Our standards and principles

Definition of Key Concepts

Definition: “Assistance Dog Task”

The general right of access granted to assistance dogs where companion dogs are not permitted is based on their categorization as an aid for a person with disabilities. Consequently, even certified assistance dogs only have access rights when accompanied by their human partners, for whom they have been trained, and who require them for autonomy and safety. When accompanying their handler, assistance dogs are not dogs, but aids to compensate for disabilities. This aspect is the reason for the access rights granted to qualified assistance dog teams. It is also the reason assistance dogs immediately revert to the status of a companion dog as soon as they are not acting in a team with a person with disabilities.

Living with a dog can offer various benefits. These can result from the dog’s prosocial behavior, providing emotional support and helping people become happier. The lifestyle changes the dog brings, such as frequent walks, can also benefit general wellbeing. However, the assistance provided by assistance dogs is very different from what dogs provide simply by their nature or as an indirect result of the bond with their owners.

Required number of tasks
A guide dog usually learns about 50 tasks, and most assistance dogs master five tasks or more. However, as the tasks for eligibility as an A-fdn assistance dog team must fulfil the strict criteria listed below, there may be partnerships in which only one task is recognized. However, this one assistance may be of essential importance to the assistance dog owner and fully justify the status of an assistance dog. After critical and thorough examination, the A-fdn may therefore even accept a single task as a sufficient reason for recognition as an assistance dog team.

The following is an attempt to provide a comprehensive definition of what constitutes a task performed by an assistance dog. Taken together, these ten points replace improvisation with a solid decision-making framework.

A humane assistance dog task …

1 – significantly mitigates the disability of the assistance dog handlers, increasing their autonomy and thus their participation in public life.

Recognized assistance tasks support a more autonomous life and contribute to the fulfillment of basic needs in daily life. They enable improved participation in public life by compensating for the impairments of the human partner, and thus improve autonomy and safety and/or prevent additional damage to health. Which tasks fulfil this criterion for a particular assistance dog team depends heavily on the circumstances and can be highly individualized depending on individual needs.

Retrieving an object, for example, can be an important task for the autonomy and safety of a person with limited mobility. However, if the person could fetch or pick up the object themselves without much effort, this activity is not an assistance dog task in the sense of the certification.

Assistance dog vs. pet dog

Even if the task(s) of a dog compensate for disabilities, we only speak of an assistance dog if the assistance is required for autonomous access to public places. It is not the task alone that makes the dog an assistance dog and gives it access rights. The need for the task in public places makes a dog, who masters them, an assistance dog and gives it access rights. 

For example, clearing out the washing machine can be a great help for a person with limited mobility. However, if the person can move autonomously and safely in public spaces and does not have a justified need for tasks to be in the public, their dog is not an assistance dog. Such a team would therefore not be admitted to the Public Access Test.

2 – is a joint team effort of the assistance dog and the human partner.

An assistance dog task is never done by the dog in isolation. It is always done in interaction with the handler and rooted in their partnership. The old view of the assistance dog as a trained aide that provides tasks to a rather passive recipient is long outdated. It is the leadership and care of the handler that’s behind every successful assistance dog team, and, in consequence, the handler is a core factor in every successful task. 
Even in situations where the assistance dog executes the task autonomously, it is ultimately the handler who manages the team, designs daily strategies, practices the tasks continuously with their dog, and ensures a humane and successful partnership.

The better the leadership of the handler and the partnership with the assistance dog is, the less obvious it may appear. This is why, to the untrained eye, the role of then handler in a humane assistance dog task often only becomes apparent when a problem in communication or partnership causes a delay or the failure of a task. 

3 – has higher utility than alternatives available by other means.

Technology or changes in routine can sometimes replace the traditional assistance provided by an assistance dog. Often, a regular pet dog with the appropriate training will also fulfil the purpose – it doesn’t always have to be an assistance dog. An assistance service is therefore only recognized if there is no comparable solution for the situation.

Technological advances

Implants that send a blood sugar alarm to smartphones. Lights that can be switched on and off by voice signal. Permanently worn emergency call buttons that activate a rescue service. Smart home devices that open doors and windows – these are all examples that could potentially make traditional tasks superfluous in the future. 

The A-fdn expects that assistance dogs will be replaced by alternatives, e.g., artificial intelligence and robotics, in many areas in the near future. Being a highly individualized solution, it will remain highly beneficial and irreplaceable in others. Helping to shape and secure the future of the assistance dog concept therefore implies thoroughly reflecting on the framework and benefits of the concept. 

4 – is a conditioned behavior and can be tested based on these conditioned cues.

Conditioned behavior is defined as a conditioned response to a specific stimulus. This can be, for example, a clear verbal signal, body language, a change in the environment or in the condition of the human partner. In contrast to spontaneous behavior, which the dog offers of its accord and which is not regarded as assistance, conditioned assistance ensures clear procedures and reliable results. This creates predictability for the dog and reduces stress, even in a potentially stressful situation. The dog has been thoroughly trained to perform a conditioned task confidently. As a result of their training, they know what to do and when the task is complete.

To condition the task, it is usually broken down into small steps that build on each other. These are practiced with positive reinforcement until the dog has reliably mastered the sequence and a degree of automation has developed. Conditioning can also be based on behavior that the dog offers voluntarily. If this is rewarded very promptly, the behavior is consolidated and becomes helpful. 

With well established teams, automatism can often occur, i.e., tasks and behavior that appear to take place without instructions or signals. This advanced mode is also based on conditioned behavior, even if this is no longer fully perceptible.

If an assistance dog can only perform a task in a real emergency, but it cannot be demonstrated, it is typically not a task as defined in this standard. A correctly performed task, especially in very stressful situations such as a health crisis or seizure, should be conditioned in such a way that the dog learns to react to specific changes (smell, body language, breathing, etc.) with the required task. This also means that the assistance can be triggered by the conditioned cues regardless of a real crisis.

If a dog can only react to a situation in a real emergency, it is often not a conditioned response, but an improvised reaction offered by the dog under high stress and pressure to perform. Such a scenario is very stressful for the dog and is incompatible with the five-domain model of animal welfare.

An exception to this are situations that have been professionally conditioned by a third party during a crisis, but which cannot be triggered by simulated signals. In these cases, the A-fdn accepts a binding declaration from the owner and trainer that the assistance dog has been comprehensively conditioned and can provide assistance with a high degree of reliability.

5 – is carried out reliably, even in the event of distractions/difficult circumstances.

Every assistance dog team encounters unexpected situations. The training of the assistance dog must be so thorough that the dog can also perform tasks in unusual situations. This means, for example, that an assistance dog can also bring the telephone when it is not in its usual place. The assistance dog is not distracted by other people or inconveniences. He can solve common problems – e.g., open a slammed door or bring the emergency bag even if something covers it.

6 – respects the Five Domains Model of Animal Welfare at all times.

Tasks must be consistent with the Five Domains Model of Animal Welfare (Annex IV) during training and implementation. Naturally, violence and the use of pressure are prohibited. For example, the dog must not be conditioned or made to work when hungry. The owner must ensure at all times that the dog’s needs are met during training and work, that stress is reduced, and that the dog’s personality is respected. Assistance must be modified or cancelled if it conflicts with the five-domain model of animal welfare (walking on hot asphalt, long periods without fresh drinking water, unreasonably long working hours).

7 – requires that the dog is suitable for the task and interested in it.

Many factors, including physique and typical breed characteristics, psyche, temperament, personal background, emotions and other factors determine the dog’s suitability. If a dog is not suitable for a task, they should not be asked to perform it. The same applies to tasks that (1) the dog would have to be forced to perform because they are not really interested in them, or (2) they could perform but would have to pretend too often and deny their feelings excessively (see literature on the subject of “emotional labor”).

8 – is appropriate for the dog in terms of the scope and intensity of the task required.

An assistance dog fulfills a strenuous job that requires a high level of discipline and concentration. An increased frequency or intensity of health crises and situations that are unfamiliar to the dog are likely to result in increased stress levels, even if the task has been extensively conditioned.

Dogs generally need about 18 hours of rest per day. A maximum of 2 to 3 working hours should therefore not be exceeded, based on the sum of all work phases interrupted by rest periods during the day. 

If the frequency, duration, and intensity of the work is so high that the assistance dog is permanently overtaxed, this concept is no longer the right solution. If excessively stressful days only occur sporadically and rarely, it must be ensured that the dog can recover in a longer, less demanding phase.

“Dual purpose” assistance dogs, i.e., dogs that are trained for more than one disability, are particularly at risk of being overtaxed. Here it is important to weigh up carefully in advance – and to check again and again – whether the scope of work is appropriate for the dog. In addition, explicit strategies should be conditioned as to how the dog should perform tasks if they overlap, e.g., if the dog notices an impending health crisis while guiding their owner through the city.

9 – is conditioned in such a way that they neither harm nor could harm the assistance dog handler, the dog, or the public.

A task is not accepted if it exposes the dog, handler, or others to direct or potential danger. This also applies if they increase the risk of danger because they exceed the capabilities of an assistance dog. 

A task that is based on the assistance dog taking responsibility for the team and making independent decisions that go beyond conditioned behavior is inappropriate. 

Safety-related tasks must be performed with a very high degree of reliability and in a way that minimizes the risk of injury to the assistance dog handler and dog. Dog and handler should not be able to accidentally or unconsciously leave the conditioned safety area. At the same time, the owner should not be able to run into or trip over the dog, which would endanger both owner and dog.

The dog must be protected from dangerous, uncontrolled reactions that could injure it or cause it pain, for example during a seizure accompanied by loss of consciousness or an autistic child reacting in an uninhibited manner.

Tasks during self-harming or suicidal behavior or uncontrollable and possibly violent mental states of the assistance dog owner is unacceptable. If such situations are to be expected due to the impairments, an assistance dog is not an appropriate solution.

Aggressive behavior of any kind, as well as any dangerous interaction with the public – such as jumping up on third parties – disqualifies an assistance dog and should never be trained to provide a task.

10 – does not jeopardize animal welfare in the long term.

In addition to the immediate consequences for animal welfare (6-9), tasks can also harbor long-term risks if it is not carefully considered.

Example 1 – Psychological stress

Many assistance dogs learn to perform certain tasks independently. An assistance dog also learns to reliably regulate their emotions and impulses. Nevertheless, for long-term animal welfare, assistance dogs need reliable and responsible handlers who can be a guiding figure and calming influence for them. An assistance dog must find security in their handler and be able to rely on clear procedures and a certain routine. If the assistance dog has to cope permanently or over longer periods without comprehensive support from their handler, their psychological well-being is jeopardized. This can happen if the owner is too preoccupied with themselves or is inconsistent in their behavior and communication.

Example 2 – Moving or carrying disproportionately heavy weight

Pulling, pushing and stabilization tasks in which assistance dogs are required to carry or move the body weight of the assistance dog owner, for example, are not acceptable forms of assistance. They should not be conditioned out of concern for animal welfare. Accordingly, assistance dogs should not generally pull or push assistance dog owners in a wheelchair. 

Being led in a harness always requires the full, active participation of the assistance dog owner. Asking an assistance dog to pull the owner independently, i.e., to physically move them, is unacceptable assistance and should not be required of the dog. Alternative aids – never the assistance dog – should be used for standing up/sitting down, for locomotion and for support, e.g., with an unsteady gait. 

The assistance dog can provide effective support for orientation or balance as long as the weight on the assistance dog is typically minimal, comparable to loosely hooking onto another person’s arm.

11 – minimizes any inconvenience to the public.

Individual sensitivity is highly subjective. Often, strong reactions originate in personal mindset rather than being rooted in the actual situation being experienced as an inconvenience. However, an assistance dog handler should carefully reflect on the impact on others when designing and executing a task in public. Inconvenience may not always be avoidable. Yet, it is essential for an acceptable task to minimize negative impact on others, wherever possible.

There is always a possibility that a member of the public feels inconvenienced by a legitimate task, or even the mere presence of the assistance dog team. This by itself is not a reason to question the legitimacy of a task. These criteria should never be construed to not allow assistance dogs into places such as grocery stores or restaurants. A certain degree of inconveniencing each other is inherent in living together as a society and perfectly acceptable. Just as we all depend on the tolerance of others at times, the assistance dog team should be able to rely on tolerance even during the occasional error or misstep.

Certain tasks, however, are unacceptable out of consideration for others, e.g., deliberately blocking an entire aisle in a shop or allowing the assistance dog to come into contact with unpackaged food. Even if such tasks may be of benefit to the handler, they are not appropriate as they cause disproportionate inconvenience to others.

12 – harmonizes with existing therapy concepts.

For example, asking a PTSD assistance dog to search rooms before entering them is no longer recommended. It would regularly reinforce the feeling of imminent danger and therefore contradicts the aim of trauma therapy, which is to create a feeling of safety in everyday life. 

There is also debate whether the use of assistance dogs for calming in situations with a high level of arousal is appropriate. There are concerns not only about animal welfare, but also about whether this assistance might reinforce inappropriate behavior, as it is equated to an intrinsic reward. Experts believe that tasks may be more effective if the assistance dog only becomes active after the actual crisis, i.e., in the phase that may be characterized by grief, despair and exhaustion, and supports and rewards relaxation and communication.