Types of Jobs for Dogs

by Courtney Mroch | More from this Blogger

09 Jul 2008 07:11 PM

I'm forever praising Murph for all the help he gives me with chores, but some dogs truly do work for a living. I got to pondering all the many types of jobs for dogs there are when I was coming up with ideas for animal holidays and observances there should be if there aren't already. For that article I stumbled across Aimee's article about working group dogs as part of my research and it dawned on me: "Wow. I never realized just how many dogs work."

Yes, times are getting tough, but, no, this won't be an article of ways you can supplement your household income by finding a job for your dog. Although, if that's a consequence after reading this article let me just say it's completely unintended.

However, it's not likely. Besides the fact that some jobs require the owner to work in the same field (read that as: you have to hustle for your biscuits, too), not all dog jobs are compensated positions. At least not monetarily. Many reparations come in the form of treats, tons of attention, and lots of loving. (How much more would you like your job if you netted these perks along with your paycheck?)

We've covered some of them individually on the site, but I thought it'd be fun to list them all out. (Or as many as I'm aware of presently. I'll add on as other jobs for dogs come to my attention.)

Dog Duty

Arson Detecting dogs

Canine actors

Canine mascots (for school teams and such)

Guard dogs

Hearing Ear dogs

Human Remains Detection Dogs (that's a heck of a way to put your sniffer to work, eh?)

K9 Corps dogs (dogs serving in the armed forces)

K9 Unit dogs (police dogs)

Mobility Assistant dog

Narcotics Sniffing dogs

Ranch/herding dogs

Search and Rescue dogs

Seeing Eye dogs

Seizure Alert dogs

Sled dogs

Therapy dogs (Including dogs such as Canine Reading Assistants)

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Learn more about Courtney Mroch

Courtney Mroch is a wife, a proud pet parent, and a writer. She's been with her husband, high school sweetheart Wayne Pryor, over 20 years, married 11 of those. She's "mom" to Mr. Meow, a.k.

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