Together for assistance dog teams
Teams deserve our help!
Assistance dog teams break new ground and proactively design their own solutions.
Their partnership, discipline and care fascinate – but unfortunately they are usually completely on their own.
Seven barriers currently block people with disabilities from getting a good assistance dog. This is unfair – but we can change that!
Join us so that…
- the path to becoming an assistance dog becomes easier,
- Quality improvisation replaced,
- Teams better supported and
- new teams are promoted.
About assistance dogs
Assistance dogs live permanently with their humans and mitigate their disabilities through carefully learned assistance. They are important assistance for their owners to live safer and more mobile.
Assistance dog teams therefore have access everywhere where people in street clothes are welcome and deserve special promotion. You can find more info in our digital exhibition.
Besides the guide dog for the blind, which is financed by the health insurance, many other types of assistance dogs (videos) are almost unknown and have not been funded so far.
That's how we build change:
✓ Independent, objective testing: Comprehensively documented, our testing answers the question, “How can I recognize an assistance dog team”? We have resumed the pilot phase since the relaxed Corona regulations, and can still offer some free testing in this development phase.
✓ Ensuring quality: A continuously evolving quality management system in accordance with DIN 9001:2015 ensures constant quality and that feedback from our stakeholders is consistently implemented.
✓ Demonstrating impact: High-impact research convinces top performers and thus improves the sector. We are looking for committed partners for this!
✓ The goal: Comprehensive promotion. Standards, independent testing, and scientific analysis improve acceptance and progress. We establish partnerships and support structures so that teams are better supported.
Who is Foundation Assistance Dog?
Stiftung Assistenzhund is a direct subsidiary of Pfotenpiloten and focuses on quality assurance and sustainable funding structures. The division of tasks became necessary in order to do justice to the many fields of activity in which we support the assistance dog sector.
We do not train teams ourselves, but aim to be able to support them in a variety of ways in the near future. To this end, we establish various partnerships in addition to an objective team review – but take strict care to remain independent of interest groups.
In addition to the assistance dog owners, we also keep an eye on the needs of the dog, the trainer, the public and the sponsors – because only a concept that fits everyone can develop optimally.
Honorary Advisory Board
Get to know our Honorary Advisory Board here. Representatives from politics, society, business, research, medicine and animal welfare join us in advocating for assistance dog teams.
And you? Join in! Our newsletter (4 times a year) keeps you up to date:
Shareholders' meeting
On 06.08.2020, Stiftung Assistenzhund was brought to life by the board of Pfotenpiloten e.V. as a direct subsidiary of the association.
Our Supervisory Board
As an initiative of the Pfotenpiloten, the Assistenzhund Foundation is also accompanied by our Supervisory Board.
Why we do not (yet) promote teams
Nils Hafa
Mehr Info
Ich habe das Projekt Pfotenpiloten in meiner Zeit als Standortleiter des Social Impact Labs Frankfurt kennengelernt. Es hat mir von Anfang an sehr gut gefallen, der Social Impact ist klar erkennbar mit einer sehr motivierten und strukturierten Gründerin. Sehr gerne unterstütze ich das Projekt in der weiteren Entwicklung. Aktuell bin ich bei GreenTec Capital als Senior Company Builder verantwortlich für die Akquisition und Beratung von innovativen, wirkungsorientierten Start-ups in Sub-Sahara-Afrika.
Susan Georgijewitsch
Mehr Info
Bereits in seiner Gründungsphase überzeugten mich Vision, Umsetzungsplanung und Leidenschaft der Gründerin von Pfotenpiloten. Und was bisher erreicht wurde, u.a. an Strukturbildung, ist beeindruckend. Gerne unterstütze ich mit meinen Erfahrungen aus langjähriger Tätigkeit im Consulting und im Fundraising für gemeinnützige Organisationen die weitere Entwicklung.
Farid Bidardel
Mehr Info
Mit Pfotenpiloten verbindet mich vor allem die engagierte Gründerin und der klare soziale Mehrwert. Als Mitbegründer und Vorstandsvorsitzender der CodeDoor.org und CEO von TensorParc bringe ich meine Erfahrungen in die Prozessstrukturen gerne mit ein. Zuvor verwaltete und entwickelte ich für die Social Impact gGmbH – zusammen mit JPMorgan, KfW, Generali & Deutsche Bank – nationale und internationale Programme für benachteiligte Unternehmer und social Entrepreneure. Durch meine Forschungs- und Lehrtätigkeiten mit den Schwerpunkten Bildung, Innovation und Unternehmertum bringe ich zusätzlich als Design Thinking Coach einen neuen Blick auf bestehende Entwicklungsprozesse.
Although it would be more satisfying to simply fund teams, making people with disabilities more mobile *today*,
would only help a tiny group. The real core of the problem, however, lies in the lack of structures and the
improvised character of the sector.
To enable systematic promotion once in the future, we first focus on the basics.
We build understanding, develop independent structures, and devise reliable ways to ensure quality. Effective care that is fair to all stakeholders can then be built on these foundations.
Today, on the way to a reliable solution, there are still many barriers that prevent a successful life with assistance dog in
Germany (and many other countries) more difficult. They all arise from lack of basics – improvised career path, lack of information, lack of quality assurance.
An effective solution must think of all parties involved: not only the people with assistance needs, but also the dog, the trainers, the public and the sponsors.
Once clear structures have replaced weak standards, systematic support can be built on them – the path becomes easier and safer for everyone. This is still a long way off. We can only do it together! To build effective structures and solid foundations as an independent organization, we need your help .
How we are different
Foundation Assistance Dog non-profit advocates for better foundations
one. To this end, we form a variety of partnerships – but always take strict care to remain independent of interest groups.
Our independence is central to our work. That’s why we don’t train teams ourselves , and never will.
Although the focus is of course on the owners, we also keep in mind the needs of the dog, the trainer, the public and the sponsor.
We are convinced that only a concept that suits everyone will prove to be
can develop optimally.
