What service animal would you have?

What is a service animal?

Service animals are wonderful animals that have been trained to help people with disabilities live as best a life as they possibly can. These animals are able to get tasks done that assist people in their daily dose of life.

A service animal helps those with disabilities other than blindness or deafness, guide dogs and hearing dogs are in charge of helping those who cannot see or hear.

A service dog is taught how to help ease a physical disability; they are trained to pull wheelchairs or assist a person in maintain their balance. Other common tasks service dogs perform include retrieving dropped objects that are out of reach, closing or opening doors, finding other people, or turning a light switch on or off. 

What jobs do service animals do?

Seizure response dogs

Seizure response dogs lend a helping paw to people who suffer from seizures, by activating life-saving alert alarms, they can even roll a person into the recovery position, or get the required medication to the owner to end the seizure. They are able to offer some physical stability to someone who needs a little support.

Psychiatric service animals

Also known as emotionally supportive animals, you could end up with one of a range of animals, from dogs and cats to horses and parrots. These helpful animals assist people who are experiencing emotional dilemmas or tough mental conditions. These creatures of comfort provide a stable and relaxing presence for those in need of some unconditional love. 

A person needs to have a prescription from a licensed therapist to get one of these specially trained animals. People who suffer from bipolar disorders, have hallucinations, severe anxiety Post Traumatic Stress disorder or highly disturbing behavioural personality disorders stand a chance to be given an incredibly helpful psychiatric service animal.

Therapy animals

Therapy animals offer therapeutic like support. They can be found in places such as senior homes, rehabilitation centres, hospitals, nursing homes or even schools. These animals provide some form of comfort and happiness to children and adults alike. They can help people who are facing medical challenges or need some extra guided therapy. 

Mobility assistance animals

These animals help people who have physical disabilities and are usually confined to getting around in a wheelchair. Specially trained dogs are able to push wheelchairs, open doors and bring the phone to their owners. Helpful capuchin monkeys not only assist people who are paralysed to perform everyday tasks such as turning on lights, and picking up items handing them over, but also make for great companions.

What different service animals are there?

There are so many wonderful animals out there that can be of a big help to people with various physical disabilities, medical challenges, emotional troubles or psychiatric disorders.

Dogs are the most common to aid people in need of some assistance but cats, parrots, ferrets, rats, guinea pigs, alpacas, pigs and even iguanas can also help those that need some support when dealing with emotional or medical problems. Trained monkeys and dogs are great buddies to have around for people who are in wheelchairs.

An incredible selection of both common and the more unusual exotic animals are out there, trained and ready to lend out a helpful paw to people who need them.