Dog A.I.D (assistance in disability) is a charity helping physically disabled people train their pet dog to become their fully qualified assistance dog.
Hi! I’m Talya, a student veterinary nurse hoping to qualify this summer, and this is my assistance dog, Coby!
I got Coby with the intention of training him to help me with everyday activities that are slightly more difficult due to my various chronic conditions.
He has been by my side for three years now and has absolutely changed my life, in that incredible way all dog owners will understand.
Not only has he helped me regain my independence but has instilled a new found confidence in me and I love him for it.
I hope you enjoy hearing his story of going from mad puppy to fully qualified assistance dog, albeit still slightly mad! And now, over to Coby…
Meet Coby:
As well as being a companion dog, I am proud to say I am also a qualified assistance dog to my human, Talya.
It was like any other day when Talya came to visit me and my siblings at our home three years ago.
I was my normal, happy, inquisitive self, thinking only about eating my next meal, play-fighting my brother (the one wearing the blue collar), and finding the comfiest place for an afternoon nap.
Once the visit was over, Talya hand-picked me from the rest of the litter. I now had a new family.
Talya tells humans I was the perfect fit; the others were either too hypo- or hyper-energetic for what lay ahead.
I settled comfortably in my new surroundings and quickly adapted to a daily routine.
I realised I no longer had to fight over food with my siblings as the other pets in the house were chickens. But now I had new friends to play with,
I enjoyed running laps around the coop and waiting to see their next move. They didn’t appreciate it when I trailed after them and tried to sniff their behinds; their smell was far too alluring not to risk a peck. Luckily, I was always quick to retreat.
Basic positive reinforcement training began when I was eight weeks old, and it was there I was first introduced to a clicker device.
Clicker training is a reward-based animal training method that uses a sound or visual device to mark a desired behaviour.
In the beginning, every time I heard a click sound, I received a tasty treat. It was great! Next, I was instructed to “sit”, and each time I parked my bum on the ground, ‘click’… and a treat would immediately be handed to me.
Talya mixed up the rewards with treats or verbal praise. Oh, how I love a good bum scratch from Talya when she’s telling me I’m such a good boy; it gets me all excited.
I also went to puppy classes with Talya and Pen. Pen is my amazing trainer who eventually signed up with Dog A.I.D as one of their volunteer trainers.
I enjoyed myself so much as these puppy sessions that the whole class ended up seeing my mischievous side. I couldn’t help but say hi to all of my fellow furry friends.
Although I could be easily distracted, I was a fast learner and managed to pick up the training with ease.
A few months close to my first birthday, the training stepped up. It was tailored to be more specific to my human’s needs, such as picking up dropped items.
It was also my first time experiencing short training outings in small shops and supermarkets.
I remember my first visit to our small local grocery shop. For those several minutes we were there for, I managed to keep my cool. I was focused and did not get over-excited about being the only dog surrounded by all these humans!
Several weeks later, we visited a chemist, and I was not so cool. I got so excited after successfully settling (lying down in a relaxed position) that I knocked over a row of deodorant bottles with my waggly tail… oops. I was just so happy.
Settling used to be one of my weakest areas. I struggled with doing absolutely nothing because I was such a wriggly bum and enjoyed having a good nosey at the world passing by.
One time, during a hospital consultation, I randomly kept standing up and whistling. A few months later, at the hospital again, I fell asleep! It had finally clicked.
It took me a while to understand that when I wear my special training harness during public outings I am not supposed to be petted. But because I am so handsome, it was far too tempting for some humans.
I remember once, some people literally chasing us around a supermarket to grab me! Talya would kindly educate these individuals and occasionally allow some to stroke me during training if we were in a pet-friendly shop.
This enabled me to get used to being distracted, but I eventually learnt to ignore the commotion around us and focus my attention on Talya and the tasks at hand.
Kissy noises now go in through one ear and straight out the other. It’s just my waggly tail that lets me down.
A challenging task I learnt early on was to pick up various dropped items. At first, I only focused on the items I saw Talya drop, which meant I completely ignored the ones already on the floor.
In the end, Talya had to use a stick to point at the items I was ignoring. I picked it up (Talya’s joke, not mine), very quickly.
When it came to distinguishing the various items, my head hurt. We had to go back to the basics.
However, Talya made it fun by having us play games. She would instruct me to “pick it up” a few times and then introduce the name at the end; “pick it up – phone” followed by plenty of “good boy!” praises.
Talya repeated this phrase until I realised that “pick up the phone” meant the bloody phone. I was rewarded well after that session.
At the next session, Talya had placed several items on the floor, and I was asked to “pick up the phone”. Whenever I brought Talya an item, she would take it and say nothing.
What, no treat either? I could have sworn that was definitely the phone! She would then repeat “phone” until I recognised the device was, of course, the phone.
As tiresome as this was, I enjoyed the exercise as it got me thinking.
I don’t get toys as a reward for commands because I get too overexcited and forget what I am meant to be doing
After I turned one in 2018, we joined Dog A.I.D along with my trainer, Pen.
Training sessions at home soon became a part of our daily routine. Short trips to cafés, supermarkets and unfamiliar shops were regularly carried out.
Talya was so good to me, taking special care in ensuring each trip out was fun. She was patient with me while she taught me how to behave well and perform certain tasks in various public settings.
We had frequent visits from Pen who helped us prepare for the three assessments. We each put in a tremendous amount of effort and therefore passed level one immediately. We received a new lead sleeve from Dog A.I.D for passing level one; how nice.
Passing level two followed shortly after. Due to my excitable temperament, however, passing level three took a lot more effort. Talya had to work hard to keep me calm during those few last tests but, in the end, we nailed it.
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |
| Task | Loose lead walking | Emergency stop | A trip to an unfamiliar shop |
In total, the Dog A.I.D training took six months for us to complete and successfully pass all three levels.
We qualified on the 7th of April 2018 and had a film crew trailing behind us, filming for a BBC programme. I was 21 months old.
Proud moment alert: because a lot of work and effort had been dedicated to training before signing up with Dog A.I.D, we ended up being one of the quickest teams to qualify… Go, team!
The ongoing range of daily tasks I assist Talya with includes:
- Picking up her various dropped items
- Tugging her socks off
- Fetching her water (“drink please”)
- Finding her phone (“find phone”)
- Bringing her meds (this is my all-time favourite task!)
- Finding her mum (“where is she?”)
- Providing forward momentum and guiding her with a special harness when she becomes dizzy or starts to lose her vision during a blackout
- Helping relocate her joints through deep pressure therapy (I lie over a certain area and press my elbows down to encourage blood flow)
When I sense Talya is in a flare-up or feeling sad, I am quick to come over to cuddle into her or to lick any salty tears off.
When she is having a hard day, I like to glue myself to her side to comfort her. Talya trained me to ‘paw’ at her knee when I see her shaking. This is a warning that she may be getting nauseous or dizzy; maybe about to have a blackout.
Reminding Talya when she gets unwell and must take action is what I love about my role.
I do, however, have my cheeky moments, as Talya likes to say. Sometimes she needs to repeat a command twice because I pull my “really, you want this?” face. I’m only human a dog after all ♫ – catchy song!
In 2019 I became aware that other dogs do similar work with me in assisting their humans. It was during an event at the Houses of Parliament that we almost bumped into each other.
He was a guide dog. And while our owners happily chatted away, we showed off our working roles to one another. That boy had skills!
I happily attend college with Talya once a week, as she studies to become a veterinary nurse. Unless I am needed, I spend most of my time snoozing by her chair.
During lunch, I am off-duty and take full advantage of the other students fussing over me.
There was a time Talya got a little upset with a new habit I had developed out of the blue: scavenging dropped food from the floor.
After being told by Talya to leave it, I would sneakily pick it up again. However, the crunching noise soon blew my cover, naughty loud crisps!
One of my party tricks is to fetch Talya a single tissue from a tissue box when she sneezes. Although I’m pretty sure she’s faking it, I’ll do just about anything useful to hear her say those four magical words “you’re the best boy!”.
If only my brothers and sisters could see me now.
Here’s my IG if you would like to follow my adventures with Talya.
A word from Pen, Coby’s trainer:
Talya approached me with Coby, as she knew I helped people train their dogs to be assistance dogs through Dog A.I.D. She was in a good position because Coby had come from a reputable breeder and he was still really young – a blank slate with no behaviour issues.
In such instances, I would suggest that owners take their dogs to my puppy and adolescent classes – to learn the basics using reward-based training. My classes help owners develop a good and stable bond – which is needed, especially if it is to be safe for the owner to rely on the dog in some way.
Of course, my classes cover the basics such as walking to heel, coming back when called, understanding what their name means, and understanding the basic commands such as sit, down, stand, wait etc.
But because I am a behaviourist, we focus a lot on preventative exercises to ensure that the dog is well socialised and is never possessive or aggressive. An under socialised dog or one where the owners have used punitive methods are the major causes of aggression that I see in dogs as a behaviourist. Such problems typically develop during adolescence.
I have to say that Coby was the worst behaved dog in the entire class! I doubted that he would qualify as an assistance dog. He was a terrible lead puller and got that over-excited, Talya had to sit behind a screen. This helped Coby to focus his attention on Talya and allowed the rest of the class to concentrate!
However, Talya was amazing! If she doubted whether Coby would qualify, she never showed it. And her commitment never wavered. She was one of those lovely clients who listened to everything I said, took it all on board, didn’t question anything, and just got on with the work in hand.
Even better – she applied the principles to her own life – I was amazed when she showed me, Coby, managing to ignore the chickens in their back garden and, finally walking to heel calmly!
After my classes, I started training them privately to pass the different levels and skill sets that Dog A.I.D require. Within an extremely short space of time, Coby was a fully-fledged assistance dog!
He does exemplary emergency stops, fetches medication, ignores distractions when out on walks, ignores dropped food in front of him, and even picks up dropped credit cards. Plus so many other things too!
Talya and Coby are both unique, and it was a dream working with them.
Check out Pen’s website for further information on dog training.
Dog A.I.D
The charity has a team of over a hundred volunteering professional dog trainers across the UK who work one-to-one with their client for six months – two years to train their dog through the Dog A.I.D scheme.
The process starts with a potential client visiting the Dog A.I.D website (www.dogaid.org.uk) and finding out if a trainer is available in their area.
Dog A.I.D clients are over the age of sixteen and have a physical disability that their dog can assist with. Our clients have a range of disabilities such as:
- Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome – a genetic disorder which causes dislocations, sprains, and fractures on a regular occurrence
- PoTS – Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome which causes the autonomic nervous system to not work properly. This condition causes people to suffer from being lightheaded and be prone to fainting
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Arthritis
- Cerebral Palsy
- Fibromyalgia
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Scoliosis
- Amputations
And so much more.
There is a bit of preliminary paperwork which must be completed to join the scheme. When all paperwork and assessments are completed satisfactorily, training can begin.
The client is then coached to train their pet dog using modern, safe, reward-based methods of dog training. The training usually takes place at the client’s home and in their local environment; occasionally it may be appropriate for the client to attend classes held by their trainer.
Since the first lockdown in March 2020, Dog A.I.D has taken a lot of our training sessions online with volunteer trainers and Head Office staff running training sessions and workshops for clients on the Zoom platform.
The first webinar for 2021 is scheduled for later this month and will kindly be delivered by Claire Harris, a pet transport expert from Pets2Places.
The dogs are incredible and can be trained to do a whole host of different tasks from finding medication to picking up dropped items, collecting post, and fetching help!
No matter how or where the training takes place, it uses the bond which already exists between the client and their dog. The trainer can leave them to practice what they’ve learned until the next training session takes place. This strengthens the bond and gives the client confidence and a real sense of achievement.
The success of the scheme relies on the commitment of the client to continue to practice daily with their dog. Daily training ensures that the dog is learning at its own pace whilst being a constant companion to the client.
The client and dog team will be assessed three times during their work to become a fully qualified team. This process can take between one and two years, depending on their prior training experience and the time and effort they devote to their training.
Rachel Rodgers is a training and development manager for Dog A.I.D.
“At the moment I spend more time on a computer than I would do in a world without Covid, where I would have more face-to-face time with the wonderful clients and their dogs! I am responsible for recruiting, training and supporting our team of incredible volunteer dog trainers throughout their journey with Dog A.I.D. I spend my day replying to emails, hosting Zoom calls for trainers and preparing training resources for our clients. One of my favourite jobs is arranging assessments for our clients. Although it can be a bit of a logistical nightmare, now with all the various lockdown and social distancing rules, it is the most important job (no pressure!). I have to find a Dog A.I.D assessor who can travel to meet the client at a suitable location to do their assessment. Recently our Dog A.I.D dog (Beanie) passed his assessment with his owner, Rhiannon. They were the first pair to reach qualified assistance dog status since COVID-19 stopped us from working face-to-face in March. Since then, we have had five more partnerships be confirmed and reach their qualified status which, for everything that’s gone on in 2020, is truly amazing!”
Dog A.I.D are always in need of more trainers. They have hundreds of enquiries a month from people who could use Dog A.I.D’s help but without more professional trainers on board, they can’t help them all.
Professional trainers can contact Dog A.I.D at admin@dogaid.org.uk or by visiting the website at www.dogaid.org.uk.
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