service dog

[ sur-vis dawg, dog ]

noun

1. a dog trained to assist a person with a disability, especially a disability other than blindness, such as by alerting a deaf person to important environmental sounds or a person with an allergy to the presence of their allergen in food.

Word History and Origins

Origin of service dog¹

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

Guimaraes returned to his duties at Marina del Rey, but allegedly faced difficulties with his necessary accommodations, including having a service dog and requiring a well-ventilated workplace.

From Los Angeles Times

Assignments include service dog training, construction work, clerking positions, computer coding, hospice care and janitorial jobs.

From Los Angeles Times

Relief finally came in the form of a service dog named Aura, a black labrador retriever with "lovable brown eyes" with whom Evans was paired in 2015.

From Science Daily

Those challenges include limited funding for service dog nonprofits that rely on donations, medical insurance companies that do not fund service dog intervention, and legislative gaps in terms of protecting the civil rights of people with disabilities partnered with service dogs.

From Science Daily

For a veteran with PTSD, a service dog may retrieve medication or perform anxiety-relieving actions like nuzzling or leaning against a person when the dog senses a heightened state of anxiety.

From Science Daily