Are Poodles Good Service Dogs?

For those in need of a service dog, it is important to be aware of whether the dog breed you are interested will actually be beneficial for you. To help you decide, I will define poodles as service dogs.

Poodles make great service dogs for those with mental, visual, and hearing impairments. Because poodles are a smaller breed, they do not meet the physical requirements needed to fulfill some roles, like pulling a wheelchair.

To better help you understand poodle’s roles as service dogs, I will explain what disabilities poodles are able to assist in. I will also explain some of the traits that lead to poodle’s ability to serve you.

Service Needs Poodles Can Meet

Because every dog breed is so different, they will be able to meet different needs according to their abilities.

There is not one dog breed that is simply the best for every disability and impairment. To help you sort out if poodles are a good match for your needs, I will list some common needs that qualify for a service dog and how well poodles meet those needs.

How Well Poodles Meet Different Needs:

The biggest role that poodles will not be able to fulfill properly is any physical needs.

Other dogs, dogs who are larger, are much better suited to meet the physical needs of his/ her owner. However, even the largest poodle type, the standard poodle, is only considered a medium-sized dog.

Because of this, a poodle will not be able to assist those who are in need of a dog who can push or pull them.

If you have physical needs to be met with a service dog, some better dog breeds that would be able to meet your needs are golden retrievers, German shepherds, and labrador retrievers.

Aside from these specific physical needs, poodles can actually make great service dogs for many different needs.

For those with visual or hearing impairments, poodles will make for a great service dog. Poodles are able to be trained to become hearing or seeing guide dogs quite easily. This breed is also known to be natural retrievers which makes them more than able to fetch and bring different items according to what is needed.

Poodles will also make great service dogs for those with life-threatening allergies and diabetes.

Although these conditions are not similar, the poodle’s role in serving these conditions is similar. For both of these conditions, poodles will be able to use his/her senses to sniff out possible danger and bring his/her owner to safety.

Poodles are incredibly intelligent and have great senses.

This makes poodles some of the best service dogs out there. Poodles are able to serve those with diabetes or life-threatening allergies easily. Although your poodle would still need to be trained to assist, it will come naturally to him/ her.

Service Traits of Poodles

Like I mentioned earlier, each dog breed has their own qualities that lend to them being a good service dog.

For poodles, there are many traits present that make the poodle a desirable service dog.

Some of these traits include:

• Highly intelligent
• Easily trained
• Eagerness to please
• Obedient
• Loyal

These traits are all crucial in having a service dog. It is so important that the dog is trainable. Professionals must train service dogs to do their job well. Because poodles have high obedience intelligence, poodles will be trained quickly and easily.

Not only does a poodle’s intelligent lend them to being a great service dog, but there are many other traits present.

Poodles attach very easily to their owner. Poodles make very strong bonds to their owner, which makes them extremely loyal dogs. This is important with a service dog because you will want your dog to present to assist and have a desire to assist.

Although poodles form strong bonds with their owner, they often will not bond easily with strangers. Poodles are mostly known to be introverts.

This is a great thing for a service dog. Because of this, you will not find your service dog distracted when you are in need. Your service dog will be by your side only.

Poodles are also very eager to please.

Although this does not seem like an immediately desirable trait, it is very desirable for those trying to have a dependable service dog. Because poodles want to serve you and do anything for you, they will not only serve you well but do it with love.

This is a great thing in comparison to other dogs. Although other dogs may serve well, it is not as natural for them to do.

Poodles naturally serve you with love.

Another significant trait that poodles have is their hatred for being alone. Many poodles have separation anxiety. It is very difficult for poodles to live in homes where they do not have the right amount of attention and companionship.

So, poodles will appreciate becoming your companion.

The more dependent you are upon your poodle, the happier he/ she will be. Poodles thrive off of serving their owner.

Aside from these traits that come naturally for poodles, poodles are also natural retrievers. Poodles were bred in Germany to be water retriever for ducks. In those days, poodles were hunting companions. Poodles would go out into the water, catch the waterfowl, and bring it back to their owner.

The quality of retrieving is extremely desirable within service dogs.

Most every need will require retrieving at different levels. The service dogs will be able to fetch things for his/ her owner.

For the purpose that poodles were bred for, retrieving will be natural to your poodle. Your poodle should easily be able to assist you in fetching items.

Poodles overall have many extremely desirable traits that make them great service dogs.

With the only impairment to service dogs being their size, I would highly suggest poodles as service dogs based on their many service-oriented traits.

Acquiring a Poodle Service Dog

The final thing I would like to talk about is actually getting your poodle as a service dog.

Service animals are often mixed with or confused with comfort or emotional support animals. If you want to have a service dog (a dog trained to perform an act that helps those with disabilities or ailments) you will need to register your poodle.

If you do not currently have a dog, the process will be simple.

There are many organizations which specialize in training service dogs. The dogs that they train are available for adoption. Some of these organizations are:

• Service Dogs Inc.
• Little Angels Service Dogs

There are of course qualifications for adopting a pre-trained service dog. You will need to show proof of your conditions.

You can get this proof by a simple doctor’s note. This will just allow the organization to know that you are in actual need of your service dog. There are some out there without a need, so it is important to them that you show proof of your condition.

Aside from this way of adopting a service dog, you could also register your poodle to become a service dog.

However, in order to do this, you will need to send your poodle to a professional trainer to be trained for your specific needs. This process is timely, but worth it when you have your own loving service dog.

A word of warning before you purchase a poodle for a service dog is to make sure that you will match the dog breed.

For service dogs, it is not only important that they are able to meet your dogs. But for some dog breeds (including poodles), it is important that you can meet their needs as well.

Poodles are very high energy and high maintenance.

Because of this, it is important that you will be able to groom your poodle daily. If you are not able, that is not a problem as long as there is someone in your home willing to groom your poodle.

You will also need to be able to give you poodle exercise.

Because your poodle is so high energy, he/ she will need daily exercise to ensure they are on their best behavior. Without this exercise, your poodle may become irritable.

As long as you are able to meet a poodle’s needs and the poodle is capable of meeting your needs, you have a great service dog in front of you.

Poodles will make not only a great service for you, but a great friend.