A working dog is a dog used to perform practical tasks, as opposed to pet or

companion dog A companion dog is a dog that does not work, providing only companionship as a pet, rather than usefulness by doing specific tasks. Many of the toy dog breeds are used only for the pleasure of their company, not as workers. Any dog can be a co ...

s. Definitions vary on what a working dog is, they are sometimes described as any dog trained for and employed in meaningful work; other times as any dog whose breed heritage or physical characteristics lend itself to working irrespective of an individual animal's training or employment; and other times again it is used as a synonym for

herding dog A herding dog, also known as a stock dog, shepherd dog, sheep dog or working dog, is a type of dog that either has been trained in herding or belongs to breeds that are developed for herding. Herding behavior All herding behavior is m ...

Working dog types

Roles performed by dogs that sometimes sees them classified as working dogs include: *

Assistance dog In general, an assistance dog, known as a service dog in the United States, is a dog trained to aid or assist an individual with a disability. Many are trained by an assistance dog organization, or by their handler, often with the help of a prof ...

trained to help a disabled person in some way, such as guiding a visually impaired person, opening doors or alerting to a ringing phone. *

Carriage dog A carriage dog or coach dog refers to a type of dog rather than a specific breed. Dogs of this type were usually bred and trained to trot alongside carriages to protect the occupants from banditry or other interference. They were usually owned an ...

historically used to provide protection to carriage passengers or merchandise *

Detection dog A detection dog or sniffer dog is a dog that is trained to use its senses to detect substances such as explosives, illegal drugs, wildlife scat, currency, blood, and contraband electronics such as illicit mobile phones. The sense most used by ...

or sniffer dog, trained to detect for example drugs or land mines. *

Draught dog A drafting dog, pulling dog, or draft dog (also spelt draught dog) is a dog bred and traditionally used for pulling a dogcart, or in winter also for sled pulling. Dogs bred for this work have strong builds. Many draft dogs are either mastiff ...

traditionally used to pull dog carts *