The AI-powered English dictionary
plural service dogs
A dog which serves people by helping them with activities of daily living, with search and rescue, or with other (non-draft and nonfarming) tasks.
(law enforcement, military) A dog which assists the work of military or law enforcement officers. quotations
The German Shepherd probably is the top all-round service dog. He had an enviable record with the K-9 Corps during World War II.
1959 August 6, Walter R. Fletcher, “Specialty Club German Shepherds' Best Friend”, in New York Times, page 23
A suspected burglar was tracked down by a police service dog and bitten early today.
1991 March 20, “Dog tracks, bites suspect in burglary”, in The Press-Courier, USA, retrieved 5 Dec. 2011, page 11
Dago, a retired Army service dog, served as a bomb detecting dog with the 28th Military Police Detachment at Ft. Wainwright, Alaska for eight years.
2008 May 16, Pfc Alicia C. Torbush, “Service Dogs Retiring”, in Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System, retrieved 5 Dec. 2011
(chiefly Canada, US) A dog which assists a person who has a physical disability or a mental disability such as post-traumatic stress disorder. quotations examples
A spinal cord injury will confine him to a wheelchair for life. […] He has a service dog and lives alone in a one-bedroom apartment, although there are relatives nearby.
2007 April 18, Rita Healy, “Echoes of Columbine”, in Time
Reggie was a “release” from Guiding Eyes; he kept leading his trainers into light poles, so he was deemed temperamentally unsuited to be a service dog.
2011 June 11, Robin Finn, “Sunday Routine: Jessica Walter”, in New York Times, retrieved 5 Dec. 2011