Veterans, Actors and Sniffers: 10 Jobs That Dogs Do

A man's best friend, in many cases, is also a work buddy. Dogs work in a variety of jobs alongside humans, and have for years. Some of the work is physically exhausting and dangerous: Dogs serve alongside soldiers in the military and next to officers on police forces across the globe. Other work is more subdued: Dogs prance at kennel shows and act on the big and small screen. Here's a look at 10 jobs that dogs do.

11 photos
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AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
In this photo taken Thursday, May 30, 2013, drug-sniffing police dog Dusty sticks his head into the front seat as handler Officer Duke Roessel patrols in Bremerton, Wash. The newest drug-sniffing dog on the police force in Bremerton, near Seattle, is one of a few police dogs in Washington state that are not trained to point out pot during searches. Other police departments are considering or in the midst of re-training their dogs to ignore pot as well, part of the new reality in a state where voters last fall legalized marijuana use.
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AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
In this photo taken May 30, 2013, drug-sniffing police dog Dusty sticks his head into the front seat as handler Officer Duke Roessel patrols in Bremerton, Washington. Sniffer dogs are used in police and military forces across the globe. Drug-sniffing dogs like Dusty can be trained to detect a host of drugs like cocaine, heroin, Ecstasy, methamphetamine and marijuana.
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AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda
A dog is backdropped by a U.S. Army 2nd Battalion, 10th Regiment, 10th Brigade UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter during a joint US-Romanian air assault exercise at the Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase, eastern Romania, March 8, 2017. Much like soldiers, military dogs go through basic training, and are taught skills like bomb sniffing and responding to a demand to strike.
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AP Photo/Eraldo Peres
In this Nov. 17, 2016, photo, a Schnauzer dog named Paola lays with Jaqueline Castro, who is being treated for a degenerative disease, in her bed during a 15-minute visit at the Support Hospital of Brasilia, Brazil. Most therapy dogs graduate from a program and are placed by the time they're 18 months old. They serve a number of roles, including comforting hospital patients or working with veterans who suffer from PTSD.
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AP Photo/Ng Han Guan
A sniffer dog waits with other rescue workers at the site of a landslide in Maoxian County in southwestern China's Sichuan Province, June 25, 2017. Search and rescue dogs help track anything from a missing person after an avalanche or a drowning victim, according to the non-profit Search and Rescue Dogs of the U.S.
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Police Nationale via AP
This undated photo released on Nov. 24, 2015, by France's Police Nationale shows Diesel, a Belgian Shepherd police dog, was killed during an apartment raid targeting the alleged mastermind of the deadly Paris attacks. Police K9s can help law enforcement in a range of tasks, including tracking suspects and aiding in raids like the one where SWAT team assault dog Diesel gave his life to protect and serve.
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AP Photo/Matthias Schrader
A musher races his dogs during an international dog sled race in Werfenweng, near Salzburg, Austria, Jan. 7, 2017. Sled dogs are still trained to compete in races across the globe like the Iditarod, which takes place in Alaska annually.
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Tamas Soki/MTI via AP
Hungarian shepherd Lajos Szabo's sinka dog Doki at the Old-Drava Visitor Centre in Szaporca 263 kms south of Budapest, Hungary, Aug. 6, 2016. Herding dogs have a natural ability to herd animals like sheep. They do so by barking, circling or nipping at animals that need to be rounded up.
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AP Photo/Nick Ut, file
This Sept. 6, 1979, file photo shows comedian Chevy Chase getting his ear licked from co-star Benji as the two held a news conference in Los Angeles, announcing their movie "Oh Heavenly Dog." Dogs appear regularly on the big and small screen, staring in classics like "Old Yeller," "The Wizard of Oz," and "Lassie."
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AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
A handler presents a miniature bull terrier in the ring during the 141st Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Feb. 14, 2017, in New York. Dogs are also still groomed and trained to compete in competitions like the annual Westminster Kennel Dog Show in New York City.
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AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, files
In this, June 30, 2004, file photo, Jim King is guided home from a walk by both his seeing-eye dog, Spencer in Winthrop, Maine. Seeing-eye dogs are trained to guide blind people through their communities and respond to directional commands. They work on average for about seven to eight years.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
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