There are many types of tasks these dogs can be trained to do, but there is no default that they will all be trained for. It’s now been 15 months since I got Archie and I haven’t been back into hospital because of my mental health, I’m no longer under any psychiatric care and I no longer take any medication. The first two dogs handed over are from one of the approved providers based in Queensland, Smart Pups, which is supplying eligible veterans nationwide with trained psychiatric assistance dogs through the Department of Veterans’ Affairs program.

Service Dogs work for people who have physical, psychiatric, or developmental disabilities. Psychiatric assistance dogs are specially trained to perform tasks that contribute to the clinical recovery goals of their handler. Service dogs have a long history of providing assistance to people with physical challenges and are increasingly used to aid those with psychiatric challenges. In both cases, dogs trained by the organization are usually between 1-2 years old.
There has been some confusion and some heated debate about psychiatric service dogs (PSDs). Training Service Dogs Assistance dogs, be they guide, hearing, service, social/therapy, psychiatric or skin melanoma sniffing dogs, provide a very serious and meaningful service to people with disabilities or disabling conditions. See: International Association of Assistance Dog Partners (IAADP) There are a few ways in which a PSD candidate can be chosen. But there is another hero in this mix known as Psychiatric Service dog breeds, trained to provide one-on-one support to individuals who have autism, schizophrenia, PTSD, depression, and other psychiatric challenges.

Founded in 1986 from a group of seven small programs, ADI has become the leading authority in the Assistance Dog industry. Despite there being a recognised list of trainable tasks that cover most common forms of mental illness or depression documented by the Psychiatric Service Dog Society (The U.S. association for psychiatric assistance dogs), in the U.K. there continues to be no process or precedent to follow in order to register a psychological assistance dog. These tasks fill in gaps in the handler's capabilities. A psychiatric assistance dog (PAD) is a service dog that is trained to assist its handler (owner) who has been diagnosed with a mental health condition such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder. The individual may already have a dog, or a dog can be chosen from a rescue shelter or foster home. PSYCHIATRIC SERVICE DOG PARTNERS: DOGS SAVING LIVES. June 26, 2019—Board member Brad Morris talks about solidarity in the service dog community in an interview for the international podcast “Spotlight on Assistance Dogs”. Like all assistance dogs, a psychiatric service dog is individually trained to do work or perform tasks that mitigate their handler's disability. These highly trained and specialized dogs undergo thousands of hours of schooling so they can perform their work safely and reliably. This could include detecting signs of distress in their handler and performing specific tasks to help alleviate those symptoms. The first two dogs handed over are from one of the approved providers based in Queensland, Smart Pups, which is supplying eligible veterans nationwide with trained psychiatric assistance dogs through the Department of Veterans’ Affairs program. A psychiatric Service Dog is simply a service dog for a person with a psychiatric impairment, like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Despite there being a recognised list of trainable tasks that cover most common forms of mental illness or depression documented by the Psychiatric Service Dog Society (The U.S. association for psychiatric assistance dogs), in the U.K. there continues to be no process or precedent to follow in order to register a psychological assistance dog. PSYCHIATRIC SERVICE DOG PARTNERS: DOGS SAVING LIVES ... Morris talks about solidarity in the service dog community in an interview for the international podcast “Spotlight on Assistance Dogs”. These dogs are individually trained in obedience, performing tasks, and working in distracting public environments to mitigate their handler's psychiatric disability. Healing Companions, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to increasing awareness of and providing access to psychiatric service dogs (PSDs) as a form of treatment for mental illness. Assistance Dogs International, Inc. (ADI) is a worldwide coalition of non-profit programs that train and place Assistance Dogs. Psychiatric service dogs are trained to do specific tasks to aid the specific person they’re assigned to help.