Service dogs come in all sizes, colors and abilities! But they all have one thing in common. These incredible dogs offer freedom and independence to people challenged with disabilities, both seen and unseen.

But where do our amazing service dogs come from? Keep reading to find out.

Service Dogs: From Ancient Rome to Today

Our dogs have assisted us in our daily lives for as long as history has been recorded. According to History.com, “the earliest evidence of such partnerships is found in a fresco in the ruins of the ancient Roman city, Herculaneum.” The fresco depicts a blind man presumably being led by his dog, dating back as far as the first century A.D.

In addition, from the Middle Ages, European wood carvings and Chinese scroll paintings depicted similar scenes of the dog-human relationship.

The earliest formal training of guide dogs took place back in the 1750s in a Paris hospital for the blind. A few decades later, Josef Reisinger, a blind Austrian man, was so successful in training a spitz and then a poodle as a guide dog, people thought he was faking his disability altogether.

One of the earliest manuals for training guide dogs was published in 1819 by Austrian Johann Wilhelm Klein, the founder of the Institute for the Training of the Blind in Vienna. It was Johann who advocated the use of a special harness along with a pole with poodles and shepherds. These same breeds are still used today.

The Modern-Day Service Dog

But it wasn’t until the 1970s and the pioneering work of Dr. Bonnie Bergin that dogs began to assist people beyond guide dogs. With Dr. Bergin’s work, the concept of a “service dog” began to evolve and include people with disabilities beyond visual impairment. People impaired with hearing and mobility challenges as well as mental and psychiatric challenges including autism and PTSD were able to access trained service dogs for their disabilities and needs.

Dr. Bergin first observed people using donkeys and burros in other countries to help them regain their independence and this led to her mission to help more disabled people with trained canines. Through her work, the modern-day term “service dog” was coined. In 1975, Dr. Bergin created the Canine Companions for Independence, the first of its kind, and the Bergin University of Canine Studies.

Service Dogs: The Amazing Breeds

Regardless of their breed, all service dogs pose critical traits to serve and provide their humans with greater independence and a better quality of life!

Click here to learn about the different types of service dogs.

While most common, service dogs are not limited to just Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherds and Golden Retrievers.

Today, service dogs also include:

Poodles (The breed commonly used for Mobility Service Dogs - West Coast Project DBA Mobility Dog).
Bernese Mountain Dogs.
Great Danes (Meet George the Great Dane and his little human, Bella)
Collies
American Staffordshire Terriers.
And even the tiny Pomeranian as a medical alert dog for diabetes, Parkinson’s Disease, seizures, asthma and more.