There are many different assistance dog organisations around the world:- Dog Aid, Dogs for the disabled and many more.

 

The two above named organisations are based in the UK. But there are hundreds of different organisations based in America, Australia, New Zealand as well as many other coutries

 

If someone was interested in training an assistance dog the first thing they would have to is to find a suitable dog. This can be a long process, finding the right dog is the most inportant part of the process because if you get the wrong dog .i.e over protective, over excited, to nervous or turns on people who may look dodgy, It would not be reliable, and therefore, of no use to you. The breeds of dog best suited for this purpose are Labradors, Retrievers, Golden Retrivers, German Shepherds and Border Collies. Retrievers and Labradors are the most commonly used because they are easy to train and they look friendly. People could be scared of German Shepherds because they are so big, and many people wrongly think of them as being vicious. Collies, on the other hand, look friendly, but need a very great deal of exercise and mental stimulation, otherwise they can become problem highly-strung dogs.

The dog would also have to be able to get on with all sorts of people and be able to cope with stressful situations, whilst as the same time still able to look after it's owner. Once you have found what you think is the right dog, you will need to get a specialised dog trainer to take it though a series of tests to make sure it should be able to be trained successfully. Even after all this, there is still a high percentage of dogs who drop out of training for one reason or another. But, hopefully, your dog will be OK!!

 

The tasks for the dog to pass the Level One stage are as follows:-