Exactly How Much Does a Service Dog Matter?

We’ve used this space frequently to extoll the many virtues of service dogs. 

Much of the benefit attributed to service dogs has been studied anecdotally or through small and informally designed research efforts, however. Would it be possible to raise the level of scientific rigor to quantify more accurately the effects of the partnership between a service dog and its handler? One study set out to do just that. 

Two Principal Categories of Benefits

The researchers in this important analysis looked at two categories of potential service dog benefits:*

  • To what degree do service dogs affect a handler’s functional performance, as measured by the time and perceived effort required to complete common individualized tasks?

  • Does having a service dog in public change the amount and quality of social interaction between handler and public, and how satisfied are handlers with any perceived difference?

The research team studied this question by assessing in detail the experiences of three women and their service dogs. The human subjects ranged in age from 23 to 62 and suffered from cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and spinal cord injury, respectively. Their dogs were a Labrador retriever, a golden retriever and a Lab/golden mix.  

To make the findings as concrete as possible, the researchers chose specific tasks to observe and measure across the three participants

  • For Participant 1, they looked at the time and effort required to pick up dropped keys and open a sliding door

  • For Participant 2, the team studied time and effort needed to pick up a fanny pack and retrieve a cell phone

  • For Participant 3, the observed tasks were picking up a dropped pen and lifting a dog dish off the floor.

For all three participants, the researchers also looked at the number of social interactions experienced by the participants in a grocery store.

How the Service Dogs Performed on Functional Tasks

Having a service dog to pick up items from the floor (the first task studied) was almost universally faster and easier with the dog’s assistance than without. In two cases, the time required decreased by 50 to 100 percent. The reduction in effort was even more dramatic, with a decrease ranging from half to around 80 percent. 

Results for the second task studied (opening a door, retrieving a cell phone, or picking up a dog dish) were equally significant. Time reductions approached 50 percent. Decreases in effort needed were as much as 80 percent.  

Social Interaction – More Nuanced

The effect of a service dog on social interaction (the third task studied) is complex. Many people with whom a handler interacts casually in public are drawn to a friendly and adorable service dog. The temptation to pet the dog and speak to it are all but irresistible. However, unwanted interference from even well-meaning strangers distracts the dog from her work. This, in turn, increases the difficulty a handler faces in completing the simple transactions of life.   

Mobility Service Dog Photo Courtesy MobilityDog

In this study, two of the three participants reported more instances of social interaction when accompanied by a service dog than when shopping without the dog. Participant 1 had a median of 6.5 social contacts per trip with the dog, compared with 1.0 without the dog. Participant 3 reported a median of 5.5 contacts with and 1.0 without the service dog present. Participant 2 reported between zero and four contacts in both situations (no consistent difference with or without the dog). Most importantly, perhaps, all participants reported much higher satisfaction with social contacts when service dogs were present.  

Why Small Benefits Matter

To the able-bodied, the mundane tasks studied in this research may seem simple and not especially effort-intensive. But people with disabilities often report having to cope with extreme fatigue, which only further complicates a life already encumbered with discomfort and mobility limitations. Having a service dog to take some of that burden and enable a disabled individual to better husband his or her energy can improve quality of life significantly. This benefit, in turn, can translate to reduced requirements for external caregiver support, which can yield financial savings and reduce logistical complications. 

Perhaps most importantly, studies in the United States, Japan and the U.K. have found that people with physical disabilities who have partnered with service dogs report increases in self-esteem, control over the transactional aspects of life and an improved sense of well-being.** Add these to the already impressive list of contributions service dogs make to the lives of their handlers.

*Crowe, T.K., et al, “Effects of Partnerships Between People With Mobility Challenges and Service Dogs,” The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2014, Vol. 68(2), 194–202. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2014.009324 

**Winkle, M. et al, “Service Dogs and People with Physical Disabilities Partnerships: A Systematic Review,” Occup. Ther. Intl., March, 2011, Service Dogs and People with Physical Disabilities Partnerships: A Systematic Review

Lynn Walford