Our amazing journey
We’ve been creating positive connections between people and dogs for over 35 years.
Inspired by the way her own dogs instinctively wanted to help, our founder, Frances Hay (pictured) set up a charity in 1986. Fran’s vision was to help disabled people by training assistance dogs to make daily life easier. Dogs for the Disabled was registered as a charity in 1988.
Over many years, we’ve become experienced in supporting people with complex health and social needs, typically our assistance dogs support people with physical disabilities, families with an autistic child and people living with dementia offering practical and emotional support to help people lead more independent lives.
Our experience of training and working with assistance dogs has inspired us to explore other ways dogs can help individuals, families and communities.
Through our Family Focused workshops we’ve helped hundreds of families explore how dogs at home can support people living with complex needs. And we work in the community to create opportunities for people to feel supported through a connection with our specially trained dogs. Our team of dogs, handlers and practitioners work closely with people in their communities, understanding how to help them achieve their goals over time.
We’re learning all the time and the more we learn, the more people we can help.