The modern working dog--a call for interdisciplinary collaboration.

a guide dog named Roselle skillfully guided her blind partner, Michael Hingson, from his office in the World Trade Center down 78 flights of stairs after the building was struck by a plane that had been hijacked by terrorists. The team immediately demonstrated for the nation the power of the human-animal bond and what skilled working dogs like those trained at Guide Dogs for the Blind can do for humans. The story captured the pub-lic' s attention nationally and internationally by being featured by a host of media sources, including " Larry King Live, " " The Early Show, " CNN, CBC, New York Times Magazine, and National Geographic. In each interview, Hingson emphasized the partnership and trust between him and his guide dog. He also praised the numerous professionals at Guide Dogs for the Blind. Among those professionals were veterinarians, guide dog instructors, nurses, psychologists, and social workers. Guide dog schools provide an excellent example of how various allied professions can work together to further enhance the human-animal bond of a working team—whether the team contains service or assistance dogs, search and rescue dogs, patrol dogs, detection dogs, companion dogs, or other pets. Background Man and woman' s best friend may also be humans' oldest animal friend. New genetic information suggests that primitive humans may have begun to domesticate dogs 135,000 years ago. This is 10 times earlier than the oldest known fossil evidence of human-canine cohabitation, which dates from about 14,000 years ago. 1 Included in evidence are the 14,000-year-old remains of a man, woman, and a dog found near Oberkassel, Germany, making the dog the oldest recorded companion animal in history. 2 By the fourth millennium B.C., Egyptian rock and pottery drawings show hounds hunting with men, driving game into nets. 3 Dogs have been used in various working roles— farming, hunting, protection—for centuries, but in more recent times, animals have also come to help people in other remarkable ways. Guide dogs and service dogs have been providing essential tasks for their human partners for several decades. As such, these