Who We Are
Thank you so much for visiting our website and showing an interest in our work.
We hope that you will explore the website and learn about wo we are, what we do and how you can support our work.
Helpful Hounds Assistance Dogs is a Charity (Registered in England and Wales No.1181017) that helps to change the lives of young people and their families, living within Southern England. Our objective is to help person we support to achieve their maximum potential, whether that is educationally, socially or in work opportunity.
We are a Charity that works mainly with Volunteers and work carefully to keep our general overhead to a minimum. That means that money you donate to Helpful Hounds goes right to the heart of our charity: Training and welfare of dogs and supporting the Families, Adults and Schools/Colleges that we support.
Helpful Hounds was started to help with the growing demand of, mainly, young people who, with their families, would greatly benefit from having an Assistance Dog. We generally use the term “Assistance Dog” as one that works with a Physically Disabled Person or that works with Autism, Down’s Syndrome and other emotional issues. Where appropriate we will additionally train an Assistance Dog to perform an alert function, whether that be for medical conditions or to help with hearing issues.
Helpful Hounds is dedicated to training Assistance Dogs for:
- Young People who are Physically Disabled, have Autism, Down’s Syndrome, PTSD, or other emotional issues.
- Schools that are Special Needs or have Special Needs Departments or Students.
- Adults that are living with similar conditions and are having difficulty in replacing an existing dog or applying for their first dog elsewhere.
Our experienced Training Team use force free, positive, and kind training methods in order create a strong bond for future partnerships, which, in turn, will be life changing for the young people and their families.
WHAT WE DO
WHO WE HELP
ARE YOU ELIGIBLE?
What We Do
We train the dogs to a very high standard. All Helpful Hounds have the same basic training, including qualification for our Foundation Certificate and then the Kennel Club Bronze, Silver and Gold Certificates (or equivalent). Then the specialist training will be based on the specific needs of the individual, family or school the Helpful Hound will be working with.
In addition, our Helpful Hounds are specially trained to help young people on the Autism spectrum and those with Down’s syndrome, by helping them gain confidence, develop independence and improve their quality of life.
Our Helpful Hounds can be specially trained to help young people with physical disabilities, such as POTS, Cerebral Palsy and Muscular Dystrophy by granting them independence and improving their quality of life. Again, we train all our dogs to perform a minimum three tasks, but as many as needed by the Physically Disabled Person. We will also work with a small number of adults in this way.
Our Helpful Hounds can be specially trained to help those with Mental Health disorders, such as depression, anxiety, OCD and Tourette’s by helping to grant them independence and improving the quality of their lives.
We have found that more Schools, especially those that are Special Needs or have Special Needs Students or Departments, are welcoming Dogs into their world to fulfil a number of roles.
01.
— We Help & support
Our Helpful Hounds are specially trained to help young people on the Autism spectrum and those with Down’s syndrome, by helping them gain confidence, develop independence and improve their quality of life.
02.
— We Train to help
We train all of our dogs to perform at least three tasks, to support lifestyle and confidence and to help the young person achieve their full potential, educationally and socially.
03.
— We Strengthen
Performing DPT (Deep Pressure Therapy) or PPT (Pinpoint Pressure Therapy) in order to reduce the young person’s anxiety by using the dog’s weight.
04.
— We Provide safety
Sitting or resting next to the young person in various situations, such as on public transport, or in the bedroom in order to reduce sensory overload and allow the young person to calm down and enter a relaxed state.
05.
— Mental Health
Giving the young person a way of socialising with their peers by engaging in conversation about the Helpful Hound. Creating a safe space around the young person by using the dog to block various passer’s by.
06.
—Special needs School
Play a role in familiarisation of all students with dogs, the way to approach dogs and how to care for them.
Help to reduce stress of students as well as calming in the recovery stages of “melt down”
HENRY
Our Helpful Hound, Henry, has made a huge difference to the wellbeing of both our students and staff here at Beaucroft Special School. Every day he helps our students transition from one place to another calmly and safely. He is always happy to greet people with a ‘Henry Hug’ and puts a smile on the face of everyone who meets him. Having made such a huge impact to our school in just one term, we look forward to seeing the positive effects he will bring over the coming years.
