The traditional role of a police dog is one used to enforce public order by tracking, chasing and holding suspects either by direct apprehension or a method known as "Bark and Hold." Detection dogs or explosive-sniffing dogs are used to detect illicit substances such as drugs, explosives or incendiary devices which may be carried on a person in their effects or may be located at a crime scene. Law Enforcement/Arson dogs are true partners to their handlers and are considered law enforcement officers in their communities.
Service Dogs assist people with disabilities other than vision or hearing impairment. They can be trained to work with people who use wheelchairs, have balance issues, have various types of autism, need seizure alert or response, need to be alerted to other medical issues like low blood sugar, or have psychiatric disabilities. These specially trained dogs can help by retrieving objects that are out of their person's reach, opening and closing doors, turning light switches off and on, barking to indicate that help is needed, finding another person and leading the person to the handler, assisting ambulatory persons to walk by providing balance and counterbalance, and many other individual tasks as needed by a person with a disability.
