Statistics show there are approximately 7.3million dogs kept in the UK; most of these are kept as pets, however there are some who also contribute greatly to society.  More and more pets are becoming working dogs, animals that play a significant part in helping the human population.
 

Search and Rescue dogs

Certain breeds of dogs, (in particular German Shepherds, Border Collies, Labradors and Retrievers) can be extremely useful in cases of missing persons, as well as situations on difficult terrain.  These breeds of dogs are renowned for their close and obedient relationship with humans, and along with their strength, intelligence and agility this makes them the perfect search and rescue dog.  As dogs have much more advanced smelling senses, they are able to detect the human scent, enabling them to search for missing people more efficiently than other humans.  Because dogs are generally more agile than humans, they can also be very useful on challenging terrain, such as rocky surfaces or steep cliffs.  Each year many lives are saved due to search and rescue dogs, whom are able to discover people in dangerous situations, alert for help and eventually save the person’s life.

Guide dogs

 Guide dogs are perhaps the most well known of all rescue dogs, they are seen with their disabled owners on a day to day basis, and are now not an unusual sight anywhere.  The dogs, mostly Labradors or Retrievers, assist partially sighted or blind people in their day to day lives, helping them with simple tasks such as crossing the road.  Dogs have been used for this purpose for many years, however the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association was only founded in 1934.  Dogs are used in place of other animals because of their close relationship with humans, their intelligence, and because their strength is to such an extent they can physically direct their owners.

Sniffer dogs 

Sniffer dogs, also known as detection dogs, are used to detect substances such as illegal drugs, explosives or blood, used mainly in criminal situations.  The dogs are used because of their incredible sense of smell, it is around 2000 times more sensitive than a humans.  They are even able to detect substances such as blood, from ten years previously, and attempted cover-ups don’t fool them.  In one case at an Australian prison, a sniffer dog managed to detect illegal drugs hidden under a woman’s clothes, smothered with coffee, Vicks Vapo-rub and pepper. 

 There are also many other types of working dog, which together with the above, make a considerable contribution to society.  Without them life would be a lot harder for everyone, so perhaps we should all support these working dogs a little more.