For hundreds of years, dogs have long been considered man’s best friend. Our relationships with canines have evolved over the years from serving humans in a myriad of tasks to being our loyal companions - many are consider to be family. Dogs are highly intelligent, trainable and adaptable which makes them ones of the most popular animals to assist humans in an official capacity.
In Australia where our breeding program takes place, there are state and federal regulations we must follow regarding the quality of our training which includes annually maintained public access accreditation.
We primarily breed Assistance dogs including; medical alert, PTSD, mobility, autism and psychiatric support. In Australia, these types of working support dogs require formal documentation from the appropriate medical practitioner, especially in order to be able to access public places.
What Sets Assistance Dogs apart from Therapy or Emotional Support Dogs
The most notable difference between Therapy/EMS dogs and Assistance or Service Dogs is their classification under legislation in Australia.
Assistance Dogs
Assistance Dogs are considered a medical or psychiatric aid. The dogs are specifically trained to assist a person with disabilities in home and to respond as trained in public. In Australia they are given additional permissions and protections under the law than pet dogs. Section 54a of the DDA talks about when a public place can lawfully deny. But, subsection 5 states that it is legal to request proof that an assistance dog meets the standards of hygiene and behaviour requirements appropriate for an animal in a public place. Assistance dogs might be trained by a variety of methods such as owner trained, program trained or part of an organisation, the law does not define what constitutes evidence. However, what ever evidence you supply must prove you are disabled and the dog is trained to help your disability, show that your animal meets the standards of hygiene and is of suitable behaviour to be in public.
Service Dogs
Legally only Guide, Hearing and Police Dogs are considered Service Dogs in Australia
Therapy Dog
Therapy Dogs visit public institutions. Their job is to socialise and serve as ambassadors, providing stress relief and comfort to those they meet during their visits. They are not protected by any legislation and have no right to access public areas such as restaurants and supermarkets. These dogs and handlers are happy to spend time with you. Therapy Dogs do not have Public Access Accreditation. It is important to know the difference between an AD and a Therapy Dog.
Emotional Support Animals
Emotional Support Dog (abbreviated to ESA) may support a person through depression, anxiety or other medical conditions, but this does not mean that the animal is specifically trained to do so. They are not recognised as legitimate ADs and do not have any rights in-law. They are considered a pet.
Who Regulates the Law for Assistance Dogs in Australia?
In Australia, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (commonly referred to as the DDA), section 9 sets out the legal definition of an assistance animal like a dog or other animal that:
(a)is accredited under a State or Territory law to assist a person with a disability to alleviate the effects of disability; or
(b)is accredited by an animal training organisation prescribed in the regulations; or
(c)is trained to assist a person with a disability to alleviate the effect of the disability and meets standards of hygiene and behaviour that are appropriate for an animal in a public place.
This legislation only overrides other dog legislation in such a way that people are allowed access with these dogs when they would not normally be allowed. Handlers must not be treated any differently because they are accompanied by a dog.
Because variation among states and territories regarding accreditation and regulation of assistance animals exists, travel may pose additional confusions and challenges for handlers. It is advised that before you travel, you familiarise yourself with the regulations for the places you intend to travel to.
The USA Department of Agriculture requires that institutions for assistance dog training are members of the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF) International (ADI), and many established Australian AD training organisations are members and agree to their training standards. Alternatively, the dog may be accredited under the law of an Australian State or Territory that provides for the accreditation of animals trained to assist a person with a disability. This means that an animal may be qualified as an assistance animal under the DDA if it has received relevant training, regardless of who has provided the training, and provided they meet the criteria.
What is the Best Resource for more Information on Accredited Programs?
NSW Councils are entitled to request reasonable proof that your animal is a genuine Assistance Animal. This proof may include:
that you have a disability (letter from your GP)
that your animal has been trained to alleviate the effect of the disability (training log)
that your animal is trained to meet standards of hygiene and behaviour appropriate for an animal in a public place (as required under the DDA 1992)
Has a voluntary registration system for ADs
Has accreditation requirements for the ADs
Has a registration requirement for ADs
Victoria has an ADiT for Guide Dogs but there is no provision for owner trained dogs in training
WA has a registration system for AD’s
NT has a voluntary registration system for ADs.
In a dispute between State and Federal Law regarding ADs, Federal Law will override State law, however the process can be stressful and expensive
Assistance Dogs International, Inc. (ADI) is a worldwide coalition of non-profit programs that train and place Assistance Dogs. Founded in 1986 from a group of seven small programs, ADI has become the leading authority in the Assistance Dog industry.
https://www.assistancedogsinternational.org
The Public Access Accreditation
Each State has their own regulations regarding public access accreditation regarding ADs. Most will not fully accredit a dog for public access until 18 months old, most will not allow learning to train for public access until dog is 6 months old and the dogs has been assessed to have appropriate calm on lead behaviours and both the owner and dog can demonstrate basic obedience and appropriate control on lead. It is highly recommended that the owner trainer is working with an accredited trainer throughout the development of the AD. All Tapua Labrador Retriever owners are linked with an accredited trainer prior to collecting their puppy.
In Australia the benchmark for AD accreditation is the Qld Government Guide, Hearing and Assistance Dog Public Access Test.
Each state will have a variation of the GHAD PAT Test.
Public Awareness
While Assistance Dogs help their human companions navigate life a little easier there are still many challenges for their handlers. The public needs to recognise that these animals are on the clock, working to aid their humans and must not be distracted. AD’s should not be petted (unless you have the express permission of the person handling the dog) but even this we discourage as the handler may feel obliged when they would much prefer to say 'no'. The dog is a medical/psychological necessity and their focus needs to be directed on their persons. I am unsure why people in Australia feel they have a right to approach and touch an AD dog in Australia but it is very common. Maybe it is because we don’t have Rabies so people are not educated to be weary of touching dog - but the habit is very frustrating and distracting.
Therapy Dogs that visit public institutions job is to socialise and serve as ambassadors, providing stress relief and comfort to those they meet during their visits. They are not protected by any legislation and have no right to access public areas such as restaurants and supermarkets. These dogs and handlers are happy to spend time with you. It is important to know the difference between an AD and a Therapy Dog, but when in doubt admire from a distance.
One of the largest struggles for ADs and their handlers has been the recent rise of improperly, poorly trained or unqualified dogs being passed off as Assistance Dogs. It appears some unscrupulous people feel that they can pass off their pet as an AD as a way to take them wherever they go. This is not acceptable behaviour and is illegal. The internet has made purchasing fake vests and identification readily available. These dogs and their owners do a great disservice to the industry and put the public at risk. The legislation is in place to provide protection for access to those who legitimately need the aid of a AD.
The International Guide Dog Federation(IGDF) is the industry-elected body responsible for the development, monitoring and evaluation of the standards applied within all IGDF-member organisations, and to which all Enquiring and Applicant organisations aspire, to ensure equity of high-quality service to guide dog users and handlers around the world.
THE BEST BREEDS SUITABLE TO TRAIN AS AN ASSISTANCE DOG
As mentioned, handler teams face challenges every day, a trained AD is there to help their person in their home and public life - to get food, go to work, relieve stress, respond to medical issues when in public and at home. It is hard enough to live life when a person really needs an assistance dog to access public places many feel like they are saying ‘ there is something wrong with me’. Remarkably many in the public feel they have a right question the validity of a persons need for an AD.
There are a few breeds that are well accepted by the public as ADs Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, Standard Poodles and Collie Smooth and GSD’s not to mention the various cross. In general dogs from the Toy, Terrier and Hound and groups have a low accreditation rate as ADs due to their reactivity to other dogs or their difficulty to retrain reliable behaviours when in public. We make no judgement on the cross breeding of dogs to create Assistance Dogs as long as the owner/trainer understands that canine behaviour is inherited as well any health issues from whatever mix of the breed. As to which breed trait dominates is not as predictable in a cross-bred dog compared to selectively bred pure breed.
At Tapua Labrador Retrievers choose to selectively breed Labrador Retrievers for health, temperament, trainability. We do all the appropriate genetic testing and hip/elbow scoring and eye tests for the breed and we have done so for generations of our lines.
We consider the raising and conditioning of our puppies significantly contribute to the success in the training of our operational purpose bred Labs.