ADI Standards of Excellence

ADI · Assistance Dogs International

The worldwide accreditation for assistance-dog programmes, earned by peer review on a recurring cycle.

01 What It Is

Assistance Dogs International is the worldwide coalition that accredits assistance-dog programmes, the organisations that breed, train and place dogs with disabled handlers. Its accreditation is recognised internationally as evidence that a programme trains to an audited standard rather than its own private one. Membership is voluntary, but for a serious programme it is the mark to hold.

02 What It Covers

The standards span the whole of a programme’s work: humane training methods, the tasks a dog is trained to perform, the education and ongoing support of the handler, and ethical breeding and dog welfare. The accreditation manual is reviewed and updated annually, so the standard a programme is held to keeps pace with current practice.

03 How It Is Checked

Accreditation is a peer-review process. A programme submits documentation in advance, then a trained assessor carries out a multi-day on-site survey, interviewing staff, clients and volunteers, reviewing files, and observing training and facilities. The assessor’s recommendation goes to a review committee that decides the outcome, and every accredited organisation must be re-accredited every five years to keep its status.

04 Why It Matters

A disabled handler depends on a service dog for safety and independence, and cannot easily judge the programme that trained it. ADI accreditation, recognised by transport networks and public bodies, tells them a programme has had its training, ethics and welfare independently examined against an international standard rather than asserted.

Primary sources

What is accreditation?, ADIassistancedogsinternational.org
Summary of standardsassistancedogsinternational.org