A couple people have asked "Why Danes?" when I tell them Talos is in training to be a service dog. "They don't live very long, do they?"
Talos will be used as a brace dog – he'll help his person keep his (or her) balance. A brace dog needs to be (1) tall, (2) sturdy, (3) strong, and (4) calm. Not many dogs fit that bill… except a Great Dane.
From the breeder at Service Dog Project: The Balance
support dog should be at least 40% of the person’s height. A 6-foot
tall man needs a 30” dog. This puts stability at the person’s
fingertips. The dog should also weigh at least half the person’s
weight. Great
Danes are well suited to home and office life. The fact that Danes
require less exercise than many breeds is a good fit for some people
with disabilities. Danes are content to have a few walks every day and
then nap in the corner until their services are needed. They would
not dream of chasing a tennis ball. If someone intended to climb
mountains with their service dog, a Dane would not be for them.
Pictured above is a Great Dane named Arrow, who is in service as a balance dog. You can see how tall he is – his person (in the pink shirt) holds onto Arrow's orange harness for balance support. She's 5' 10" and you can see that her arm is bent when she's touching Arrow. (Arrow, by the way, is Talos' half brother – they share the same mother.)
Many Danes, if bred correctly, can reach 10 – 12 years of age. Breeding for function, not for looks, helps develop a hardy dog. Even though he might not meet the Great Dane breed standard, he's more likely to live a long life, assisting his charge for many years.
I read that Danes shouldn’t be used as balance dogs because they have floating shoulders. In the photo the woman has her hand towards his hind quarters, but, in real life, hand placement is not often ideal. (I have MS, so the topic is of great interest to me.)
Ive had Danes all my life, and never heard such a thing as “floating shoulders”. The musculature of Danes is incredibly strong, and a well bred Dane will be solidly built with strong thick bones, very much able to handle weight bearing in stride.
One thing you don’t do is lean on the middle of their back, since they can have back problems from that. The shoulders are the strongest and most muscled area of their bodies–the best place.
I’ve found with Kenai, when I’m wobbling, he hardly has to counterbalance at all just because of his sheer weight–I can’t really pull him off balance because he’s so big. When I need him to brace, most of the time he barely notices, and I weigh almost 200 pounds now.
Thanks for the comments about the Dane as a service dog. I checked with the breeder about “floating shoulder” and she’d never heard of it either. She said just about everything Lisa said in her comment: that the dogs are well-built and sturdy. The breeder also mentioned that many people who need balance assistance will pull up on the harness just as much as lean onto the dog – the dog can balance them whether they’re leaning into or away from the dog. She also mentioned that using a Dane for balance was pretty much like leaning on a kitchen counter – it’s more like a cane than a crutch. In other words, it’s for balance (like a cane), not for supporting all your weight (like a crutch).
Hope this makes sense.
Thanks so much for explaining this. What a neat service opportunity.
Yeah, the bracing is sort of a different deal from balancing. I tend to fall, so I use Kenai most to keep me balanced so a fall doesn’t happen. When I am falling, I try to “hug” him around the shoulders first: he gets the weight of my upper body, but my legs are still holding themselves. This does the deal 9 times out of 10. If the legs are going too, well, I can still just slide myself to the ground more gently instead of tenderizing the rump roast.
How do I get one of these types of service dogs? I have Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, and as I get older the disease gets worse etc. my legs are getting weaker overtime even though I do hoprse therapy to help maintain my muscle mass, and the use of my legs and lower body in general. I have two great danes as pet’s, I will be going of to college within the next year and a half, so I would prefer not to fall when I would have no help for other people. I fall frequently, and if a trained graet dane like Kenai can help menot to fall or at least brace my fall, and help me get back up to my feet sounds wonderful.
I’ve been considering a SA for balance for years. Yesterday at WalMart I took a spin. The shopping cart was still empty so it had no weight. It tipped, I tipped. I didn’t fall and the cart didn’t fall but still, to me it’s proof that I need a dog to offer balance.
My husband’s response, “See if a cart can’t help you then how will a dog?” My response, a dog can be trained to offer counter balance. My husband does not offer me assistance much because his back is bad and I’m afraid I’d hurt him.
If my husband does not agree to me needing a service dog, he will have poor attitude toward the dog and things will not go well. (He has a brain issue that complicates his ‘opinions’.