Saffie and Storm are registered as assistance dogs, as there are currently no public access rights for therapy dogs in Australia.  Here is a brief description of each, which highlights the main differences between the two, although there are many overlaps.

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Assistance Dogs

• Purpose: Assistance dogs are specially trained to perform specific tasks for individuals with disabilities, such as guiding visually impaired people, alerting deaf individuals to sounds, or helping with mobility tasks.

• Legal Status: Assistance dogs are recognized under Australian law and have public access rights, meaning they can accompany their handlers into most public places, including restaurants, shops, and public transport.

• Training: These dogs undergo rigorous and extensive training to perform their specific roles reliably. They are often certified by accredited organisations.

 

Assistance dogs offer practical, life-enhancing support tailored to the needs of their handler, which can include anything from opening doors to detecting medical conditions like seizures or low blood sugar levels.

 

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 in Section 9, sets out the legal definition of an assistance animal as a dog or other animal that:

(a) is accredited under a State or Territory law to assist a person with a disability to alleviate the effects of disability; or

(b) is accredited by an animal training organisation prescribed in the regulations; or

(c) is trained to assist a person with a disability to alleviate the effect of the disability and meets standards of hygiene and behaviour that are appropriate for an animal in a public place.

 

Therapy Dogs

• Purpose: Therapy dogs are used primarily to provide comfort, emotional support, and companionship to individuals in various settings, such as hospitals, schools, nursing homes, and therapy sessions.

• Legal Status: Therapy dogs do not have the same legal status as assistance dogs and do not have public access rights. Their presence in public places is typically restricted to specific programs or facilities where they provide therapeutic benefits.

• Training: While therapy dogs do receive training, it is focused on their behaviour and temperament to ensure they are friendly, calm, and responsive. They are not trained to perform specific tasks for individuals with disabilities.

 

Therapy dogs help reduce stress and anxiety, promote social interaction, and enhance overall well-being through their presence and interactions with people.

 

Ultimately, assistance dogs are trained to provide practical support for people with disabilities and have legal access rights, whereas therapy dogs provide emotional and psychological support in controlled environments and do not have public access rights.

 

Animal-assisted therapy is a well-established, evidence-based practice that has been shown to improve physical, social, emotional, and cognitive functioning.

 

Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT)

• Emotional Support: Therapy dogs help clients feel more at ease, reducing anxiety and promoting a sense of calm. Their presence can make therapy sessions less intimidating and more welcoming.

• Enhanced Engagement: Therapy dogs can increase client engagement and participation in therapy sessions. They help break down barriers and encourage clients to open up and communicate more effectively.

• Social Interaction: Therapy dogs promote social interactions and help clients build stronger social networks. They can be particularly beneficial for children, individuals with autism, and those experiencing social difficulties.

• Physical Benefits: Interacting with therapy dogs can lead to increased physical activity, such as walking or playing, which can have positive effects on overall health.

• Hormonal Response: The human-animal bond can trigger the release of oxytocin, often referred to as the "love hormone," which enhances feelings of trust and empathy.

 

Therapy dogs need to be friendly, patient, confident, gentle, and at ease in all situations. They must enjoy human contact and be content to be petted, cuddled, and handled, sometimes clumsily, by unfamiliar people and to enjoy that contact. Their responsibilities are to provide psychological or physiological therapy to individuals other than their handlers.

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Their ability to form a connection with those who have difficulty connecting in other ways is invaluable. This propensity to connect is incredibly strong, and one reason why therapy dogs are also used as companions for people with autism.

 

Therapy dogs provide comfort, affection and love to children and adults living through challenging periods in their lives. They aren’t just experts at getting the humans around them to smile – they can make long-lasting connections and affect the mental and emotional wellbeing of the people they spend time with.

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The use of therapy dogs has been reported to help many psychological health issues such as anxiety, depression, social skills, and simply improving the moods of the patient. Additional psychological benefits of therapy dog programs in educational settings are that they can provide comfort, companionship, a diversion to unpleasant thoughts or situations, can lessen resistance and expedite the development of a relationship in the therapy process, and can help people feel more comfortable in a new situation.