Mobility Aid Dogs can be also referred to as Mobility Support Dogs, Mobility Service Dogs, and Mobility Assistance Dogs. Mobility Assistance Dogs can be trained to pull a wheelchair, help a person maintain their balance, retrieve items from the ground or from a drawer, turn lights on/off, open and close doors, carry small items in a bag (medicine, papers, phone), bark to attract attention and ask for help, as well as assist to a degree with dressing. Some Mobility Assistance Dogs can be taught to push accessible buttons and learn to associate them with a number of interactions. Training a Mobility Aid Dog for a person needs to be individualized and it is important to take note of the user’s ability to hold a leash, grab onto a harness and maintain their balance.
This type of dog is usually part of two-member or three-member teams depending on their user. If a person is physically able to care for the dog properly then they are in a two-member team. If not, the dog will be taken care of by a third person who usually carries the title service dog handler while the user is, of course, the service dog user. In many cases, the handler is the user’s parent or an assigned medical worker. Enhanced functioning was reported in self-care, chores around the home, and mobility in the home and community in the excellent pilot study “Effects of assistance dogs on persons with mobility or hearing impairments” from 2018.
Mobility Aid Dogs are usually animals of a large breed with a sturdy bone structure and of calm character. You are likely to see breeds like Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever, German Shepherd, Newfoundland, Bernese Mountain Dog, Rottweiler, St. Bernard excel at this type of work.
We are working on adding a training course for dog owners who want to use Mobility Aid Dog. COMING SOON!