For people in wheelchairs, assistance dogs help them with many everyday tasks. They fetch things, pick up objects from the floor, operate switches and buttons. Sometimes they also pull the wheelchair and help with dressing and undressing.
They open doors for their partners in wheelchairs and this also in a figurative sense: radius of action, safety and participation in daily life improve drastically.

Here you can see the light-footed way in which an assistance dog combines practical help with therapeutic support. It is also particularly touching how the boy courageously stands up for his dog and reminds an inattentive dog owner of an important rule when dealing with assistance dogs: When the assistance dog is at work, other dogs should be kept away from it at all costs, because it must not be distracted.

People who have difficulty walking can lean on this specially trained assistance dog while walking. The dog is also a resting point to maintain balance and can help with getting up and climbing stairs. They also learn many of the practical assistance skills that wheelchair assistance dogs can also do, such as bringing things in, opening doors, getting help, etc.

In the case of a life threatening allergy, a dog can learn to find the triggers of an allergic reaction and call for attention before the situation escalates.

Autism describes a developmental disability that can be expressed in many different ways. Assistance dogs help with sensory overloads and social communication. They make the life of a child, or an adult, with autism much easier through individual training measures. They are calming in stressful situations, they give security when in crowds of people, and they can simply be entrusted with supervision of a child with autism. If the child becomes out of control, they can be physically attached to the dog, who then acts as an anchor.

Despite all the differences, dementia and mental illness videos are listed together on this page because the benefits and requirements are similar.
In both cases, an assistance dog is often only possible if a network is available, i.e. if third parties can reliably take over responsibility for the assistance dog on a long-term basis. In such cases, the assistance dog sometimes ensures that affected persons can live at home longer and that their quality of life increases.
The use of assistance dogs in families with a person suffering from dementia is still a very new area. Various institutions are currently exploring when and how such a solution is useful and appropriate.
An assistance dog calms, gives warmth and closeness and helps to cope with everyday life. It sounds the alarm if the ill person behaves in an unusual way, e.g. leaves the apartment without an agreement. It is also widely reported that the loving presence of the dog relieves symptoms and improves health.
In addition to specific tasks for everyday coping, the dogs learn to make the client aware of a change in behavior (tension, nervousness, shallow breathing) and to interrupt the crisis. They can also be trained to remember to take medications on time and other daily “appointments.”

If a type 1 diabetic is threatened by hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia, a diabetic alert dog recognizes this early and indicates it to the affected person. Even if the person is asleep, the dog does not rest until he wakes him up and the necessary measures are taken. Greater personal safety improves mobility, independence and enjoyment of life. The damage to health can be minimized.

Some dogs indicate a coming health crisis in advance, before it manifests itself through trained scent or certain signs. Since the trainer himself does not know when a crisis is developing, this special warning behavior cannot always be trained by an external trainer.
Often the affected person or the environment can reinforce the dog’s display behavior when the dog has experienced a few crises and begins to understand the approach of a crisis.

Med. alert dogs

What do Julius Caesar, Napoleon, the founder of the Nobel Prize Alfred Nobel, Dostoevsky and van Gogh have in common? They all suffered from epileptic seizures(source). There are many different forms of epilepsy. Often, those affected can lead a “normal” life – if it weren’t for the constant fear of being surprised by a seizure. Protecting a person in crisis, getting help, and calming the person is standard procedure for epilepsy alert dogs.

Some dogs can also sense and indicate an oncoming seizure in advance, sometimes as early as 15-30 minutes before it occurs. This helps avoid dangerous situations, such as a seizure in traffic, on stairs, or in another unsafe environment.

Unfortunately, this behavior is not yet understood well enough to be fully externally trained. To this day, it is not known how warning dogs sense the coming crisis. Therefore, it can only be reinforced in dogs that offer it of their own accord, or hope that a close relationship with “his” human will motivate the dog to indicate a seizure as soon as he perceives it. Scientific studies so far suggest that bitches indicate more often than males. Approximately 15% of all dogs show spontaneously without being trained to do so. If a dog has a close bond with a person at risk of seizures, they will usually begin to display it. This behavior must then be understood and reinforced, or a clear “signal” trained that the dog can use to communicate its perception.

People with post-traumatic stress disorder and/or dissociative disorders find it easier to be out in public with an assistance dog. In case of panic attacks, the dogs take the client to a quiet place and create distance, or bring the dissociating person back to reality. They search rooms before entering, make sure no one gets too close to the person from behind, walk ahead in dark rooms, and reassure in a variety of ways. In case of nightmares, the dog wakes up and turns on the light, interrupts painful memories, and helps people to regain their inner balance.
The U.S. Department for Veterans Affairs (VA) pays veterans with PTSD (PTSD in English) for an assistance dog because it is an effective therapy. Its positive effect on victims of abuse is also increasingly recognized.

Hearing impaired and deaf people can have assistance dogs indicate sounds or lead them to the sound, bring the phone, etc. This increases safety tremendously, and makes it possible for people with severe hearing loss or deafness to move safely in the outside world again.

Guide dogs lead a blind or visually impaired person. Through a guide dog harness, they provide effortless and safe movement, even in traffic. For example, they indicate stairs, obstacles, entrances, exits, mailboxes, elevators and counters, and provide various assistance. The special thing about guide dogs for the blind is that they must not only be very reliable, but also able to refuse a command if its execution means danger.

In Germany, health insurance pays for a guide dog for blind and visually impaired people if a doctor prescribes it and they have the necessary mobility and living conditions. In addition, they receive a food allowance and all vet fees, retraining, etc. paid. The guide dog is therefore completely free of charge for the dog owner.

Unfortunately, there are problems here as well, especially with the quality. It is urgently necessary to establish the profession of an assistance dog trainer once in a structured way and to prove its qualifications by way of an independent certificate. Our EU project is getting to work with many qualified partners in Europe to develop an appropriate, Europe-wide concept.