Assistance Dogs International, Inc. is a coalition of not for profit organizations that train and place Assistance Dogs. The purpose of ADI is to improve the areas of training, placement, and utilization of Assistance Dogs as well as staff and volunteer education. Members of ADI meet regularly to share ideas, attend seminars, and conduct business regarding such things as educating the public about Assistance Dogs, and the legal rights of people with disabilities partnered with Assistance Dogs, setting standards and establishing guidelines and ethics for the training of these dogs, and improving the utilization and bonding of each team. ADI also publishes a newsletter for members and subscribers. If you are a not for profit provider of Assistance Dogs, ADI membership will be a benefit to you, and you can be a part of ADI's mission.
ADI's Mission
The objective of Assistance Dogs International, Inc. is to:
Establish and promote standards of excellence in all areas of Assistance Dog acquisition, training and partnership
Facilitate communication and learning among member organizations,
Educate the public to the benefits of Assistance Dogs and ADI membership
Terminology
ADI uses terminology established by the industry that produces Assistance Dogs. The individuals who are partnered with these dogs have adopted this terminology. Terminology used in access laws varies from country to country and state to state. ADI is working to establish consistent terminology internationally.
Access Laws
ADI is working to establish consistent access laws with consistent terminology for individuals partnered with Assistance Dogs. Toward this effort, ADI has created a Model Law, to be presented to State Legislatures.
About Assistance Dogs
Assistance Dogs not only provide a specific service to their handlers, but also greatly enhance their lives with a new sense of freedom and independence.
The three types of Assistance Dogs are GUIDE DOGS for the blind and the visually impaired, HEARING DOGS for the deaf and hard of hearing and SERVICE DOGS for people with disabilities other than those related to vision or hearing. Although Guide Dogs for the blind have been trained formally for over seventy years, training dogs for physically and/or mentally disabled individuals is a much more recent concept.
Assistance Dogs can come from breeding programs, with volunteer puppy raisers caring for them until they are old enough to start formal training, or in some cases the dogs are rescued from animal shelters.
In most countries in the world disabled individuals with Assistance Dogs are guaranteed legal access to all places of public accommodation, modes of public transportation, recreation and other places to which the general public is invited.
About Hearing Dogs
Hearing Dogs assist deaf and hard of hearing individuals by alerting them to a variety of household sounds such as a door knock or doorbell, alarm clock, oven buzzer, telephone, baby cry, name call or smoke alarm. Dogs are trained to make physical contact and lead their deaf partners to the source of the sound.
Hearing Dogs are generally mixed breeds acquired from animal shelters and are small to medium in size. Prior to formal audio response training, the younger adoptees are raised and socialized by volunteer puppy raisers. Hearing Dogs are identified by an orange collar and leash and/or vest.
About Guide Dogs
Guide Dogs assist blind and visually impaired people by avoiding obstacles, stopping at curbs and steps, and negotiating traffic. The harness and U-shaped handle fosters communication between the dog and the blind partner. In this partnership, the human's role is to provide directional commands, while the dog's role is to insure the team's safety even if this requires disobeying an unsafe command.
Labrador and Golden Retrievers and German Shepherd dogs and other large breeds are carefully bred, socialized and raised for over one year by volunteers, then trained for 4 to 6 months by professional trainers before being placed with their blind handlers.
About Service Dogs
Service Dogs assist people with disabilities other than vision or hearing impairment. With special training these dogs can help mitigate many different types of disabilities. They can be trained to work with people who use power or manual wheelchairs, have balance issues, have various types of autism, need seizure alert or response, need to be alerted to other medical issues like low blood sugar, or have psychiatric disabilities. These specially trained dogs can help by retrieving objects that are out of their person's reach, by pulling wheelchairs, opening and closing doors, turning light switches off and on, barking to indicate that help is needed, finding another person and leading the person to the handler, assisting ambulatory persons to walk by providing balance and counterbalance, providing deep pressure, and many other individual tasks as needed by a person with a disability.
Service Dogs are either rescued from animal shelters or bred in selective breeding programs and raised by volunteers prior to their formal training. Most Service Dogs are Golden Retrievers or Labrador Retrievers. Service Dogs can be identified by either a backpack or harness.
Contact Us
For more information about Assistance Dogs International please contact:
Suzi Hall, ADI Coordinator
info@assistancedogsinternational.org
Assistance Dogs International
P.O. Box 5174
Santa Rosa, California 95402
www.assistancedogsinternational.org
Copyright© 1997-2009 Assistance Dogs International, Inc. All rights reserved.
All About Developmental Disabilities (AADD) is Atlanta's preeminent resource on developmental disabilities, providing support services to families for more than 55 years. We are often the one place where people with developmental disabilities can go to achieve personal empowerment, family stability and community participation. AADD provides family support; public policy and advocacy; and community engagement.
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