COACHING You

TO TRAIN YOUR OWN

ASSSISTANCE DOG

Paws for Assistance Dog Training is a Melbourne, Victoria based coaching service for adults diagnosed with a disability aiming to train their own dog to Public Access Test (PAT) standard under the Guide, Hearing and Assistance Dogs Act 2009 (GHAD, Queensland Government model).

We work with adult folks who are a minimum of 18 years old and above. Currently we are not taking on child clients.

What We Can DO:

  • Coach you to train your own assistance dog towards meeting the Public Access Test (PAT) accreditation.

  • Work with you to tailor your own training program.

  • Provide ongoing regular bi-monthly support throughout the training process and beyond the PAT throughout your dogs working career.

What We Can’T Do:

  • We are UNABLE to work with children under 18 years of age.

  • Paws For Assistance DOES NOT provide pre-trained assistance animals.

  • We CANNOT train brachycephalic/short-nose breed dogs.

  • Paws for Assistance Dog Training (PFA) uses reward based training methods.  Training a suitable adult dog to PAT standard takes approximately 6-18months depending on the handler (owner) and their dog.  Training a suitable puppy will take approximately 2 years.

  • We ensure the handler and dog are supported throughout the training process and beyond into the handler and dog’s working life together. 

  • The handler will learn a step-by-step process to train their dog for specific tasks.  Theory that underpins dog learning and behaviours is learnt throughout the training process.

labrador dog_pushing button_trainer_assistance task

ASSISTANCE DOG TASKS

An Assistance Dog is trained to perform a number of ‘tasks’ including behaviours & responses specifically for each person to reduce some of the symptoms of that persons professionally diagnosed disability.

An Assistance Dog is not for everyone. Owner-training is a difficult skill to acquire. Your dog may not be the right dog for the job! Please go to our FAQ page for more info.

WHY TRAIN WITH PAWS FOR ASSISTANCE?

Paws for Assistance Dog Training offers a bespoke training program tailored to your physical, emotional and mental health needs. There is no cookie-cutter method we adhere to. Sure, there are milestones each handler team are required to meet along the journey however, we aim to have lots of fun getting there.

Assistance dogs (AD) must have very special personalities and behavioural training. Training your own AD is not a quick process. It takes time, energy, patience, persistence, money and support from your significant others including family and friends.
An AD must be able to stay focussed on the job, in the face of ANY distraction. They must not be bothered by:
children playing ball, cats running, dogs fighting, people eating, loud noises, crowds, machinery equipment, traffic or music amongst other things.

Ideally they will have the confidence to ride on travelators, escalators lifts, noisy trains or trams and ferries. They must be able to navigate slippery floors, and be able to focus for long periods of time under any condition. Most of all, the dog must ENJOY ITS JOB! For these reasons, not all dogs are suitable to be a certified Assistance Dog, no matter how emotionally and financially invested you are and have been.

Training Locations

Paws For Assistance is based in Glenroy, Victoria. 13km north of Melbourne city. We will travel to your home for initial assessment. Travel within 30 minutes drive of Glenroy is included in our initial consultancy fee. Travel outside of this zone may incur an additional cost to your consultation.

We will then require you to attend our preferred training locations for ongoing sessions:

  • PRESTON (Northland Shopping Centre)

  • MARIBYRNONG (Highpoint Shopping Centre)

  • AIRPORT WEST (Westfield)

  • OAK PARK (JP Fawkner Reserve)

  • MELBOURNE CITY (on occasion)

  • OR in our low distraction training space in GLENROY (limited availability)

Once you are accepted into the training program you will be able to book your training sessions via our business portal and view which training locations are available on certain days.