In traditional and contemporary society, there are many different roles and jobs that dogs have helped to fill.
Livestock Guardian Dogs
Dogs have been used for thousands of years to protect livestock from large carnivore predators. This job requires a very skilled canine that is weather hardy, can stay close to home, can identify true threats, and can also coexist happily with the herd. These dogs help reduce conflicts with wildlife and preserve a peaceful ecological relationship with nature.
Protection and Security dogs
Some dogs are used to protect the home and give their owners a sense of security against intruders. This job uses their natural territorial instincts to help train them to act aggressively with unfamiliar people. The owners of these dogs need to make sure that they are trained very well and always under control to prevent unwanted behaviours towards friendly visitors.
Sled dogs
Dogsledding is a method of winter travel that was developed by Indigenous peoples to get around quickly and haul loads across ice and deep snow. Each pair of dogs in the lineup has a specific role including “point dogs” and “swing dogs” that respond to specific commands from their driver. With the invention of vehicles like snowmobiles, the traditional uses for sled dogs is less common, but racing has become a popular winter sport.
Hunting Dogs
Tahltan Bear Dogs are a breed of dog created by Indigenous peoples in British Columbia. They became widely used in many First Nations communities across Canada for sustenance hunting of not only bears but also moose, rabbit, etc. The Tahltan Bear Dog has since gone extinct but other breeds are still working with hunters worldwide as scent trackers, locators, pursuers and retrievers.
Service Dogs
Service dogs perform a wide variety of tasks to help people with visible or non-visible disabilities, such as visual impairments, mobility limitations, diabetes, and epilepsy. They help their handlers maintain their health and independence. These dogs need to pass a variety of tests to qualify as service dogs. They must be desensitized to distractions and comfortable in any environment.
Police Dogs
There are over 20 different duties that police canines may have! From search and rescue to bomb detection, police dogs are specialists in their unique roles and are relied upon by their human partners. In a study called “The role of Police Dogs as Companions and Working Partners” that included 255 officers, virtually all of them reported that their dogs have saved their lives on at least one occasion.
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