It takes a lot to train and place an assistance dog... but the difference they make to a child is invaluable.
As you may know, we reopened the waiting list for Assistance Dogs in 2021 and allocated 30 places in under two minutes.
As you can see, there's a lot that goes into training an Autism Assistance Dog. It takes up to two years and hundreds of hours of specialist training. There is also nearly 250kgs of dog food, veterinary care and numerous items of equipment required. All in all it costs €22,000 to train and place one assistance dog.
For each of our SuPAWheroes, it is quite a journey from puppy to Autism Assistance Dog.
But don't just take our word for it, let one of our PAWsome Autism Assistance Dogs tell you their story. Take it away, Dougal!
We hope to reopen the waiting list next year and funds raised from our Be A SuPAWhero campaign will go towards training a further 25 autism assistance dogs. That's a potential lifeline for another 25 children with autism and their families in 2022.
Be A SuPAWhero by donating to the campaign
