How Our Dogs Help
What does a Disability Assistance Dog do?
Dogs for the Disabled ethically breed and train dogs to assist with practical, everyday tasks to help a person with a physical disability live life to the full, thus breaking down barriers to the outside world and helping to improve confidence and lower stress levels for their partners.
Each Assistance Dog is specifically trained to help his or her new partner but is also reliant on them to provide for their needs including exercise, feeding, love and care.
These new responsibilites encourage their partner to become more active and outgoing in the community by taking their assistance dog for walks and engaging with the public at large. Thus increasing confidence and encouraging them to take up new activities e.g. sport, joining a club, returning to work or further education.
Our partnerships have found the experience of getting an assistance dog life changing.
Mobility Assistance Dog
We have developed a highly successful Mobility Assistance Dog Programme and it’s the only one we know of in Europe.
This programme works by pairing a child who has a condition that severely impacts their ability to walk unaided with one of our highly trained Mobility Assistance Dogs.
Task Assistance Dog
For many people living with a disability being unable to do even a simple task like picking up the post can leave them feeling depressed, isolated and dependent. Dogs for the Disabled trains dogs to assist with practical, everyday tasks to help a person with a disbility to live life to the full, breaking down barriers to the outside world and helping to improve confidence and stress levels.
Therapy Dog
We know that not all of our puppies will qualify as Stability or Task Assistance Dogs. Therefore we have developed a Therapy Dog training programme where our dogs are partnered with children and adults as specially trained companion dogs to boost confidence and provide companionship on a day-to-day basis.
CAI Facility Dog
We are delighted to announce our NEW Canine Assisted Intervention (CAI) Facility Dog Programme, where health professionals are matched with a purpose-trained CAI Dog to act as a bridge and support for clients who would benefit from the presence of a trained CAI dog. The dog is taught skills to help ease anxiety, encourage participation and deepen the trust between therapist and client.
Jennifer Dowler, Founder & CEO
