Trainee assistance dogs and uk law

CharlieRose256

Okay so I have a question regarding assistance dogs, in particular, trainee assistance dogs.

A bit of background - I own my living accommodation (3rd floor flat), but the building is owned by a housing association. I have complex mental health issues and autism.

I’m planning on getting a puppy in a few years to train as an assistance dog, once my rabbits have passed. I would be very unlikely to obtain one via a charity, as the few charities that do train psychiatric assistance dogs are in high demand, and very long waiting lists. My question is - would I be protected under law to have a trainee assistance dog? I know fully trained assistance dogs are protected, but unsure about trainees.

My other option would be to put myself on a waiting list now, but I don’t know if it would be a good idea while I still have rabbits (aged 3 and 4), as I expect them to live quite a while yet.

many thanks in advance 

CharlieRose256

Biblioklept said:

How long usually are the waiting lists? Could be worth applying now if it's a long time 

I had thought about this, but cause all the waiting lists are full, I can’t apply now 😔

Tori_Scope

Hi @CharlieRose256  

My question is - would I be protected under law to have a trainee assistance dog?

This is an interesting question. Did you have a particular situation in mind, or are you just asking more generally about how you'd be protected?

I found the following information in an Ability Shetland booklet. I can't speak for the reliability of it, but you may find it interesting to research further.

In Training

You may see some assistance dogs marked as ‘in training’. There is no legal definition for this, however it often refers to one of two situations:

• It is an assistance dog that has little experience in public areas, thus is training to a high standard. These dogs are classed as assistance dogs and have full public access rights.

• It is a puppy given to foster humans from an organisation, and they are allowing the puppy to become accustomed to public places. These puppies do not have access rights if their handler is not disabled, thus can be asked to leave

I'm wondering whether one of the assistance dogs organisations may be able to advise you on this, too? 

CharlieRose256

Tori_Scope said:

Did you have a particular situation in mind, or are you just asking more generally about how you'd be protected?

I’m thinking more generally, or just generally information, but thank you for the link, I’ll have a nosy through it later, and asking one of the organisation’s isn’t a bad idea either 😊

Tori_Scope

No problem @CharlieRose256 If I come across any further information, I'll let you know! 

And if you find anything out, please do keep us updated. I'd be interested in hearing about the rules on it. 

shibisaber

Hiya,

I run a small education project around assistance dogs at https://www.cateuk.org.uk which goes over the basic information about assistance dogs and where you can get them. I also have an Assistance Dog in Training myself.

Your question isn't the easiest question to answer the reason for this is the following (some of this is my interpretation of what would happen from the case law and guidance available. Unfortunately most of the law around assistance dogs is a grey area):

Assistance dogs currently don't have any official standards they have to meet. They must mitigate your disability in some way and must be trained suitably to the environment they are in to make their access a reasonable adjustment.

This means that in theory the training requirements of an assistance dog changes for each environment (eg. training required to live in rented no-dog accommodation is less than a shop). 

When an assistance dog becomes fully trained in the eyes of the law is most likely a lot lower than what the assistance dog community currently recognises. This is a very big grey area. This means there is a point where trainee assistance dogs ,if they are being trained by the disabled person whose disability they are mitigating, becomes recognised by law before you would consider them fully trained. This wouldn't mean you have access rights with a puppy or untrained dog though, your dog must exhibit reasonable behaviour. The best thing to do is just stick to the IAADP standards, that way you never have to risk going to court and not being covered by law.

As a note, people who are training or puppy raising assistance dogs who are not disabled do not have access rights.  This is because the law requires a service provider to provide reasonable adjustments to the disabled person, in this case it would be allowing access to a dog aiding them. Without the disabled person being there, a reasonable adjustment does not need to happen, so no access for the dog.

If you are covered by an organisation who provides pre-trained dogs I would get on their waiting lists. Owner training really isn't easy and doesn't have guaranteed results. Some people really enjoy it as you get to see your dog improve and bond early on but I can confirm there is definitely are tears and doubt involved to. 

@Tori_Scope the AbilityShetland document is a really good document with sound information. There is some grey areas to what they say but they've interpreted it in the most commonly accepted way, mostly inline with organisations like the ADUK and similar to the EHRC guidance given.

CharlieRose256

@shibisaber

Thank you so much, I really appreciate it 🙂

Tori_Scope

Thank you @shibisaber, this is really insightful!