What is an assistance dog?

An assistance dog, or support dog, is a highly trained dog that uses their specialist skills to support people with a variety of conditions and disabilities. These dogs are trained to such a standard that by law they are considered an auxiliary aid to their partner. Assistance dogs and Disability Support Dogs are different from emotional support animals.

What can assistance dogs do?

Support dogs train 3 different types of assistance dogs; autism assistance dogs for autistic children, disability support dogs for a wide range of disabilities and medical conditions, and epilepsy seizure alert dogs for people with epilepsy. These dogs are trained to help their owners access life as independently and confidently as possible.

Epilepsy

Our seizure alert dogs will alert their owner to an oncoming epileptic seizure up to an hour before it happens – meaning they can get somewhere safe and private for their seizure. This reduces the risk of them being injured while they’re out and about making something as simple as a trip to the shops a lot less scary than before.

Autism

Support dogs can also help autistic children feel safer and calmer during everyday activities. When ordinarily that trip to the shops we mentioned would cause a meltdown, the dog creates a portable safe space for the child, grounding them through things like the touch of their fur, laying on their lap or even walking right by their side. These aren’t the only things autism assistance dogs do though, they are also trained to protect autistic children from bolting (running away) and can help teach the child many important habits by acting as a fur-fect example!

Disability

Disability isn’t always visible and the range of different conditions we support varies greatly. From MS and Spinal cord injury to Fibromyalgia and ME. Disability Support Dogs perform specially trained tasks to provide their owners with independence. Instead of relying on a carer, friend, or family member, they have a support dog! Retrieving  items, opening doors, emptying the washing machine and even helping to get dressed and undressed can all be done by their furry companion, alleviating the feeling of dependence on the other people in their life.

We find this impacts all aspects of their life including confidence, sociability, and even physical health – getting out more means lots more physical activity after all!

What does the law say about support dogs?

In the UK Disabled people are protected by the Equality Act 2010 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Under these laws, an assistance dog should be considered as an ‘auxiliary aid’ like a wheelchair or cane and therefore granted access to different services.

What do assistance dogs look like?

Assistance dogs can all look very different, and they usually wear something to identify them as a qualified assistance dog like a jacket or harness.

Dogs that have graduated the Support Dogs training programme are identifiable by their very smart blue jacket. This jacket will have the Support Dogs logo on the side and the Assistance Dogs UK logo visible.

While most dogs that come through our puppy programme are labradors, support dogs come in all different sizes, shapes, and breeds.

For our Disability Assistance programme, we train our service users’ pet dogs, working with all kinds of dogs from poodles and doodles to spaniels and schnauzers. We even have a miniature Dachshund working as a Disability support dog!

Find out more

To learn more about our programmes and how to apply please visit www.supportdogs.org.uk or contact our friendly team on 0114 261 7800