Photo by Katya Wolf

Dogs with Attitude by Yvonne Bronstorph features a whole litter of dogs dreaming of having the perfect canine jobs. Yet, professions for dogs are a real thing!

Dogs are best known for being man’s best friend. And it’s not without reason! For millennia, ever since we domesticated them, dogs have been our partners throughout almost everything. With their incredible sense of smell and hearing, surprising intelligence, and unwavering loyalty, we’ve been training dogs for centuries to help humans in many fields. We’ve essentially given them canine jobs! 

Dogs are some of the hardest-working animals on the planet (perhaps THE hardest-working, but we won’t get into that, lest the cow fans catch wind of this article). From law enforcement to healthcare, search and rescue, herding, and more, dogs have been putting in long hours and tons of effort and hard work. Canine jobs aren’t easy!

Their contributions to human society are almost undisputable and immeasurable. Imagining a world where dogs don’t exist is impossible–that’s how vital their role is in daily life, whether it’s sniffing out explosives from suspicious bags, helping out people with disabilities, being therapy partners, or simply being there by our sides. Dogs are a testament to the fantastic things that the world has to offer us, and we wouldn’t be here without them.

Jobs and Professions Dogs Have 

Police and military dogs. 

The most common canine jobs are in the police or the military. With their acute sense of smell, they are instrumental in drug and explosives detection, whether it’s in the airport or on the battlefield. Some dogs are even trained to sniff out bad people and missing persons. Their natural “wildness” also gives dogs quite some leeway when it comes to providing protection for their owners and handlers.

Search and rescue dogs.

Dogs have very powerful noses, which means that canine jobs that best suit them also involve search and rescue. If you’re in the aftermath of a natural or manmade disaster, dogs can be extremely helpful in sussing out where survivors are while quickly covering large areas. Their training also helps them thrive not only in urban developments but also in rugged terrain, such as mountains and caves.

Therapy dogs. 

Surprisingly, in healthcare, dogs can also make a splash, particularly in the field of therapy. Because of their natural lovability and loyalty, we can actually train dogs to become emotional support for patients in hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, and other health-related settings. Dogs are also wonderful sources of anxiety and stress relief.

Service dogs.

Outside of institutional healthcare, there are also canine jobs for assisting people in the home. This is especially worthwhile for people with disabilities, where the dog’s training can be useful for blind people in navigating their surroundings, for deaf people in being made aware of “important” noises, and more. With their surprising intelligence, dogs can also be trained to help open doors, pick up dropped items, and be assistants for people with autism, PTSD, and other health conditions.

Herding dogs.

For centuries, one of the oldest canine jobs has been herding livestock, such as sheep and cattle. Because of their animal instincts, dogs are quite suited for this line of work, and you can see plenty of videos uploaded on YouTube about how true the above statement is. If you get right down to it and train your dogs well, you can easily have extremely focused and highly responsive dogs, though training might become quite extensive.

Dogs with Attitude by Yvonne Bronstorph

Join us in reading this wonderful adventure alongside fun-loving, adventure-taking pups Tiger, Scrappy, Sammy, Champ, and Bow Wow as they explore what it means to have canine jobs!