Assistance dogs

Contents: Basic information, application to university campuses, legal background, recommendations for action.

Trained assistance dogs accompany people with wide range of impairments or illnesses on a permanent basis in their everyday lives. They help their owners to participate independently and autonomously in social life by compensating for disability-related disadvantages and breaking down barriers in the environment — which fundamentally distinguishes them from therapy dogs. It is important to note that there is no single type of assistance dog suitable for all people with impairments, chronic or mental illnesses. Rather, assistance dogs are trained and deployed according to the specific support needs of their owners.

How do assistance dogs support their owners?

Best-known are undoubtedly guide dogs for the blind, which help their owners to find their way around. However, there are also many other specially trained assistance dogs, such as:

PTSD assistance dogs, which are used to support people with post-traumatic stress disorder; amongst other things, they help to defuse trigger situations by interrupting dissociative episodes, leading their owners out of stressful situations to a quiet place, or providing a calming presence.

Autism assistance dogs, on the other hand, support autistic people to participate in social life, amongst other things. For example, they provide reassurance during sensory overload, support emotional regulation or alleviate stress in social situations.

Other assistance dogs support people with motor or physical impairments by, for example, picking up objects from the floor, pressing buttons or light switches, opening and closing doors, or helping with dressing, undressing and positioning.

Assistance dogs on campus

You may also come across students accompanied by their assistance dogs on the university campus. Students are permitted to bring recognised assistance dogs with them anywhere on campus — provided that the areas and facilities in question are open to the general public as well as for general use. This also applies to courses and other facilities that are not generally accessible, but only with express permission. The assistance dog must always wear a special badge that identifies it as an assistance dog, e.g. a specific waistcoat.

During courses, assistance dogs should behave calmly and unobtrusively and should not howl, bark or otherwise disrupt the course. It is important that the performance of their support duties is not regarded as a disruption.

Good to know

In principle, assistance dogs should be calm, manageable and well-socialised (Deutsches Assistenzhunde-Zentrum T.A.R.S.Q., n. d. b) and follow certain rules whilst on duty. For example, they must not sniff around uncontrollably or make contact with other people or animals, but must remain at their owners’ side at all times. 

Assistance dogs do not generally pose any medical or hygiene-related risk. They must meet health and temperament standards and must not appear unkempt or unwell. Their fitness for service is assessed by a vet once a year.

Legal information

Only dogs that have been officially recognised as assistance dogs by the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MAGS NRW) are considered assistance dogs. To this end, the MAGS NRW issues a photo ID card upon application and provides a badge to identify the assistance dog (Ministerium für Arbeit, Gesundheit und Soziales des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, n. d.).

Together, humans and assistance dogs form a team, the so-called human-assistance dog community.

People with disabilities must not be denied access to premises and facilities that are typically open to the general public because they are accompanied by their assistance dog. This applies provided that access with an assistance dog would not constitute a disproportionate or unreasonable burden (BGG, 2022, Section 12(2)(b)).

Proof of eligibility is provided by a membership card from the Mensch-Assistenzhund-Gemeinschaft [Human-Assistance Dog Association] or by the dog being identified with a badge issued by MAGS NRW (Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales, 2024).

The health and temperament requirements for an assistance dog, as well as the training and examination standards, are set out in the Assistance Dog Ordinance (AHundV).

Recommendations for you as teaching staff

If you come across a human-assistance dog community, you should neither speak to or stare at the dog, nor touch it without permission, take photographs of it or block its path. Please also remind others around you of this and urge them to be considerate. The rule is: assistance dogs are at work and should not be disturbed whilst doing so.