Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T12:12:35.478Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

7 - Working for the Man

Canine Occupations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2024

David L. Weimer
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Aidan R. Vining
Affiliation:
Simon Fraser University, British Columbia
Get access

Summary

In Chapter 7, we expand on the working roles of dogs and classify current canine occupations. We introduce the theory of comparative advantage and note its important role in evolutionary science. We classify canine occupations in terms of two dimensions: the type of dog advantage (comparative, absolute, or unique) and whether the occupation requires a higher or lower level of training. These occupations include service (guide, hearing, disabled, and psychiatric assistance), emotional support, therapy, hunting, herding, racing, search & rescue, substance detection, police work, diabetic alerting, cancer detection, and seizure alerting. We explain the trade-offs between selection and training across occupations, both in terms of breeds and juvenile dogs within breeds. We examine two studies that employ cost-benefit analysis. First, we present an analysis of the social benefits of guide dogs. Second, we discuss the controversy surrounding the treatment of emotional support animals in air travel and the cost-benefit analysis the Department of Transportation used to support its rule that allowed airlines to treat emotional support animals as pets rather than as service animals.

Type
Chapter
Information
Dog Economics
Perspectives on Our Canine Relationships
, pp. 137 - 174
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×