Assistance dogs are dogs that assist disabled people in their day to day lives. They are allowed to go into non-pet friendly places by law so their disabled handler can access the area just like everyone else. Assistance dogs are not just guide and hearing dogs but can help people with a wide range of visible and invisible conditions such as epilepsy and mental health conditions. It is important that you don’t believe that a dog isn’t an assistance dog just because the handler doesn’t have a visible disability. Many people can’t go out without their assistance dogs, so it’s important to understand that it is not a privilege to have one but a necessity. Even when it seems the partnership may be getting ‘special treatment’, it’s often the only way they can access a service like everyone else without extra charges.

It is important to never distract an assistance dog as it can put the handler at risk. Even if a dog doesn’t seem to be awake or is lying down, you still shouldn’t distract them. Here’s some examples of why this is the case

What happens	Outcome
Person pets an assistance dog that seems to be sleeping	Dog delays an alert to an oncoming seizure leading the handler to be put in a dangerous situation
Person feeds an assistance dog a treat without permission	Dog starts interacting with the person and the handler gets distressed and is unable to refocus the dog. This leads to the handler having an autistic meltdown.
Person talks to an assistance dog from a distance praising the dog for being so good	Dog gets momentarily distracted causing it to miss an upcoming curb causing their visually impaired handler to trip

When interacting with an assistance dog partnership there are some steps you should follow:

1. Make sure it is a suitable

Assistance dog handlers are often just trying to get on with day-to-day activities like everyone else. If a handler is getting some milk or in the middle of training it probably isn’t the right time to talk. The same goes for if the handler is on the floor or the dog is tasking, though asking whether they are okay is fine. A good rule of thumb is that if it’s somewhere you would talk to someone who doesn’t have an assistance dog (eg. a bench) then it’s okay to talk to someone who has one. Please read the dogs vest before interacting as some vests state ‘Talking to handler causes distress’ or similar and use discretion.

2. Talk to the handler not the dog

Even when talking to someone it is important not to distract an assistance dog, so always talk to the handler. Please don’t be put off if the handler doesn’t want to talk, they often get a lot of questions on a daily basis which can be tiring at times.

3. Make sure your children are aware of how to behave around an assistance dog

Teaching children about assistance dogs is important. So important that we even have a page on where you can find learning resources for them. If it’s the first time your child has seen an assistance dog in public consider speaking to your child from a distance about how the dog is working and you shouldn’t distract them. Please see our learning resources page for more information.

4. Keep pets away from assistance dogs

If you have a dog with you make sure restrain them so they can’t interact with the assistance dog. Dogs can be as ,if not more, distracting than a human can be so keeping them a distance helps with that.

If you have a pet dog, it is important that you don’t take your dog to non-pet friendly places. This not only can be very stressful for your dog but can also put assistance dogs at risk. If your dog misbehaves it may cause a business owner to hesitate to let another dog in even if they are an assistance dog. Additionally, unlike pet dogs, assistance dogs are protected by law from dog attacks, even if they are unvested.

If you have any other questions please feel free to contact us