Assistance dogs are dogs that have been highly trained to carry out a range of tasks and alerts that support a disabled person or person with a long-term medical condition. Examples include a guide dog that guides a visually impaired person, a medical alert dog that alerts a person to an oncoming medical episode, an assistance dog that alerts someone with a psychiatric condition to take medication.
In the UK, disabled people have important rights under the Equality Act 2010 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Northern Ireland). When it comes to accessing services (shops, cafes, public transport etc.) a highly trained assistance dog should be treated as an ‘auxiliary aid’ e.g. wheelchair or white cane, rather than as a pet dog.
While there is no doubt that an assistance dog provides companionship, an emotional support dog is a dog that offers comfort and companionship simply by being present, which requires no specialist training.
Emotional support dogs and highly trained psychiatric assistance dogs are not the same thing. A disabled person who relies on a highly trained assistance dog to mitigate a mental health condition should be given access to good and services.
Emotional support dogs are not referenced in law, so it is ADUK’s understanding that service providers are not legally obliged to allow access to someone with an emotional support dog. None of our members provide emotional support dogs
Therapy dogs and their owners usually visit a wider group of people who might be in a hospital ward, a school classroom, a nursing home etc. to provide comfort and support.
None of our ADUK members or candidates offer training for people who want their dogs to become therapy dogs. The charity Pets As Therapy may be able to help.
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