Consulting and training centre of assistant dogs

A lot of handicapped people need help while meeting their everyday needs provided by another person. Not only their family members, any close people, specialists and non-profit organisations can provide them with needful help but also an assistance dog that can become a companion and a friend as well. Those for disabled people specially trained dogs may be helpful with such a handicapped person to cope better with his/her daily life. At present, there are four organisations in the Czech Republic which are engaged in the training of assistance dogs. Generally those organisations are non-government and no-profit institutions. It is this Work{\crq}s objective to show and present the conditions regarding social consultancy for handicapped people in relation to the assistance dogs and to make out a project design for a Counselling and Training Centre of Assistance Dogs whereas the design would appropriately complete the already existing net of training centres of assistance dogs and social services for disabled people. A research was performed which served as a basis to draw up the project design of Counselling and Training Centre of Assistance Dogs and it resulted from that the handicapped people who possess an assistance dog had all available information how to procure a dog and how to finance the dog{\crq}s training; they were provided with advice and they are satisfied with the present training centres services. The disabled people who don{\crq}t possess an assistance dog are short of information about such a possibility and they don{\crq}t actually know who to address to in case if they are interested in an assistance dog. Further, it resulted from the research that more than a half of the enquired organisations, which provide social services, don{\crq}t supply their clients with any information about the assistance dogs and related topics. Based on those results I worked out a proposal of the Counselling and Training Centre of Assistance Dogs which could enhance the existing net of services in relation to the assistance dogs. This Centre will deal with special social consultancy, training of assistance dogs and an enlightening activity. The research results also demonstrate that it is necessary in terms of such a Centre to co-operate with organisations which provide social services to handicapped people and to do the enlightening activity with general public