Intelligent disobedience

Intelligent disobedience is where a service animal trained to help a disabled person goes directly against their owner's instructions in an effort to make a better decision.^[1] This behavior is a part of their training and is central to a service animal's success in their job.^[2] The concept of intelligent disobedience has been in use and a common part of service animals' training since at least 1936.^[3]

Examples

When a blind person wishes to cross a street and issues an instruction to the assistance dog to do so, the dog should refuse to move when such an action would put the person in harm's way.^[4] The animal understands that this contradicts the learned behavior to respond to the owner's instructions: instead it makes an alternative decision because the human is not in a position to decide safely.^[5] The dog in this case has the capacity to understand that it is performing such an action for the welfare of the person.^[6]

In another example, a blind person must communicate with the animal in such a way that the animal can recognize that the person is aware of the surroundings and can safely proceed. If a blind person wishes to descend a staircase, an animal properly trained to exhibit intelligent disobedience will refuse to move unless the person issues a specific code word or command that lets the animal know the person is aware they are about to descend stairs.^[7] This command will be specific for staircases, and the animal will not attribute it to stepping off a curb or up onto a sidewalk or stoop. In a similar circumstance, if the person believes they are in front of a step and they wish to go down, but they are in fact standing in front of a dangerous precipice (for example, a loading dock or cliff), the animal will refuse to proceed.^[8]

References