Dogs and the Disabled - Page 1

I wonder if all dogs have the ability to sense when someone is disabled.   I've observed this twice with my male gsd Jack.   A couple of months ago my daughter's friend's little sister (an eight year old with severe autism) ran towards Jack making exaggerated hand motions and yelling.   He let her approach him and wrap her arms around his neck and he usually does not allow people to wrap their arms around his neck.   He was very gentle with her.  Then this afternoon I took him to my school where I met with some of my students so they could work on their physics projects (three hours on a Sunday afternoon) .   One of my 8th graders had a stroke as a young child which left her permanently paralyzed on one side.  She walks with a brace on her leg.  She was especially interested in Jack and sat on the floor next to him.  Again, he was very calm and let her stroke his head.   He also let her wrap her arms around his neck.   It just amazed me to see him so gentle in both of those situations.  

gg, as someone who has a service dog, and knows many people who have service dogs, yes, your dog knows. Why WOULDN'T he know? SDs can sense seizures before they happen, they can tell diabetics that their blood sugar is high or low, and many of them alert their owners to physical problems they are not even aware of.  There's a member of this board who probably wouldn't be alive today if her GSD hadn't kept nudging her in the breast, until she finally made an appointment for a mammogram, which found a tumor in the breast!

Many people will also tell you their goofball dogs behave totally differently with a small child or infant than they do with their rambunctious 11 year old.


Your dog sounds like he has the qualities needed for a good service dog.