Critical Questions About Assistance Dogs: Responsibility, Welfare and Honest Choices

Critical Questions Are Also Care

On need, responsibility and honesty in the assistance dog world

Very few people choose an assistance dog because it seems appealing.

We choose an assistance dog because we need one — because functioning independently is difficult, sometimes even unsafe. An assistance dog can restore freedom, security and quality of life.

Training or acquiring an assistance dog also requires enormous investment: time, money, energy, commitment and hope. Most people start such a journey with the best intentions for their dog.

Precisely for that reason, the assistance dog community must allow space for respectful, critical questions. Not to attack people, but to keep one another accountable — and above all, to protect the dog’s welfare.

Empathy and criticism are not opposites

In a field where vulnerability and dependence are ever-present, criticism is often perceived as harsh or unsafe. Yet asking critical questions is not an attack on intent.

Questions such as:

• Is this dog medically fit for this work?

• Is this level of work sustainable long-term?

• Is this fair to the dog?

are not a lack of compassion.

They are compassion — expressed maturely.

Asking critical questions before a trajectory begins

Some of the most important questions must be asked before a trajectory starts.

Not every support need requires an assistance dog.

And not every situation is suitable for long-term work with a dog.

We must be willing to ask:

• Is an assistance dog truly the only solution?

• Are there human, technical or temporary alternatives?

• Is the situation sufficiently stable?

• Will the dog suffer under this responsibility?

An assistance dog should never become a last lifeline in a situation that actually requires something else.

Psychiatric assistance dogs require extra care

Within mental health care, assistance dogs can be invaluable. For some people, they provide stability where other forms of support fall short.

But difficult questions remain necessary:

• Does the dog need to accompany clinical admissions?

• Is a clinical environment safe and appropriate for the dog?

• Can the dog rest adequately when the handler is severely dysregulated?

An assistance dog cannot carry everything. Sometimes reducing tasks or providing the dog with distance and rest is the most responsible choice.

Behaviour, capacity and enjoyment matter

Assistance dogs are not machines. They can experience stress, over-stimulation or behavioural change.

When a dog:

• consistently shows tension

• avoids tasks

• works without relaxation or enjoyment

then that deserves serious reflection.

Yes — we need the dog.

But the dog must also benefit from the partnership.

Work without wellbeing is not care.

Financial responsibility is part of ethical use

An assistance dog is a living being, fully dependent on its handler.

That means the handler must be able to provide for:

• daily care

• veterinary treatment

• medical emergencies

• preventive care

• neutering/spaying

• and ideally insurance

Support for training costs can be reasonable.

But ongoing care and medical responsibility belong to the handler.

Crowdfunding everything is not sustainable

Crowdfunding can be appropriate for:

• part of the training

• a one-off, unforeseen medical procedure

But if someone must fundraise in advance for:

• training

• daily care

• and medical treatment

then the trajectory is structurally unsustainable.

Painful as it is to say:

then one should not start with an assistance dog.

Responsibility does not end at disqualification

If a dog is disqualified — medically, mentally or behaviourally — responsibility does not stop.

On the contrary.

The handler remains responsible for:

• the dog’s future wellbeing

• appropriate care and support

• a safe and stable life

A disqualified dog is not a failure.

It is a dog deserving protection.

Responsibility does not end at retirement

Retirement does not end responsibility either.

A retired assistance dog may require:

• increased medical care

• adaptations

• additional support

An assistance dog is not equipment to be returned.

It is a lifelong commitment.

Rehoming does not remove responsibility

Sometimes rehoming is the most compassionate option — after retirement, disqualification or a changed situation.

But rehoming does not end responsibility.

The handler remains accountable for:

• careful placement

• full medical and behavioural disclosure

• and continued involvement where needed

Why I say this — from lived experience

I do not write this from the sidelines.

My first assistance dog was behaviourally disqualified.

My second had a physical limitation that required strict work adaptations.

A later dog retired at around nine years old and could not live alongside my new assistance dog in training. That meant rehoming — only after I found a safe, stable and financially secure home.

With my current dog in training, I set firm boundaries in advance. If surgery for her claws had not been possible or ethically justifiable, I would have withdrawn her from training. Not because my need is small — but because she could not have performed ADL work without harm.

She was therefore fully medically assessed at around twelve months, confirming no further limitations. But had the outcome been different, my decision would have been different too.

That is responsibility: knowing your limits before you cross them.

The impact extends to my family

Without an assistance dog, not only my life but also my child’s life is severely affected. Without this support, I cannot reliably provide care.

The need is real.

But that need must never come at the cost of an animal’s wellbeing.

Not written to be liked

This blog is not written to please.

It is written because when boundaries are no longer set, standards fall — and hundreds of dogs suffer.

If I must choose between being liked and protecting a dog, the choice is simple.

My loyalty lies with the dogs.

But let us be kind while being critical

Being critical does not mean being cruel.

Behind every assistance dog trajectory lies vulnerability and hope.

That deserves careful language.

Firm on content.

Gentle with people.

Sometimes love means letting go

We need our dogs — and they need us.

But if a dog would be better elsewhere, with more rest or more freedom to simply be a dog, we must be willing to consider that.

Holding on because we need it is selfish.

Letting go because they need it is care.

In closing

An assistance dog deserves:

• careful decisions

• professional boundaries

• financial and emotional stability

• and people willing to ask difficult questions

Not despite empathy —

but because of it.