Career Canines in Canada – About Working Dogs

Career canines, or working dogs, are dogs with jobs.

TYPES OF WORKING DOGS & TYPICAL BREEDS FOR THE JOB

Search and Rescue Dogs

Search and rescue dogs come in many shapes and sizes and are used for various situations to find missing or injured people. Not all dogs can work in severe weather conditions.

Police Work and Detection Dogs

Police work requires dogs that are brave, strong and versatile, for example German Shepherds. Detection dogs of course need a keen sense of smell.

Service Dogs

There are many types of service dogs. They all need to be calm, confident, friendly, gentle, patient and equipped to deal with many different situations. That’s why Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers make great service dogs.

Guide dogs can help visually impaired individuals while other types of assistance dogs can help their humans with mobility, hearing, seizures, anxiety and depression. There are also autism support dogs and even peanut detection dogs that protect owners with allergies.

Therapy dogs specifically help provide comfort for those in hospitals and nursing homes.

Working dogs typically live with their handlers.

POLICE & MILITARY DOGS

DETECTOR (SNIFFER) DOGS

– Beagle
– Bloodhound

TRACKING DOGS

– German Shepherd
– Labrador Retriever

BOMB DETECTOR DOGS

– Belgian Malinois
– German Shepherd

GENERAL SEARCH & RESCUE DOGS

– German Shepherd
– Labrador Retriever
– Belgian Malinois
– Border Collie
– Bloodhound

WATER RESCUE DOGS

– Retriever
– Newfoundland
– Portuguese Water Dog

AVALANCHE RESCUE DOGS

– Saint Bernard

SERVICE DOGS

– Labrador Retriever
– Golden Retriever

SLED DOGS

– Alaskan Husky
– Siberian Husky
– Alaskan Malamute
– Canadian Eskimo Dog
– Greenland Dog

LIVESTOCK GUARDIAN DOGS (LGD’s)

– Kuvasz
– Hovawart
– Komondor
– Leonberger
– Tibetan Mastiff
– Anatolian Shepherd Dog
– Great Pyrenees

HERDING DOGS

– Kelpies
– Border Collies
– Australian Cattle Dogs