Dog Services

1. The belief that direct contact with a dog would cure certain illnesses was particularly widespread and long lasting one. In England during the fiftinth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries small lapdogs were carried and were regarded as being very effective in relieving abdominal pains. These animals were often toy spaniels and were known as "comforters". Many people have apreciated the constant warmth provided by a small dog. The Aztec priests in Mexico used "pillow dogs" as hot water bottles. It is not known what kind of dogs these were. Some experts believe them to have been ancestors of the Chihuahua, while others consider them to have been hairless variety. Tibetian lamas used dogs as foot warmers and also carried them in the sleeves of their gowns. Even today Australian aborigines use Dingo pups, carried across the hip or shoulder, to provide warmth on cold desert mornings.

2. Dog-guides give blind people the ability to "see" through a dog. Just how long dogs have been serving as guides to the blind is impossible to say. Perhaps the relationship is so old as the man-dog relationship itself. It is probable that the dog originally served as more companion than aid. But someone a long time ago had a simple thought - if a dog could see to find its way from place to place, couldn't he lead a blind man? And the pattern was set. At first dogs had little or no traning and only an exceptional dog could have made an excellent guide. The blind were often beggars travelling musitians wandering across the countryside and finding their way through crowded market-places, they must have relied heavily on their canine companions to help them away from unseen dangers. It was not until 1923 in Germany that any formal system of training guide dogs for blind was established.