Contact details – For journalists use only
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 01295 759825 (media enquiries only)
Mobile: 07957 490354 – (media enquiries only, no text messages please)
About Dogs for Good
Since 1988, Dogs for Good has been making life-changing differences for people with disabilities. We support people with a range of needs including physical disabilities, autism, dementia and learning disabilities enabling them to lead more independent lives through the help of trained dogs.
We believe dogs are good for us and through a deeper understanding about them we can improve and enhance the lives of both dog and owner.
Our Services
We have three services: Assistance Dog, Community Dog and Family Dog.
Assistance Dog
Our assistance dogs support adults and children with a range of physical disabilities, children on the autism spectrum and adults with dementia, providing practical support, increased confidence and enabling greater independence.
Partnership with an assistance dog is a truly life-changing experience and most people find that the benefits go much further than simply providing practical assistance. The people we support tell us that thanks to their assistance dog they experience greatly improved self-esteem. As a result of a new-found confidence they are able to enjoy new opportunities, from starting a new job to going to university or playing a more active role in community life.
Find out more about our assistance dogs.
Community Dog
Our community dogs work alongside a specialist handler in community settings such as schools, hospitals and social care. Over their lifetime, our community dogs help dozens of people to overcome specific challenges and support them with the development of life skills, improving communication, overcoming anxiety and supporting physiotherapy using techniques known as animal assisted intervention. We work with people who have a wide range of disabilities and conditions including autism, physical disabilities, dementia and learning disabilities.
Community dogs and their handlers will work with a person with short, regular sessions over a few weeks, or even months, to help them achieve a specific goal. Once the sessions are finished, it’s hoped that the person will be able to maintain their goal without being reliant on the support of a dog.
Find out more about our community dogs.
Family Dog
Our Family Dog service enables us to share our knowledge and expertise of training dogs to help families with a child on the autism spectrum. Through workshops and an aftercare service, we provide parents with the information they need to source, select, handle and train a pet dog specifically to respond to the needs of an autistic child.
For many families that attend a workshop, they have already witnessed a special bond for their child with a dog and our specialist advice and support then helps them to explore that relationship further; bringing life-changing benefits to whole families. Research has shown that the families we work with have lowered parental stress, they go out more together and autistic children have fewer meltdowns as a result of their pet dog.