see, because it doesn't always result in aggression, and yet, the dog is clearly guarding what it feels is its property. You belong to the dog, and it wants to keep you all to himself. The behavior seems similar enough, that the handler praises it, and encourages that in the dog.
Being on alert in that way, whether based in fear of possessiveness, isn't what you want not only for your sake (to avoid the dog biting someone or posing a risk to other people, causing you to be kicked out of places), but also the dog, who has to undergo that stress every time it goes outside with you. Even if the aggressive actions are suppressed, the dog can definitely still experience that stress and still be on high alert. And high levels of stress can cause increased levels of cortisol, which, as I mentioned in the DPT/distress response section, can cause adverse health conditions in dogs.
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And that is all I have for today. Lol.
There are quite a few other things, such as mobility dogs offering "counterbalance" without being trained or conditioned to do so, because of their opposition reflex and their immediate need to not be pulled over as well if they don't. This can result in inappropriate muscles being built up or injury to the spine or joints. Or a dog almost immediately accepting new scenarios quietly and allowing anything to happen to them, which could be the result of learned helplessness or the dog becoming shut down. And so on. But... the above are ones I see mentioned far more often.
Please feel free to discuss, offer your own thoughts, etc. I do not claim to be an expert on the subject, I am simply summing up things I have learned over the past three years I've been actively working with and training dogs and attempting to learn about their physiology and behavior and how the two interact, and the past two years I've been learning about service dog work specifically.
And it could be that two years from now I look back and shake my head. But... that is the joy of learning. Putting it all out there, and correcting various assertions over time as the whole world and industry learns more. :)
