Best Service Dog Breeds

Service dogs help those with physical and mental disabilities lead healthier and more independent, happy lives.

Without their service dog, a lot of people would struggle to get out of bed in the morning, let alone go about their day-to-day business. 

Some of the most popular types of service dogs are guide dogs for the blind, alert dogs, and mobility dogs. 

Today, we want to develop your understanding of service dogs and show you exactly how they help those in need.

To do so, we’ve put together a list of the best service dog breeds. 

We’ll show you how each dog helps their handler and what qualities they have that help them do the best job. 

Let’s get started!

Labrador Retriever

First up, we have the Labrador Retriever. Labrador Retrievers are the most common breed of service dog.

This is mainly due to their happy-go-lucky personality, friendly nature, and loyalty. 

Labrador Retrievers are incredibly devoted with a strong desire to please their owners, so they’ll happily help their handler in any way they can. Thanks to their high intelligence, training them to be attentive is easy.

Their athleticism and hardiness also help them keep going throughout the day.

Golden Retriever

Another very popular breed of dog when it comes to the best service dogs is the Golden Retriever.

The Golden Retriever makes a great service dog for the same reasons a Labrador does. 

This beautiful golden breed of dog is sociable, friendly, dedicated, loving, caring, and eager to please.

Thanks to this eagerness to please and its intelligence, the Golden Retriever can also be easily trained to offer its handler everything they require. 

Commonly used as guide dogs for the blind, the breed is very active, so they suit more active handlers more.

German Shepherds

It was in the early 1920s when the German Shepherd became the first breed of dog to act as a guide for the blind. The breed remains one of the best choices to this day. 

Popular in a wide range of service work scenarios, the German Shepherd isn’t just intelligent, loyal, and dedicated, but it is also absolutely fearless.

This makes them perfect for handling a huge variety of different disabilities. 

Thanks to their fearless nature, German Shepherds are also used by police forces to tackle crime. 

Great Dane

The next breed on our list is the Great Dane. Extremely tall and super strong, the Great Dane lends itself well to offering support to those who have various mobility issues.

It isn’t uncommon for this breed of dog to be used for the sole purpose of helping people stand up.

Aside from that, their loving, calm personality enables them to provide young children with psychiatric support. 

Their sheer size might make them unsuitable for some, but with high intelligence and willingness to learn, the breed can be easily trained to fulfill a number of roles.

Poodle

Used as a service dog in a variety of circumstances, it is actually the Poodle’s ability to detect allergens that make it such a good service dog.

While the breed’s ability to learn how to support individuals and its caring personality help, the Poodle’s best characteristic is being able to identify allergens that could potentially kill its handler. 

As you can imagine, this amazing talent is incredibly important to many people’s livelihoods.

Larger Poodles can also use their height to their advantage when it comes to supporting those with mobility issues.

Above all else, a lot of people find comfort in grooming their Poodles too.

Bernese Mountain Dog

Bernese Mountain Dogs possess the calmness, intelligence, loyalty, and cuteness required of any service dog.

Big enough to easily hold up the weight of an adult, this breed of dog is normally used to provide for those suffering from mobility issues.

Whether it be helping someone up off the floor or simply walking alongside their handler, the Bernese Mountain Dog won’t leave its owner’s side.

This breed of dog can also be trained to carry important items such as medicine in the event their handler can’t get up. 

Collie

The Collie may well be one of, if not the smartest breed of dog on this list.

Their best trait and the one that makes them perfect service dogs is their ability to sense seizures. As a result, they are often used as epileptic service dogs.

Aside from this trait, Collies are also super friendly, loving, and wonderfully furry.

These traits also make them great companions for children suffering from psychiatric disorders. 

Of course, their overall cuteness is also a great comfort for a lot of people.

Pomeranian

You may be surprised to find the Pomeranian on this list, but they have proven time and time again to be excellent companions and even better at detecting symptoms of diabetes.

Brilliant at alerting their handlers to any complications related to diabetes, the Pomeranian can also help those with hearing impairments and mental disabilities.

Another great thing about the Pomeranian is its size. Thanks to its small stature, the Pomeranian can be traveled with easily and kept in smaller apartments.

They also get on great with other pets and children, making them a great family companion.

Final Thoughts

As you can see from our list, there are a wide variety of dog breeds that make excellent service dogs.

There are more dogs that make amazing service dogs out there, but the breeds on this list are the very best.

How many breeds did you know we’re used as service dogs before reading our list?

Despite each breed having different characteristics, appearances, and personalities, every breed of dog on our list is wonderfully gifted when it comes to offering their handler the love, affection, dedication, and loyalty they need to live a much happy life and get through their day-to-day battles.