Assistance Dogs help people who have physical, medical, psychiatric or developmental disabilities.
Did you know, you can train your own pet dog to become your assistance dog? As long as your dog is trained to mitigate your disability, you are covered under the Equality Act 2010.
Here are some examples of tasks that we support dog owners with through our Online Assistance Dog Programme
Physical tasks
Open doors
Close doors
Pickup dropped items
Retrieve named items (medicine, keys, mail)
Find hidden items
Fetch a ringing phone
Opening cabinets/draws/fridge
Turning lights on and off
Pressing buttons in lifts or at crossings
Tugging at clothes to help with undressing
Remove blankets
Emptying the washing machine/dryer
Tidying up and putting items in a box
Carrying items such as the mail or a purse
Giving a wallet or credit card to a cashier
Putting rubbish in a bin
Assist handler with position changes like sitting to standing (brace)
Counterbalance
Nudge hand or foot back onto chair rest
Hands free reward training
Training from a wheelchair
Navigating around a wheelchair
Heeling next to a wheelchair
Forward momentum
Guiding to seating
Guiding to exits
Medical tasks
Alerting to low or high or low blood sugar
Alerting to a seizure
Alerting handler to high heart rate
Alert handler to asthma attack
Alerting to Metabolic Deterioration
Alerting handler or caretaker to presence of deadly allergens
Alert handler to changes in blood pressure
Alerting handler to repetitive motions or stimming
Lying with the handler when they collapse
Raising handlers legs after fainting
Protecting handlers head during a seizure
Alerting caretaker
Retrieving medication
Delivering messages from handler to someone else
Lying across the handler's body for temperature regulation
New tasks being added all the time
Psychiatric Tasks
For dogs supporting handlers with Autism, Anxiety, PTSD, Neurological conditions and more
Deep pressure therapy during panic attacks
Tactile grounding via nuzzling or licking
Interrupt repetitive self harm
Retrieve self care kit
Interrupt flashbacks
Interrupt anxiety attacks
Make space in a crowd
Settle under legs/chair when out in public
Lead to exits
Lead to seating
Alert caregiver
Provide comfort when crying
Alert to change in stress levels
Watch my back
New tasks being added all the time
Hearing Support Tasks
For dogs supporting handlers with hearing loss
Retrieve ringing phone
Alert to doorbell
Wake up at the sound of alarm
Retrieve medicine at the sound of an alarm
The Adolescent Dogs Online Assistance Dog Programme supports owner trained teams with a variety of disabilities including physical, medical, neurological, chronic pain, hearing loss, PTSD, autism and more!
We also support the training of all breeds of dogs, including Spaniels, Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Border Collies, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Cockapoos, Poodles, Husky's, Terriers, Pugs and more!
There is no waiting list and training is easily accessible for teams throughout the UK, or to support training for dogs worldwide.
