Importance of Owning an Assistance Dogs

A Guide Dog is a working dog that’s been highly trained to direct someone with impaired vision safely from one place to another.

What’s the function of an assistance dog?

Assistance Dogs assist people with disabilities and give them freedom and independence.  They help their clients with things like picking up dropped items, opening, and closing doors, pressing the button at the traffic lights and alert barking when their customer is in trouble.

Why are they so important?

Assistance Dogs give their customers the confidence to get out and about and increase their self-esteem.  Assistance Dogs also offer emotional support in addition to a physical support to their ‘teammate’. They bring independence, freedom, confidence, happiness, and trust.

Can any dog become an assistance dog?  Otherwise, what does it take?

VuCare Assistance Dogs raise and train Labradors and Golden Retrievers to be Assistance Dogs.  These dogs enjoy learning new things and love being around people.

What’s involved when training assistance dogs?

Every dog takes two years to train.  To train an Assistance Dog over a two year period costs $27,000, and this also covers things like vet visits, bedding, food, toys, travel costs etc..

From eight months to 14 months, these special dogs reside with volunteer puppy raisers, whose obligation it is to give a loving home and basic obedience.

Puppies that are chosen to become Guide Dogs then experience five weeks of intensive training, learning the skills they will need to safely guide a vision impaired handler. Training includes: how to ignore distractions like noises and food; navigate obstacles; traveling on public transportation, and find landmarks like bus stops and cross streets safely.

Some jobs, like stopping at all curbs and staircases, are taught through repetition.  Other jobs require intensive training, like negotiating a busy train platform to discover the train doors.  As training progresses, Guide Dogs learn to travel through crowded and confusing places, such as shopping centers and busy city streets.

What breeds of dogs make great Guide Dogs?

Aspiring puppies are carefully chosen based on their assurance, responsiveness, and wellness.  In Australia, Guide Dogs are usually purebred Labradors and Golden Retrievers, since they’re calm, loyal and smart breeds with an established track record as Guide Dogs.

Do all of the puppies in the app become Guide Dogs?  For a variety of reasons, from wellness to nature, not all dogs are appropriate to getting Guide Dogs — some are better suited to companion function, but some make good family pets.  The criteria for selection are very stringent as the personal security of future handlers is paramount.

About VuCare Assistance Dogs

VuCare runs as a not for profit organization that provides support with medical aids and has a target to train Assistance Dogs and Company Dogs to enhance the quality of life and raises the degree of freedom for those who have handicaps. VuCare Assistance Dogs and Company Dogs offer their new owners greater autonomy increased freedom, enhanced trust, and higher self-esteem.

To find out more phone us on 1300 830 166 or e-mail us at info@vucare.com.au. See VuCare Assistance Dogs Australia website at http://vucare.com.au.

VuCare Assistance Dogs and Trainers

VuCare in conjunction with our registered trainers preselect our dogs from a small group of trusted breeders so as to assure temperament and avoid potential genetic issues.

An applicant’s own dog may be used for this program after both the applicant and dog undergo a full assessment before being accepted into any VuCare program. There is a small fee to cover our trainers time.

For more information call us on 1300 830 166 or email us at info@vucare.com.au. Visit VuCare Assistance Dogs website at http://vucare.com.au.

What we Believe at VuCare Assistance Dogs

What we Believe

About our Clients we believe that…

– Increasing the independence of people with disabilities is beneficial to both the individual and the community.
– Obtaining an assistance dog is a life changing experience for people with disabilities, providing for both their physical and emotional needs.
– Clients deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
– Placement of successor dogs with past clients should have priority over new dog placements.

About our Dogs we believe that…

– Dogs should be selected and trained to satisfy individual client needs.
– Positive-reinforcement training and high levels of care produces higher quality dogs.
– Dogs have an important place in people’s lives.

Read more: http://vucare.com.au.

For more information call us on 1300 830 166 or email us at info@vucare.com.au. Visit VuCare Assistance Dogs website at http://vucare.com.au.

VuCare Assistance Dogs

VuCare in conjunction with our registered trainers preselect our dogs from a small group of trusted breeders so as to assure temperament and avoid potential genetic issues.

An applicant’s own dog may be used for this program after both the applicant and dog undergo a full assessment before being accepted into any VuCare program. There is a small fee to cover our trainers time.

For more information call us on 1300 830 166 or email us at info@vucare.com.au. Visit VuCare Assistance Dogs website at http://vucare.com.au.

What Are Service Dogs Supposed to Do?

It defines a service animal as “any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability, including a physical, neurological, psychiatric, intellectual or another mental handicap, to be able to mitigate the handicap.” A number of types of service dogs exist, and the tasks each kind is supposed to perform are determined by the disability of the individual he assists.

Guide Dogs

The guide dog aids a man who’s completely or largely visually impaired. The first type of service dog has been the guide dog, known to some as “seeing eye” dog. Although previously this animal had aided the blind; it was just after World War I that a formal training program was organized, in Germany to assist war veterans. The activities of a guide dog may consist of helping his bill in moving about and alerting them to dangerous conditions, like approaching vehicles. The dog has to have the ability to discover and follow a clear route, stop at curbs and safely avoid barriers. He works inside and outside the house and may retrieve dropped or lost objects.

Service, Therapy, Emotional Support, Companion

It’s important to differentiate between service animals and companion dogs / animals. Service animals are working animals, not pets. “Emotional support animals” is a legal term for common domestic animals who provide therapeutic support to handicapped or elderly owners through nonjudgmental companionship and affection. These animals aren’t trained to perform specific tasks but must be reasonably well-behaved. Such animals are usually dogs. The advantages of having a companion animal — a pet — include lower cholesterol, triglycerides and anxiety; increased physical activity; and more social interaction. However, a pet isn’t specially trained to mitigate a handicap.

Other Kinds of Service Dogs

A hearing dog aids a person with partial or complete hearing impairment by alerting the individual to sounds or to the existence of others, like when the operator’s name is called, the telephone or doorbell rings, or a smoke detector goes off. An alert/response dog alerts someone or others to a seizure or other severe medical condition. Another sort of service dog aids a person whose mobility is impaired and lacks balance, stability or the ability to move about under his own power, like getting in and out of a wheelchair or getting up after a fall. The tasks these dogs perform include retrieving items from the ground, manipulating light switches, helping to groom or remove clothes, providing support for walking, helping with rolling over in bed, and opening and closing drawers and doors. They retrieve things like drugs, including from a fridge, among other tasks. The medical assistant dog aids persons with cognitive, autism, psychiatric or neurological disabilities. Common owners have asthma, cancer or Alzheimer’s, or are subject to seizures — certain trained dogs may warn the owner before the seizure occurs. Sometimes, a dog is trained to move the individual to a secure place and recover his medication. A psychiatric service dog offers therapeutic companionship to a man suffering from depression, panic attacks, anxiety, PTSD or agoraphobia, among other things.

Rights and Duties of Owners and the General Public

A service dog must be allowed access to public places. He must act properly, without showing aggression, barking, whining or annoying the general public by asking for food or attention. The handler should control him, and he will typically be on a leash. The general public must permit the service dog to do his work, not divert him, pet him, speak to him or attempt to create eye contact. All service dogs have prerequisites that might include such things as having the ability to perform three or more tasks to aid with the disability; demonstrating basic obedience skills in response to voice or hand signals to sit, stay, lie down, walk beside the handler and come when called; walk calmly on tether; execute tasks in public; and lie quietly beside the handler without obstructing passageways.

If you are looking for assistance dogs in Australia, check out VuCare Assistance Dogs. VuCare operates as a not for profit organization that provides support with medical aids and has a goal to train Assistance Dogs and Companion Dogs to improve the quality of life and increase the level of independence for people with disabilities. VuCare Assistance Dogs and Companion Dogs offer their new owners greater independence increased mobility, enhanced confidence and higher self esteem.

For more information call us on 1300 830 166 or email us at info@vucare.com.au. Visit VuCare Assistance Dogs website at http://vucare.com.au.

 

VuCare Assistance Dogs Helping People with Disabilities in Australia

VuCare was founded in 2006 and first commenced training dogs in 2008. Our goal is to train 6 new dogs each year. These dogs will then go on helping people with varying disabilities throughout Australia.

The dogs themselves vary both in size and breed from little Fox Terrier to large St. Bernards! From pedigree dogs to cross breeds from rescue centres. They also donated by a group of caring breeders, VuCare members and loving members of the public.

For more information call us on 1300 830 166 or email us at info@vucare.com.au. Visit VuCare Assistance Dogs website at http://vucare.com.au.

VuCare Assistance Dogs Training Programs

VuCare Assistance Dogs Training Programs:
For Pets and their companions.

– Better Pet basic
– Social Interaction
– Assess for home assist
– General home assist
– Advance home assist
– One on One Training
– Private Assistance Dogs
– Security Guard Dogs (AFP check required)
– Dog Training Course 1 (beginner)
– Dog Training Course 2 (advance)

Read more: http://vucare.com.au/

For more information call us on 1300 830 166 or email us at info@vucare.com.au. Visit VuCare Assistance Dogs website at http://vucare.com.au.

Vucare Assistance Dogs – Disability Assistance Dogs in Australia

Disability Assistance Dogs are trained to undertake specialised tasks to meet the specific needs of the client, for example:

– Opening and closing doors
– Picking up dropped objects
– Assisting dressing and undressing
– Accompanying whilst shopping etc.
– Providing medication reminders
– Notification of approaching people
– Operating lift and control buttons
– Switching lights on and off
– Retrieving phones and other items
– Assisting with clothes washing

The dogs themselves vary both in size and breed from little Fox Terrier to large St. Bernards! From pedigree dogs to cross breeds from rescue centres. They also donated by a group of caring breeders, VuCare members and loving members of the public.

For more information call us on 1300 830 166 or email us at info@vucare.com.au. Visit VuCare Assistance Dogs website at http://vucare.com.au.

Feeling Depressed? There is a Dog for It

Occasionally when you are down, all it requires is a lick on the face along with a furry friend cuddle to lift your own spirits.  However, what if your anxiety runs deep, in case you are anxious and anxious to leave the home, and wind up depressed or even suicidal–may a puppy nevertheless help bring you again?

There are lots of tales about how puppies have helped people with melancholy; Julie Barton’s poignant memoir Dog Medicine is one of the best-known.  What is fascinating is that formal study also demonstrates that companion and service animals are good at treating depression and stress, in addition to enhancing general wellness.

It is possible to train a puppy for support certificate without going through a company, even though it requires a whole lot of work.  A well-reviewed manual similar to this one is a great starting place.  Additionally, certain strains are more commonly used for support work, but a lot of distinct strains can make fantastic therapy animals.  Not confident of a puppy’s breed faces?  Dog DNA tests can provide invaluable insight.  This evaluation receives high marks for accuracy.

The Way Service Dogs Help Individuals with Stress and Depression

Often times, people that have anxiety or depression avoid contact with the external world, either from fear or anxiety of what may occur.

“Stress and depression involve psychological turmoil and negative inner ‘self-talk,'” Dr. Katie Kangas, co-founder of this Pet Wellness Academy, clarifies.  “These ideas typically spiral to unrealistic negativity and this proceeds at a vicious cycle.”

Dogs help break this cycle by giving soothing companionship and a sense of purpose for their owners.

Dr. Kangas and Accredited Behaviorist Colleen Demling weigh in on some of the additional ways dogs can assist those suffering from depression:

Duty for their well-being.  “A puppy has to be fed up, has to be walked, and should be pet, so sometimes when someone feels least inspired, a thump of a happy tail motivates an individual to contact alive,” Demling states.

Unconditional love.  “This 100% approval without ruling when a man has been depressed, stressed, lonely, wearing the very same clothes as yesterday and can not get out of bed helps individuals feel as though they have a genuine friend during their issues,” Demling states.

Recognize indications of a panic attack.  “The mere existence or non-reaction into a stimulation of a trustworthy companion frequently calms an assault,” Demling describes.  “Dogs may also be trained to utilize passive techniques to prevent strangers from coming to their handler unexpectedly.”

Remaining connected.  “In the modern society, together with the progress of technology and internet link, we’re losing actual social connection, and that’s leading to more psychological problems and disorders,” Dr. Kangas clarifies.  “Love and link will not exist in the Earth, and creatures are a wonderful source to obtain this inside one’s life.”

In reality, dogs are proven so good at helping fight anxiety, anxiety, and depression.

About VuCare Assistance Dogs

VuCare runs as a not for profit organization that offers support with medical aids and has a goal to train Assistance Dogs and Companion Dogs to enhance the quality of life and increases the degree of freedom for people who have handicaps.  VuCare Assistance Dogs and Company Dogs provide their new owners greater autonomy increased freedom, enhanced trust, and greater self-esteem.

To learn more phone us on 1300 830 166 or email us at info@vucare.com.au.  Visit VuCare Assistance Dogs Australia site at http://vucare.com.au.

VuCare Trainers and Assistance Dogs Australia

Our specialty trained dogs assist and support their owners with everyday tasks that are made difficult due to their disability. Each dog is taught tasks tailored to each individual clients needs, enabling that person to lead a fuller and more independent life.

For more information call us on 1300 830 166 or email us at info@vucare.com.au. Visit VuCare Assistance Dogs website at http://vucare.com.au/