This is a list of assistance dog training providers and assistance dog organisations that may be able to help you.
Please be aware though we do have a set of criteria for a training provider to be listed, it is based on publicly available information and may not be a true representation of a training provider. Please always research into a training provider before going with them and use this list at your own risk. We do routine checks for any changes that may have occurred. If information has changed or you believe there is a training provider we have missed please feel free to contact us.
Please be aware we do not endorse any external websites/organisations/training providers and they do not endorse CATE UK. We do not have control over external sources, please use at your own risk. This list is non-exhaustive and a training provider not being here doesn’t mean it’s any less valid. Update: 09/06/2024
Name: Guide Dogs UK
Area Served: UK
Disabilities: Blind and Partially Sighted
Ages: All
Bodies Under: ADI/IGDF/ADUK
Website
Guide dogs UK provide fully-trained guide dogs to partially sighted and blind people. They will also provide guide dogs to children an youth and have no minimum age limit but will assess the child/youth individually. Guide dogs UK will also supply buddy dogs to children and companion dogs to adults. Buddy and companion dogs are career changed guide dogs and do not have the same rights as them. These career changed dogs are meant to provide emotional support in pet friendly places and at home. Guide dogs UK may be able to provide a dog to help with another disability in addition to visual impairment with the help of some of the other ADUK charities such as Hearing Dogs For Deaf People and Support Dogs. Guide dogs UK also offer a wide range of services besides guide dogs such as ‘My Sighted Guide’ and providing resources suited to visually impaired children. They also have a non-assistance dog training course available for pet dogs called ‘Good Dog!’
Name: The Seeing Dog Alliance Area
Area Served: UK
Disabilities: Blind and Partially Sighted
Ages: Enquire
Bodies Under: IGDF/ADUK
Website
The Seeing Dog Alliance provides fully-trained guide dogs to partially sighted and blind people. They may also help with training dogs for additional disabilities as they are able to dual train with other ADUK organisations. They have also accepted an owner trained partnership to be under their organisation.motional support in pet friendly places and at home. Guide dogs UK may be able to provide a dog to help with another disability in addition to visual impairment with the help of some of the other ADUK charities such as Hearing Dogs For Deaf People and Support Dogs. Guide dogs UK also offer a wide range of services besides guide dogs such as ‘My Sighted Guide’ and providing resources suited to visually impaired children. They also have a non-assistance dog training course available for pet dogs called ‘Good Dog!’
Name: Hearing Dogs for Deaf People
Area Served: UK
Disabilities: d/Deaf
Ages: Enquire
Bodies Under: ADI/ADUK
Website
Hearing Dogs for Deaf People provide fully-trained hearing dogs for d/Deaf adults. They also do a seperate programme for children. They also have a helpdesk and run a service called LinkUps which is a support group that can be accessed in-person or online. They also provide Sound Support Dogs who alert to sounds in the home but are not suitable for working in public as well as confidence and companion dogs who are well trained but do not alert to sounds and are not suited to working as an assistance dog. They may also cross-train between other organisations such as guide dogs UK for someone who has multiple disabilities
Name: Canine Partners
Area Served: UK
Disabilities: Physical
Ages: 18+
Bodies Under: ADI/ADUK
Website
Canine partners provide assistance dogs to adults with physical disabilities. They can also dual train among other ADUK assistance dog organisations for people who have multiple disabilities. They do regional intake so you will have to wait for your region to be open for applications to apply
Name: Dogs for Good
Area Served: England and Wales (may cover elsewhere please enquire)
Disabilities: Physical
Ages: 7+ (Physical) 3-10 (Autism Assistance Dog) 3-16 (Autism Family Dog Workshop)
Bodies Under: ADI/ADUK
Website
Dogs for Good provide pre-trained assistance dogs for children and adults who have physical disabilities and autistic children. They operate on a regional intake for applications. They also have and may provide community dogs for Animal Assisted Intervention in health and social care settings and SEN schools. They also do a Family Dog Workshop for families with autistic children who are between the ages of 3 and 16, this is to help with choosing and/or training a dog to help as well as providing advice. This workshop is not for training your own dog as an assistance dog. They also have a wide range of advice articles for general dog ownership. For the purpose of this list we have listed the Dementia Dog Project separately. This organisation was formerly known as Dogs for the Disabled
Name: Dementia Dog
Area Served: Scotland, England (Family dog service only)
Disabilities: Dementia
Ages: Unknown
Bodies Under: ADI/ADUK
Website
The Dementia Dog Project is run by Dogs for Good and Alzheimer Scotland to provide assistance dogs for dementia and run a therapy dog service. Dementia assistance dogs are placed with couples where one has mild stage dementia and the other is their full-time carer. They also provide a community dog service and a Family Dog Workshop. Certain online services are operated by Alzheimer Scotland.
Name: Support Dogs
Area Served: Scotland, England (Family dog service only)
Disabilities: Physical, Epilepsy, Autism
Ages: 16+ (Epilepsy, Physical) 3-10 (Autism (Please read description))
Bodies Under: ADI/ADUK
Website
Support Dogs provide pre-trained assistance dogs for Autism and Epilepsy and helps people with physical disabilities train their own assistance dog. For there autism assistance dog programme you must live within 2 hours of their Sheffield training center. Please be aware that their upper age range varies due to waiting list lengths and 10yro is the maximum age they place a dog not when you first apply. This maximum age at application is currently 7.5 years old. There is select criteria for epilepsy so please check whether you are eligible. If you have a physical disability and a pet dog you wish to be trained they must fit certain criteria and be between the age of 1-2 (This is usually 3 but has been lowered due to the pandemic).
Name: Dog A.I.D. (Dog Assistance In Disability)
Area Served: GB
Disabilities: Physical
Ages: 18+
Bodies Under: ADI/ADUK
Website
Dog AID help physically disabled people train their own dog as an assistance dog. The dog must between the ages of 12 months and under 5 years when entering the programme. You may register your interest on their website.
Name: Medical Detection Dogs
Area Served: GB
Disabilities: PoTS, Addison’s disease, Severe Nut allergy, MCAS, Type 1 diabetes
Ages: 5-75
Bodies Under: ADI/ADUK
Website
Medical detection dogs provide pre-trained assistance dogs for people with certain medical conditions, they also can help the disabled person to train their own dog as an assistance dog. Your dog must already show signs of alerting and be between the ages of 6 and 18 months to be trained with them. They do accept applications for 4 year olds who have held a diagnosis for over a year. They usually accept applications from people with other medical conditions but due to COVID-19 this is on hold. They also train bio-detection dogs to detect certain diseases or illnesses such as COVID-19 and have research areas dedicated to different diseases.
Name: Autism Dogs Charity
Area Served: UK
Disabilities: Autism
Ages: 4+
Bodies Under: ADI/ADUK
Website
Autism Dogs Charity provides pre-trained assistance dogs to autistic children and adults
Name: Service Dogs UK
Area Served: South of England (West Sussex, Surry, East and North Hampshire, Somerset, Devon, Wiltshire and Dorset) or Essex and surrounding counties
Disabilities: PTSD
Ages: Unknown
Bodies Under: ADI/ADUK
Website
Service Dogs UK provide pre-trained PTSD assistance dogs for veterans of the armed forces or emergency services. They also provide Trauma and Wellbeing dogs for police forces
Name: Darwin Dogs
Area Served: England and Wales
Disabilities: Mental Health Conditions,Autism
Ages: 15+
Bodies Under: ADI/ADUK
Website
Darwin Dogs helps autistic adults and adults with mental health conditions to train their own dogs as assistance dogs. They also can help train your dog as a canine personal assistance if your dog is not suited to be an assistance dog. They accept dogs up to 3 years old in age
Name: Pawtected CIC
Area Served: UK
Disabilities: Enquire
Ages: All
Bodies Under: IAADP
Website
Pawtected CIC help people train their own assistance dogs for themselves or someone else. They have membership, associate and independent options. For membership, they provide 1:1 online assistance dog training and support for a dog to be trained to IAADP standards. Independent clients work through online courses by themselves. An associate has access to discounts and extra resources, products and pathways. Pawtected CIC also offer courses for pet dogs and human courses such as courses on Assistance Dog law and Youth courses
Name: Pawsitive Squad CIC
Area Served: UK
Disabilities: Complex (certain criteria)
Ages: 2-26 or a disabled parent and child (under 26) living in the same household or 26-30 where there is no other organisation that can help/where the only program they’re eligible for is full
Website
Pawsitive Squad CIC help young people and/or their families train their own assistance dog. They work with people with complex disabilities which reach a certain criteria and can train for multiple people in a household. Whilst they focus on disabled young people, they will also help train an assistance dog to assist a disabled parent in addition to the disabled young person, if they live in the same household. They train both face-to-face in Nottingham and virtually. You must do assessments face-to-face and occasional workshops in Nottingham. They also offer educational packages and a camp for families with disabled children and a therapy/community dog programme for non-profit educational and healthcare providers
Name: Assistance Dogs Northern Ireland (ADNI)
Area Served: NI
Disabilities: Autism, Physical (Full-time Wheelchair User)
Ages: 3-11 (Autism) 3-10 (Physical)
Bodies Under: ADI Candidate/ADUK Candidate
Website
Assistance Dogs Northern Ireland provide pre-trained assistance dogs of children. For an autism assistance dog the child must be 11 or under when applying, for full-time wheelchair users the maximum age is 10. They also provide therapy dogs to different settings.
Name: Veterans With Dogs
Area Served: UK
Disabilities: PTSD
Ages: 18+
Bodies Under: ADI/ADUK
Website
Veterans With Dogs train assistance dogs for Veterans with PTSD. The Veteran is involved with the training of the dog at the end of dogs training. They may consider working with a pet dog to train as an assistance dog. They also run another support programme for Veterans with pet dogs. They also do community dogs for group activities and representing the organisation
Name: Dogs For Autism
Area Served: GB
Disabilities: Autism
Ages: Any
Bodies Under: ADI/ADUK
Website
Dogs For Autism provide pre-trained assistance dogs to autistic people
Name: Pawsable
Area Served: GB
Disabilities: Autism, others on a case-by-case basis
Ages: Any
Website
Pawsable help people train their own assistance dog. Whilst they specialise in autism, other disabilities are considered on a case-by-case basis on how suitable they would be for the person
Name: Canine Generated Independence (CGI)
Area Served: GB
Disabilities: Autism, others on a case-by-case basis
Ages: Enquire
Website
Canine Generated Independence or CGI help disabled people train their own assistance dogs. Assessments take place in Bristol and they train to IAADP standards
Name: Oliver’s Army Assistance Dogs
Area Served: GB
Disabilities: Autism, others on a case-by-case basis
Ages: Enquire
Bodies Under: ADI Candidate/ADUK Candidate
Website
Oliver’s Army Assistance Dogs help disabled people and/or their family train their own assistance dogs. They operate mainly as group classes at their training centres in Fife and in Cheshire. They also help people train therapy dogs
Name: Hypo Hounds
Area Served: UK
Disabilities: Type 1 Diabetes
Ages: 5-70
Bodies Under: ADI Candidate/ADUK Candidate
Website
Hypo Hounds provide pre-trained assistance dogs to those with type-1 diabetes. The individual has to live within a 2 hour drive of their training center in Kent and be able to go to weekly training sessions. They also provide mental health and wellbeing clinics to their clients
Name: BRAVEHOUND
Area Served: GB
Disabilities: Mental Health Conditions
Ages: Enquire
Bodies Under: ADI Candidate/ADUK Candidate
Website
Bravehound provides pre-trained assistance dogs to veterans with mental health conditions
Name: Hounds for Heroes
Area Served: UK
Disabilities: Physical and Medical Conditions
Ages: 16+
Website
Hounds for Heroes provides pre-trained assistance dogs to Veterans and emergency service personnel with physical and medical conditions
Name: Ability Dogs 4 Young People
Area Served: Isle of Wight
Disabilities: Enquire
Ages: Under 30
Website
Ability Dogs 4 Young People provide pre-trained assistance dogs for young people living in the Isle of Wight. They will also help people train their own assistance dog. After the retirement of one of their dogs they will train a successor dog regardless of the age of the handler. They also provide therapy dogs to schools and similar and can help you train your own. They also run dog phobia classes
Name: Helpful Hounds
Area Served: Dorset, Hampshire, Surrey, and Wiltshire
Disabilities: Enquire
Ages: 5-25
Bodies Under: ADI Candidate/ADUK Candidate
Website
Helpful Hounds provide pre-trained assistance dogs to disabled young people and can help them and/or their families train their own dog as an assistance dog. For a dog to be owner trained with Helpful Hounds they must be under 7. They also do school dog training
Name: Supporting Paws
Area Served: UK
Disabilities: Autism
Ages: 5+
Website
Supporting Paws provide pre-trained assistance dogs to children and adult who are autistic. They will also help you train your own with their affiliate programme which is a mix between residential training and you training your dog. There are different options available to you depending on whether you live in Kent or not. They also provide pre-trained companion dogs for those who do not require the same level of support as an assistance dog gives. In addition to this they run a school dog programme
Name: New Beginnings Assistance Dogs
Area Served: Scotland
Disabilities: Autism and Additional Support Needs
Ages: Enquire
Website
New Beginnings Assistance Dogs helps train assistance dogs for autistic people and those with additional support needs. The training takes place in Broxburn
Name: Assistance Dogs Scotland CIC
Area Served: Scotland
Disabilities: Autism and Additional Support Needs
Ages: Enquire
Website
Assistance Dogs Scotland CIC help people train their own assistance dogs. They do training classes at Keith in Scotland and also provide standard puppy and dog training classes for pet dogs. They have also recently started a programme for placing pre-trained dogs
Name: Paws For Support
Area Served: Guernsey
Disabilities: Enquire
Ages: Enquire
Website
Paws For Support help people to train their own dog as an assistance dog. They also provide therapy dog training
Name: K9 Pet Services
Area Served: Southend based
Disabilities: Enquire
Ages: Enquire
Website
K9 Pet Services provides an assistance dog training programme to help people train their own dogs as assistance dogs. They also provide a wide range of dog training services around Southend
Name: Adolescent Dogs
Area Served: UK
Disabilities: Enquire
Ages: Enquire
Website
Adolescent Dogs provides an assistance dog training programme to help people train their own dogs as assistance dogs. They mainly operate online though there are in person session available. This programme also has the options of residential training trips. They also provide a wide range of dog training services
Name: Part of the Pack
Area Served: Norfolk based
Disabilities: Enquire
Ages: Enquire
Website
Part of the Pack help disabled people and/or their families train their dog as an assistance dog. They specialise in autism assistance dogs but will also train for other disabilities except diabetes and epilepsy detection. They also provide a wide range of services for domestic animals. Their expressions of interest list is closed until 2025
Name: RAD Assistance Dogs
Area Served: GB
Disabilities: Mental Health Conditions
Ages: All
Bodies Under: ADI Candidate/ADUK Candidate
Website
RAD Assistance Dogs helps members to train their own mental health assistance dogs. RAD teach behaviours that mitigate the symptoms of a mental health disability. RAD train in person and via zoom. All members are required to attend face to face training. RAD are building their pool of dog trainers around the country and currently have trainers in Cornwall, Stroud, Brighton, Kent, Horsham. If under 18, the member needs to join with a parent or guardian
Name: PADs Foundation
Area Served: UK
Disabilities: Mental Health Conditions
Ages: 18+
Website
The PADs foundation helps adults with mental health conditions to train their own dogs as assistance dogs
Name: Together Anything is Pawsible (T.A.P) Assistance Dogs
Area Served: UK
Disabilities: Autism
Ages: 3-16
Website
T.A.P Assistance Dogs provides assistance dogs to autistic children
Name: ThinkDogs
Area Served: East Midlands (Northampton based)
Disabilities: Enquire
Ages: Enquire
Website
ThinkDogs Training & Behaviour offers assistance dog training services for owners looking to train their dogs to support their disability. They are based in Northampton but can also travel to offer in-person training further afield. They work with a range of conditions and also offer a wide range of other dog training and behaviour services
Name: Wild Spirit Canines
Area Served: UK
Disabilities: Enquire
Ages: 16+
Website
Wild Spirit Canines provide pre-trained assistance dogs and board and train. They help people train their own dogs as assistance dog through in-person 1-1 training (minimum 50 hours). They specialise in dual purpose dogs and assistance dogs for people in higher education
Name: Pawfectly Behaved
Area Served: Solihull/Birmingham
Disabilities: Enquire
Ages: Enquire
Website
Pawfectly Behaved help people train their own dogs as assistance dogs
Map
