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There are several organisations that train and provide assistance dogs for disabled people. Some dogs are trained specifically to help with certain tasks.
Assistance dogs are not suitable for everyone. Whether an assistance dog would be suitable for you must be decided taking your individual circumstances into account.
Assistance dogs need to be looked after, groomed, fed, exercised and taken to the vet just like any other dog.
For many people however, assistance dogs have brought a great deal of independence and confidence as well as companionship into their lives.
The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association provides training and support for people with serious sight loss who would like to have a guide dog.
To become a guide dog owner, you must be 16 or over, resident in the UK and have a significant visual loss which may be combined with other disabilities. You must also be able to use and care for the dog.
Hearing Dogs for Deaf People trains dogs to alert deaf people to sounds they cannot hear such as alarm clocks, babies crying, smoke alarms and many others.
To become a hearing dog owner, you must be severely hard of hearing or profoundly deaf and be over 18 years old. You must also be able to care for the dog.
Some charities train dogs to assist and support disabled owners with a particular disability.
Disability assistance dogs can be trained to do many things. Examples include
Dogs can also be trained in other ways, for example, to alert owners of an imminent epileptic seizure.
Autism assistance dogs can be partnered with autistic children and their families.
An autism assistance dog acts as a guide, anchor and continuous focus for the child. This can have a very reassuring and calming effect, enabling autistic children to better make sense of and interact with the world around them.
