About Support Dogs Ltd
Support Dogs is the world leader in training Seizure Alert Dogs® for people with epilepsy for whom conventional treatment has proved to be ineffective.
Dogs are selected from rescue centres and after undergoing a demanding behavioural assessment and veterinary examination suitable dogs spend about six months with a socialiser to be introduced to the many different sights and environments they will encounter during their working life.
The dog is then matched with potential clients and once a positive working relationship has been established intensive seizure alert training begins.
Disability Assistance Dogs are usually clients own pets which, if suitable, are ‘tailor’ trained to assist people with physical disabilities for their particular needs in everyday life. They are trained to provide stability or carry out such tasks as opening and closing doors, picking up dropped items, operating light switches, fetching post and remote controls, helping with dressing/undressing, repositioning bed clothes, loading/unloading washing machine etc..
They can also be trained to provide support and assistance for people with specific medical conditions such as hypoglycaemia, Menieres Disease or agoraphobia by summoning help when needed by pressing alarm buttons, bringing a telephone or acting as a diversion for people lacking sufficient self-confidence to venture away from home on their own.
On qualification, Support Dogs are awarded a yellow jacket allowing them access to public areas as Support Dogs is a member of Assistance Dogs UK. Once qualified, each dog/client partnership is supported during its working life with twice yearly reassessment and annual re-qualification to maintain standards.
When a dog’s working life is over they are retired to a suitable home and if required a replacement is trained, usually alongside the retiring dog so there is no loss of independence during the changeover.
The current cost of selection, training and aftercare for the average working life of a dog is £6,000 but no charge is made to the client, all funding coming from private donations, with no central or government funding.
Our history
Support Dogs was founded in 1992 by Val Strong. Taking a break from her career as a medical scientist to pursue her passion for dogs and dog training, Val established her own dog training club.
Two of her clients were disabled which gave her the idea to train their dogs to assist them with everyday tasks. Within a few months, these dogs were making a real difference to their owners lives and so Support Dogs was born to train suitable pet dogs as registered assistance dogs for their owners.
In 1994, a physically disabled lady, who also had epilepsy, contacted Support Dogs looking for a companion dog. Val strongly advised her not to get an untrained dog as the animal might react negatively to seizures.
Val suggested that together they train a dog to predict her seizures and despite some initial reservation the lady agreed to go along with Val’s plan. Together they chose and trained a rescue dog and within three months it was giving 30 minutes warning of every seizure.
The first Seizure Alert Dog® was working and the charity is recognised as the world leader in the field of training dogs for this purpose, most of which are specially selected from rescue centres, giving them a second chance of life.
In the 10 years since these small beginnings, Support Dogs has trained more than 140 Disability Assistance and Seizure Alert Dogs®, with no charge to the clients. These dogs, whose temperament rather than breed or size is important, have made significant improvements to the quality of life for their clients and research is continuing into the effects and benefits of Seizure Alert Dogs® on the quality of life for clients.
Support Dogs is a member of Assistance Dogs UK, in company with Guide Dogs for the Blind and Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. Their dogs are recognised as working dogs by the Department of Environmental Health and covered by a Code of Practice to ensure service and access in supermarkets, restaurants and other public places for disabled people and their assistance dogs.