We believe that all assistance dog teams should have access to fair, independent assessment and support, regardless of their training pathway. We work with owner-trained, privately trained, and non-ADUK assistance dog teams, providing an independent public access test that recognises high standards of training, behaviour, and taskwork.
Our aim is to promote inclusivity within the assistance dog community, support disabled handlers and help ensure that well trained assistance dog teams can access the recognition and guidance they deserve.
Standardising Assistance Dogs.
ADAA provides independent public access assessments for owner-trained assistance dog teams. Our assessment ensures that dogs meet high standards of training, helping to demonstrate that they are suitable to work as assistance dogs. We also support qualifying teams who experience public access issues and work with businesses to improve understanding of assistance dogs. In addition, we are actively engaging with the travel industry to help make travel more accessible and straightforward for assistance dog teams across the UK and internationally.
As a UK-based charity, we provide assistance dog assessments throughout England, Wales, and Scotland. We strive to make our services accessible to teams wherever they are located. While assessor availability and travel distances may occasionally affect arrangements, we will always do our best to organise assessments as close to home as possible, including for those in rural and remote areas. Our aim is to ensure that location is not a barrier to accessing assessment and support.
At ADAA, we believe that access to support and assessment should be available to all assistance dog teams, regardless of their training pathway. We welcome disabled handlers with owner-trained, privately trained, and organisation-trained assistance dogs, including teams that have already qualified with another organisation. Our focus is on supporting well-trained assistance dog teams and promoting high standards across the assistance dog community.
We work with shops, businesses, and service providers to improve understanding of owner-trained and non-ADUK assistance dog teams. We provide guidance on expected training and behavioural standards, the appropriate use of assistance dog equipment, and best practice when handling access requests and resolving access disputes.
Upon successfully completing our Public Access Assessment, teams can exercise their public access rights with confidence, knowing that their dog has met high standards of training, behaviour, and taskwork.
Qualifying teams also gain access to a range of benefits, including:
