Does your dog need a job?

Working dogs aren’t just an American Kennel Club (AKC) breed category. Nearly any breed of dog can perform some kind of job, given the right training. It’s all about fitting the task to the dog’s build and disposition.

Sure, the AKC categorizes certain canine breeds as working dogs. These include:

• Akita
• Alaskan Malamute
• Anatolian Shepherd
• Bernese Mountain Dog
• Black Russian Terrier
• Boerboel
• Boxer
• Bullmastiff
• Cane Corso
• Chinook
• Doberman Pinscher
• Dogue de Bordeaux
• German Pinscher
• Giant Schnauzer
• Great Dane
• Great Pyrenees
• Greater Swiss Mountain Dog
• Kmondor
• Kuvasz
• Leonberger
• Mastiff
• Neapolitan Mastiff
• Newfoundland
• Portuguese Water Dog
• Rottweiler
• Saint Bernard
• Samoyed
• Siberian Husky
• Standard Schnauzer
• Tibetan Mastiff

Dogs of these breeds have been found to be particularly adept and trainable for useful tasks.

Still, many other sorts of dogs can perform essential tasks to help their owners and others. How about these canine careers? Here’s a fetching list of nearly two dozen jobs for dogs:

• Cart dogs
• Circus dogs
• Companion dogs
• Drug detection dogs
• Emotional assistance dogs
• Fashion model dogs
• Firehouse dogs
• Guide dogs
• Herding dogs
• Hunting dogs
• Mascot dogs
• Military dogs
• Pest catching dogs
• Photo model dogs
• Police K-9 dogs
• Search and rescue dogs
• Security guard dogs
• Show dogs
• Sled dogs
• Therapy dogs
• TV and movie dogs
• Water rescue dogs
• and more.

Often, a dog will reveal to his owner what responsibilities he might best perform, simply by demonstrating his own abilities and behavioral temperament. At that point, it may be time to give the dog a job. Then again, some dogs are ideally suited to spend their lives simply being occupied as their owners’ best friends and companions.

Image/s:

 Adapted from public domain image

Feel free to follow on Google Plus and Twitter.  You are invited to subscribe for free to my General Pets Examiner column, so you will receive email notifications whenever new articles appear.