Ms Nuala Geraghty:

An assistance dog, like Gandhi, as members see, is a fully trained assistance dog. Such dogs have to be trained to a very high standard. We are part of Assistance Dogs International, which has to accredit us. It has just re-accredited us; we have passed that, thankfully. This is to make sure that the dog walks nicely on the lead and is not distracted by other dogs. We are trying to make parents' lives easier. We do not want to put a dog into the mix that will drag somebody down the street when it sees another dog or will drag a child across the road. The dog has to be trained to a very high standard. An assistance dog wears a jacket, similar to the one Gandhi has on, and is allowed public access. Gandhi can go into any public place with a child, a little like anybody in a wheelchair. It is the same sort of thing. The dogs that do not quite make the grade because the standard is so high we then place as companion dogs. They might be for children, as we talked about, at different levels of disability. A companion dog could be for a child with a level 1 disability who does not need the safety of an assistance dog.

Assistance dogs are used mainly for safety. Children wear a belt and are attached to such dogs so they are completely safe when they are out in public. They do not have to hold onto their mother's hand any more. They now have a little independence and can walk ahead. The mum or dad gives the command to the dog and the child can walk happily ahead. If a child starts to bolt, a parent has got that split second when he or she can hold onto the attachment and get the child back in place. It then allows the child to be able to learn to walk nicely with the dog. It also seems to reduce children's anxiety so that when they go out somewhere in public, it is a less stressful situation for everybody. Families have reported that they can go out as a family as opposed to going out in separate cars, taking one child in one car and another child in the other car because they have to come home early and so on.

On companion dogs, we have found that because dogs are brought up through our puppy scheme for the first 12 months of their lives we know them inside and out. They have been brought up in the home and have learned the commands. They are good dogs but might just have one thing that is not quite right. They might be a little too distracted by other dogs or they might have a health issue. These are the dogs that we place as companions with children who do not need dogs for safety.

On the main breeds we use, as members can see, Gandhi is a Labrador crossed with a golden retriever. This breed tends to be the most successful. We started our own breeding programme, again, as part of Assistance Dogs International. We joined up with its breeding co-operative. We do lots of sharing and swapping of dogs and so on to make sure we are getting the right breed lines for what we are doing. The Labrador, the golden retriever and the Labrador-cross golden retriever tend to be the best. When we breed, we cross the Labrador and the golden retriever to get the best success. These tend to be the best and most successful for us, although we have used other breeds as well. We are mainly looking at the height of the dog because it has to be able to walk next to the child and, if a child was to run, the dog is there as a bit of an anchor, while a parent gets a chance to hold onto the attachment strap.