Collaborative Best Practice Collection in Preparation of a European Curriculum and Certification for Assistance Dog Trainers/Instructors, with Special Emphasis on Enabling Job Entry for People with Disabilities Erasmus Project

Project Title

Collaborative Best Practice Collection in Preparation of a European Curriculum and Certification for Assistance Dog Trainers/Instructors, with Special Emphasis on Enabling Job Entry for People with Disabilities

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Access for disadvantaged; Disabilities – special needs; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

Assistance dogs are specially trained to live in one-on-one partnerships with individuals with disabilities/impairments and to assist them through specific tasks that remediate them. (Assistance dogs should not be confused with therapy dogs, who temporarily visit with people, enhancing therapy or other interventions under the guidance of their owner, who may be a therapist or similar professional.)

Assistance dogs improve independence and social inclusion for people with disabilities. In addition to the well-known guide dogs for the blind, assistance dogs can also be trained to assist with many different disabilities/impairments. For example reduced mobility, hearing disability, medical alert (epilepsy, diabetes, allergies), PTSD, autism, dementia…

Successfully raising an assistance dog, bringing human and dog together in a partnership and mentoring assistance dog teams requires complex knowledge and skill. Nevertheless, to date there is no comprehensive program to adequately prepare assistance dog trainer/instructors (“T/I”) for this profession.

In most countries there is also no accepted independent certification that provides assistance dog T/I with a properly qualification. In countries where such certifications exist, the programmes are not designed to keep up with new developments, once accredited and established, and often perpetuate poor or outdated practices.

Lack of an educational path, accepted accreditation and a supportive professional network results in the following obstacles:

1 – Without professional structures and standards, clients and funders have limited options to distinguish the skilled and ethical T/Is from those who are untrained or inexperienced.
2 – Managers of assistance dog organisations have to invest large effort to evaluate the skill level of a future employee. Training one or two newcomers at a time places a disproportionate strain on time and resources.
3 – Collaboration and exchange is limited by the lack of a professional network of recognized practitioners.
4 – T/Is work in a very demanding and complex profession. Lack of recognition may lead to dissatisfaction and career abandonment.
5 – Poorly trained dogs can behave badly in public, leading to prejudice and discrimination against all assistance dogs and their handlers.
6 – Lack of these supporting structures limit quality and availability for those who would benefit from a four-legged partner at their side. Solutions are urgently needed for the concept to develop its full potential.
7 – While many assistance dog handlers choose the profession themselves, to date there are no supportive structures to make it more accessible.

The project was designed to evaluate the potential for implementing appropriate programmes. We succeeded in bringing together a wide range of European stakeholders to define best practices. We assembled a powerful and capable core team and secured the support of 38 assistance dog organizations. This includes some of the largest and leading organizations in the sector as well as committed small companies throughout Europe. Our core team now consists of chief executives of Assistance Dogs Europe (ADEu), European Guide Dog Federation (EGDF), Bocalan Foundation, and Irish Guide Dogs for the blind.
With broad support confirmed, we assembled best practices and developed a road map for follow-up phases. The programme will be administered by an independent nonprofit organisation. It has been named L.E.A.D. (“Lifelong Education for Assistance Dog professionals”).

To communicate our findings and future roadmap to the public and raise support for the future programme, we published a 24-page White Paper. It is available online and in print and circulated widely. The document is written in an easily accessible format reach all stakeholders – both insiders and those not familiar with the concept.

The new organisation will be incorporated as a nonprofit in 2020. The plan is to provide effective open-source online training, video-based and multilingual, by 2023/2024. Students and certified practitioners will be provided with a professional online forum, to share work experiences, research and new concepts. The educational program, as well as the certification, will be provided and continuously advanced by the nonprofit, which will be governed by T/Is as well as beneficiaries. Special emphasis will be placed to supporting individuals with disabilities/impairments to succeed in the profession.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 63928 Eur

Project Coordinator

Allianz für Assistenzhunde – Pfotenpiloten e.V. & Country: DE

Project Partners

• European Guide Dog Federation
• Confédération Nationale des Organisations de chiens de médiation et d’aide à la personne dite CANIDEA
• Assistance Dogs Europe
• Association les Chiens Guides d’Aveugles de l’Ouest
• Fundación Bocalan del Perro de Ayuda Social