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. This behavior is a part of their training and is central to a service animal's success in their job. The concept of intelligent disobedience has been in use and a common part of service animals' training since at least 1936.

Examples

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

In another example, a blind person must communicate with their animal in such a way that the animal can recognize that their person is aware of their 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. 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.