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Researched by Erin H. |
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Working Dogs
Dedication
I would like to dedicate my project to the people who work with dogs and everyone who has helped me with my project.
Why I Chose This Topic
I chose this topic because I like dogs and have always had a dog. I wanted to learn more about them and how they work.
Research Summary
Introduction
Working dogs are important in most people’s lives.
They help people hunt, help keep them safe, protect their livestock,
pull sleds in races, help blind people, and even find lost or hurt
people. They can be trained to do almost anything. They are strong and
intelligent, which makes them great workers. They also love to work, so
they will not get bored and stop working.
Police Dogs
Police dogs can be Doberman Pinschers, Giant
Schnauzers, Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherds, and a lot more.
German Shepherds are the kind of dog that police officers use most.
Police Dogs are called K-9’s. K-9 means canine, which stands for dogs
and members of the dog family. There are over 3,000 K-9 programs and
almost 30,000 police trained dogs in North America. These dogs are very
valuable to law enforcement agencies.
Police dogs need a lot of
training. First they get assigned a handler when they start training.
They stay with that handler for up to 6 years. Most police dogs and
their handlers need at lease 10-14 weeks of training. The dogs must
learn tracking, obedience, searching, finding, holding, and sometimes
detection. Most importantly, they must learn to obey and protect their
handler. There are police dogs that sniff out missing people; others
sniff out hidden bombs or drugs. K-9 dogs are great at tracking. Their
keen sense of smell could easily alert them to hiding criminals. These
dogs and handlers are so well trained that a dog on a mission could
growl and its handler would know right away what was wrong. Police dogs
are especially trained to not hurt anybody unless the dog’s or the
handler’s lives are threatened.
Herding Dogs
Each herding dog has its own style of working. Most
herding dogs are sheepherders and cattle herders. Some of the dogs that
herd sheep are Border Collies, Collies, and Australian Shepherds. Some
of the dogs that herd cows are Australian Cattle Dogs and Corgis.
Border Collies do something special when they are herding sheep. They
stare at the sheep and do a thing called clapping. Clapping is when
they stretch out their front paws and lower their chest to the ground
while they keep eye contact with a sheep. This works because they are
in a predatory position and acting like a predator which makes the
sheep want to run away. Another dog, the Great Pyrenees has a different
way of herding sheep. They are bred so that they are the same color as
the sheep. That makes it harder for the predators to spot the dogs.
They are raised with the sheep, as puppies so they think the sheep are
their family. They will soon chase away anything that comes too close
to the sheep. The sheep are not afraid of these dogs.
Hunting Dogs
Hunting
dogs can have a lot of different jobs. Some dogs hunt birds. These dogs
are called gun dogs. Some bird hunting dogs are pointers, which point
out the bird that is being hunted. Others are retrievers, which
retrieve the bird that has been killed. Labrador Retrievers make good
retrievers because they love the water. So if someone is hunting a duck
or other water bird, the dog will swim through the water to get it.
Other water dogs are also good for this job. Labradors can also be
pointers.
Some dogs hunt bears and other large animals. These dogs
can be scent hounds or sight hounds. Sight hounds stalk the animal and
kill it but they have to be close enough to see it. Scent hounds can
track the animal and hunt in packs.
Other dogs can hunt burrowing
animals. These dogs are called terriers. Terriers find the den or scent
of the animal then they can dig it out or go into the hole to get the
animal.
Sled Dogs
Sled dogs are used to pull sleds with
people riding on them through the snow. Dog sledding is a sport that is
usually used in colder places. Sled dogs are usually Huskies,
Malamutes, or Samoyeds but they can also be a large breed dog. A
60-pound sled dog can pull up to 2,000 pounds. Most sled dog teams are
made up of 5, 7, or 9 dogs.
A popular sporting
event using sled dogs is the Iditarod. The Iditarod is when teams of
sled dogs race each other through the wilderness of Alaska. The
Iditarod is 1,159 miles long. It takes about 11 days to complete the
Iditarod. Food drops are places in 18 checkpoints of the race. The
mushers and dogs get more food there. Each musher puts a bag of food at
each checkpoint before the race starts. Then they get the bag of food
when they get to that checkpoint. One of the most important things in
the bag is dog food. They need a lot of it because each dog needs
between 10 and 14,000 calories per day. Also they send extra dog
booties. Booties are things that the mushers put on the dogs’ feet to
keep them from getting cut and scraped on the trail. Everything that
the mushers get on the trail has to be taken by plane because there are
no roads.
Guide Dogs
Guide dogs can be a lot of different kinds of dogs;
large breed dogs work best because you need a dog that you can’t pull
around and a dog that can stop you if it needs to. They also need to be
strong enough to carry a heavy harness but small enough that they wont
get in the way. Guide dogs help blind people go places without getting
hurt or lost. Guide dogs can help blind people go almost anywhere a
person who can see can go. They are chosen as puppies. They need to
have special personalities. They need to be patient, smart, and
tireless workers. Guide dogs need at least six months of training. They
have to learn not to pull on their leash and not to get distracted by
things like cats. This is very important because their owner trusts the
dog to keep them safe. Guide dogs are so special that there is a law
that makes it so nobody can keep them out of a public place, even where
pets aren’t allowed! They have to do a lot of different things to help
their owner. They help their owners across streets and watch out for
dangerous things like stairs and doorways. The dog and the owner have a
lot of trust in each other.
Search and Rescue Dogs
Search and Rescue dogs can look for people in snow,
in the water, or on land. Saint Bernards are the most popular snow
rescue dogs and Bloodhounds are the most poplar land rescue dogs.
Bloodhounds have a very good sense of smell. That makes it easy for
them to track and find lost people. If Bloodhounds smell something that
the lost person used or that has their scent on it, like a piece of
clothing, then they can track their scent for miles. Bloodhounds are
not the only dogs that can find lost people. They are just very good at
it because they are built with their nose close to the ground.
Greyhound Racing
Racing
dogs are almost always greyhounds. This sport is only for the
entertainment of the humans and the dogs have to suffer because of it.
There are greyhound breeding places. These places are inhumane (which
means they are very unclean and unhealthy) and the dogs have to spend
most of their lives in cages without interacting with people or other
dogs. The dogs can be killed if they aren’t fast enough racers or if
the places are not making enough money. As puppies, if the breeders
don’t think that they will grow up to be good racers, then they are
killed. Also if the audience of these races doesn’t like the dog, the
dog will be killed. Greyhounds are vulnerable to injury like broken
bones and seizures. The good things are that most greyhound tracks are
frequented less so some of them are going out of business. Now
Washington, Virginia, Maine, Idaho, Nevada, Vermont, and North Carolina
all have laws against greyhound racing.
Medical Response Dogs
Medical
response dogs are assistance dogs with a special job. Their job is to
help people when they are having a medical condition like a seizure or
a heart attack. Their job is to tell someone that their owner is in
trouble so they can help. Or they just sit by the person to make them
feel better.
Guard Dogs
Guard dogs are used to guard
buildings or possessions. The most known guard dog is a
Rottweiler. They are so well known because they are very protective of
their owners and territory. There are also watchdogs. They do their job
by watching your house and barking if they see an intruder. But guard
dogs can be trained to attack the intruder. Some guard dogs are needed
to threaten the intruder until he/she retreats.
Dog Fighting
Dog
fighting dogs are usually Pit Bulls. Dog fighting is a contest in which
two specifically bred dogs, that are trained to fight, are put in a pit
(a small enclosed arena with plywood walls) to fight each other and
entertain the people watching. These dogs are trained to fight without
stopping, until they are too hurt or too tired to continue. The fights
usually last over two hours. The fight ends when one of the dogs can’t
fight any more. The injuries that these dogs get are usually severe or
even fatal. Some of the injuries these dogs get are severe bruises,
deep bites, or even broken bones. These dogs usually die of blood loss,
exhaustion, dehydration, or of infections in wounds.
Other animals
die too. Some dog fighters train their dogs by making them fight
smaller animals like cats, rabbits, or small dogs. These “bait” animals
always die. The “bait” animals are usually stolen pets or are gotten by
“free to a good home” advertisements. Dog fighting is illegal in all 50
states.
Conclusion
Dogs help people
in tons of ways. They look for lost people, help them get around, help
them catch criminals, keep their animals safe, protect their
belongings, and even help them hunt. Some people wouldn’t even be able
to get around their own houses without dogs. Other people would need to
constantly watch their sheep or cattle. Even other people would have
their possessions stolen. So you can see people need working dogs
How I Evaluate My Entire Project
(1) How thorough and complete was my project?
I think my project was great! I did quality work in the whole project and did the best I could.
(2) What would I do differently if starting over again?
If
I could start my project over again I would have started earlier. I
first was doing DNA but that was a really hard topic so I switched
topics to working dogs. I started a couple weeks late though so I was a
little behind for a couple weeks but then I caught up.
(3) What major strengths does my project have?
My report has a lot of paragraphs and I have a lot of pictures in my display.
(4) What weaknesses or problems does my project have?
The weaknesses that my project has is that there are a lot of pictures and less data on my display.
(5) What did I learn to do better during this project?
I learned to pay attention and get my work done but not to rush and have to redo it.
(6) In what ways did I enjoy my study and work?
I enjoyed learning so much about dogs and getting to use pictures of my dogs in my display.
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