Welcome to the Infinity Dogs CIC Virtual Open day! On this page, we aim to provide you with additional information regarding the upcoming stages of assessment and the curriculum of our owner-trained assistance dog program.

Towards the end, you will find a form that needs to be filled out to ensure your understanding and agreement with the aforementioned processes.

If, for any reason, you do not agree with the terms and conditions outlined, we regret to inform you that Infinity Dogs CIC may not be the most suitable option for you at this time.

Training and Behaviour Assesment 1

The initial training and behaviour assesment exercises will be marked as followed:

1. Dog-human interaction: Rate the dog's response as 1 for ignoring or neutral behavior, 2 for controlled excitement, or 3 for significant reactivity.

Exercise: The human needs to bend down over the dog and talk in a baby voice for 10 seconds. Controlled jumping up or 1 single excited bark is acceptable. 

2. Dog-dog interaction: Rate the dog's response as 1 for calm behavior, 2 for controlled excitement, or 3 for uncontrolled reactivity.

Exercise: This needs to happen in a park or outdoor open space where possible. The other dog must be no closer than five metres away but no more than 10 metres. The dog should not be unreasonably trying to solicit attention from the applicants dog, but behaving naturally, e.g sniffing. The applicant will fail on any fear based vocal reactivity, excessive resource guarding or any excitement based frustrated greeting more than 2 barks. 

3. Traffic response: Rate the dog's response as 1 for remaining calm, 2 for controlled excitement, or 3 for excessive reactivity.

This should take place on a high street or busy car park. Mild interest in the traffic or mild uncertainty is acceptable, but stalking, lunging, barking, growling is not. 

4. Novel object response: Rate the dog's response as 1 for curiosity or indifference, 2 for controlled interest, or 3 for fear or aggression.

This should take place in a pet friendly shop, or a low demand place of public access if appropiate. The novel object can be anything within reason and the applicants dog must come within 5 metres of it. Sniffing the item is completely acceptable. The human may touch the item. The dog may get mildly excited about the item, but not be a danger or serious nuisance doing so. The dog can also bark once, check out the item and then recover. 

5. Settling on a bench: Rate the dog's ability to relax and remain calm as 1 for good settling, 2 for manageable restlessness, or 3 for inability to settle.

1. This should happen inside if possible, but an outdoor bench or cafe table is perfectly acceptable. The handler should allow the length of the dogs lead. The dog should stay within 1m of their handler and not bark more than twice in 20 seconds. The handler may use a blanket or a chew. The dogs paws should remain on the ground and they should not pose a danger or a serious nuisance. The dog does not need to sit or lie down for the entire time to pass and may frequently change position as long as close to the handler.

6. Food manners: Rate the dog's manners as 1 for calm and controlled, 2 for manageable excitement, or 3 for excessive begging or aggression.

Low value food (e.g boring small bits of kibble) to be dropped 2 metres away. Fail if the dog pulls lead out handlers hands, significantly lunges, any resource guarding or barks more than once. Gentle sniffing or mild whining is acceptable if the handler can refocus dog or easily distract them. 

7. Obedience control: Rate the dog's obedience as 1 for good response, 2 for some delay but still compliant, or 3 for non-compliance or lack of understanding. Dog may be lured as long as the handler can explain the training process.

Handler needs to demonstrate Sit and Down, Puppy recall (length of lead, handler to back up 5 paces) and they can do 10 steps of very casual loose lead walking inside (dog can sniff shelf items, but will fail if goods are destroyed or damaged, dog may pull lightly, but need to at least check in with handler twice. We are not looking for fully trained loose lead walking but a dog with the potential to get there very soon). Dog would be failed if lead dropped unless under close control, pulled out of hands or goods were destroyed/handler fell over. 

8. Noise/surface sensitivity: Rate the dog's response as 1 for no sensitivity, 2 for mild startle but quick recovery, or 3 for significant fear or avoidance.

Dog should be taken over shiny flooring, concrete and grass.

Assessor should assess dog against any background noise. If 0 background noise assessor should drop their keys from 15m away to observe dogs reaction. If dog does not recover within 10 seconds dog will fail. Mild uncertainty about shiny surfaces is fine, but outright refusal after counterconditioning is a fail.

9. Gear acceptance: Rate the dog's acceptance of equipment as 1 for no issues, 2 for manageable resistance, or 3 for refusal or extreme discomfort.

Dog to automatically pass if happy in harness and not body sensitive. If a flat collar is being used ask why. (This is acceptable but they should be aware that counterconditioning can be tried, although if no success emphasise the importance of excellent loose lead walking and having a bombproof dog due to spooky things in the enviroment and not wanting to unduly risk their neck). 

A fail would be obvious stress over any gear and handler not picking up on it.

10. Handler-dog relationship and commitment to force-free methods: Rate the handler's commitment to force-free methods as 1 for full compliance, 2 for understanding the need to avoid aversive tools, or 3 for continued use of aversive tools.

1. Handler is 100% compliant

2. Handler has promised to drop all aversive tools even headcollars, martingales, slip leads, vibrating/beep collars and verbal corrections.

3. Handler refuses to comply or refuses to do assesment without aversive tools

To pass the assessment, the dog must score 1 or 2 in criteria 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, and 11, even if the overall score is 9 out of 10. This ensures appropriate behavior, control, and the use of force-free methods, with the handler demonstrating commitment to these methods as a non-negotiable requirement.

Behaviour & Training Assessment 2

Dog Homework Tasks

1. Nose Touch (hand or object)

• Pass: Dog can nose touch palm or another target.
• Fail: Dog is unable to complete the exercise.

2. Paws Up (step or low object)

• Pass: Dog can do paws up on a low object.
• Fail: Dog is unable to do paws up on a low object.

3. Lead Drop

• Pass: Handler drops the lead, and the dog stays under control.
• Fail: Handler drops the lead, and the dog is not under control.

4. Video clip of dog being left inside the house for 1 minute

• Pass: Dog shows no distress signals from departure to arrival.
• Fail: Dog exhibits separation distress.

5. Video clip or demonstration of dog being taken by someone else outside, out of sight, for 5 seconds without distress

• Pass: Dog can be taken 5 meters away behind a visual barrier for 5 seconds without distress.
• Fail: Dog exhibits separation distress.

6. Poo eating

• Pass: No or rare consumption of other species’ poop.
• Fail: Eats poop on a regular basis.

7. Tolerance of being stroked for 5 seconds

• Pass: Dog enjoys it or is neutral.
• Fail: Dog is significantly uncomfortable or could knock a small child over.

8. Handler’s knowledge of dog etiquette

• Pass: Handler has above average knowledge of dog-to-dog and dog-to-human etiquette.

9. Handler’s legal responsibilities as a dog owner

• Pass: Handler can recite legal responsibilities they have as a normal dog owner.

10. Handler’s knowledge of assistance dog-related law in the UK

• Pass: Handler has a good knowledge of assistance dog-related law in the UK.

All tasks must be achieved using force-free training methods only.

This test can be done either immediately after the initial behavior and training assessment in person or by submitting unedited footage after the assessment.

Spending Habits

1. Handler can confirm suitable spending routine 

2. Handler able to confirm suitable spending area

3. Handler able to confirm emergency care contact should it be required

4. Handler to confirm emergency spending plans (illness/fence breakage)

5. Assessor to confirm no inappropiate spending happened in Public Access

Veterinary Screening

Potential applicants to the Infinity Dogs CIC owner-trained assistance dog program can expect a thorough assessment of their behavior and training abilities. This is to ensure compatibility and success in the program. Additionally, a short veterinary screening will be required to prioritize the health and well-being of the dogs. Our aim is to create a strong partnership between applicants and their assistance dogs, empowering individuals through owner training.

Onboarding

To be successfully onboarded to Infinity Dogs, applicants must provide proof of address, disability need, public liability insurance, and health insurance for their dog. These requirements are in place to ensure the safety and well-being of both the applicant and the assistance dog. By demonstrating these necessary documents, we can confidently proceed with the onboarding process, helping individuals access the support they need through our owner-trained assistance dog program.

Fees

Initial onboarding fees will be £40. After that each month until you have passed our high standard for Assistance Dog level you will be expected to pay £60  until you have qualified with us.

When you qualify with us, this will go down to £10 a month. 

Once you have passed candidate level, you may purchase a branded bandana or borrow one just for supervised training sessions with your trainer for free as long as it is handed back at the end of the session. 

Once you have completed basic training, it is £50 to cover branded TRAINING jacket and lead sleeve hire hire and assessments up until this point. This must be paid in advance to allow the jacket to be ordered in. We will give you instructions in how to do this.

Once you have completed your Advanced Training and successfully qualified, it is £50 to cover branded WORKING jacket and lead sleeve hire hire and assessments up until this point. This must be paid in advance to allow the jacket to be ordered in. We will give you instructions in how to do this.

11 months after qualification you will be invited to sit a re assessment to re qualify every year.

If the branded gear set up needs replacing, the handler is liable to pay any reordering and rehiring costs. Therefore we recommend that any branded gear is looked after and kept in good working order.

All branded gear remains property of Infinity Dogs CIC and must be returned if the dog leaves the programme.

Pilot Intake

We are excited to announce that our first pilot intake will commence on the 22nd of January in Stratford Upon Avon. This marks the beginning of an important phase in our program, where we will be working closely with a select group of individuals to refine and enhance our assistance dog training process. The pilot intake serves as an opportunity for us to gather valuable feedback and insights, ensuring that we can provide the best possible support to future clients. We are grateful to those who have chosen to be part of this inaugural intake and look forward to embarking on this journey together.

How our program works

We kindly urge all prospective applicants to the Infinity Dogs CIC Assistance Dog Program to dedicate the necessary time and effort to meticulously read and comprehend each and every page of the provided information. It is of utmost importance that you possess a thorough understanding of the content presented. By doing so, you will be equipped with the essential knowledge and insights required to make informed decisions and navigate through the application process effectively. We strongly emphasize the significance of investing the time and effort needed to familiarize yourself with the material, as it will significantly contribute to a successful and satisfactory experience within the program.

We kindly request that you confirm your understanding and agreement to the aforementioned process. Furthermore, we kindly ask that you affirm having invested sufficient time and effort to thoroughly comprehend the operational mechanisms and intricacies of the Infinity Dogs CIC Assistance Dog Program. It is of utmost importance that you possess a comprehensive understanding of how the program functions. By doing so, you will be better equipped to navigate through the program and ensure a successful and mutually beneficial experience.

What next?