Frequently
Asked Questions
Before contacting our team or submitting an enquiry form, please read our FAQs below which answer our most commonly asked questions:
Donations
Thank you for supporting us! We welcome donations large and small to help us meet the costs of running and expanding our dog support programmes for people with dementia. To make a secure, online donation to Dementia Dogs please click here.
Online dog support
We offer a range of fun online activities including doggy bingo, scavenger hunts and art themed sessions, with trained dogs playing a central role in the sessions.
These online group sessions are designed for people with dementia and carers living in Scotland.
These sessions are currently offered in specific Alzheimer Scotland localities, so please get in touch with your local Dementia Resource Centre to enquire if there are available sessions in your area.
Pet dog support
Yes! Our Dementia Family Dog service offers practical advice and information to help families affected by dementia make an informed decision on getting their own pet dog. Download our free Family Dog manual here and sign up for our next online workshop series to access information, support and guidance from our team and to meet other families embarking on similar journeys.
Absolutely. Our Dementia Family Dog service can also help families with an existing pet dog, providing information on training tips, considerations for someone with dementia, and ways to connect into your local network of onward dog support and training. Please note, this service does not provide direct dog training classes. To find out more and register interest for a future workshop, click here.
No, we cannot directly train your pet dog. However there are two organisations in the UK who provide this service Dog Aid and Support Dogs.
Other
No, unfortunately this isn’t a service we offer. If you would like to arrange a visit from a dog please contact Therapets (Scotland) or Pets as Therapy (England).
Sorry, unfortunately none of our services can help people based outside of the UK. However, you can access free webinars, evaluation reports and information via our website.
Community dog support
This is a referral-based service where our specialist Community Dog and Handler team can offer practical support via a series of weekly activity sessions for people with mild stage dementia who live at home or in supported accommodation. This approach is known as Animal Assisted Interventions or AAI.
We design activities with the dog which focus on helping people get back to doing the things that matter most to them. The sessions are tailored around meaningful, identified goals to help a person’s social, emotional or physical wellbeing.
Below are 5 key ways our Community Dog team can help. We will ask referrers to select a maximum of two goals from the following:
- Improve social interaction, eg join or reconnect to a local group/club.
- Increase physical activity, eg get out for walks or join a gym.
- Become confident in using public transport, eg bus; train travel.
- Get out of the house and enjoy being out and about, eg post-Covid.
- Access local support services and appointments in the community.
There may also be other ways we can support someone’s personal aspirations. We are happy to discuss this with the referrer, as appropriate, to understand the persons needs in more detail.
We can currently accept referrals within a 2 hour travel radius of Glasgow.
We offer an initial set of 8 weekly sessions and then review if the goal has been achieved or if more sessions would be beneficial.
We currently accept referrals from healthcare practitioners or family members. Before submitting a referral form, please watch our 2-minute explainer video about how the service works and to ensure that you meet the application criteria for this service.
Dog Day events
Currently, due to Covid restrictions our Dog Day event programme in Scotland is on hold. We will update our website should events re-commence with details on where, when and how to get involved. You can also sign up to our e-newsletter if you would like to be kept updated with our work.
Dementia assistance dogs
Please note that we currently don’t have any assistance dogs available. However, while we are not in a position to place any further assistance dogs at present, we are fundraising for the next stage of this programme and hope to train a limited number in future.
· The person with a diagnosis has mild stage dementia
· This person lives at home with a full-time carer
· The home has a fully fenced garden
· The applicant family live in mainland Scotland (we are unable to accept applications outside of Scotland, UK)
Since we don’t have any assistance dogs available, it is not possible currently to apply. However, if you would like to be kept updated of any future opportunities, please sign up to our e-newsletter at the bottom of this page where readers will be notified as soon as a future opportunity becomes available to apply.
Sorry, our assistance dog programme is limited to Scotland, so we are unable to help with any enquiries from outside of Scotland, UK.
Still can’t find the answer to your query?
If you still haven’t found the answer you’re looking for, you can search the whole website using the search function below. If you still can’t find what you’re looking for, then please click on our Service Finder or you can contact the team with your specific query.
