Inclusion of Disabled in Open Labour Market IDOL
Working Dogs
One of the basic areas which Silesian Kynologic Centre PRESTOR is engaged in within the project is the increase of social awareness of the role of service dogs in life of disabled people and the elaboration and implementation of a training program for service dogs trainers.
The founder of Silesian Kynologic Centre has been training dogs for 14 years, however the idea of training service dogs for people with mobile disabilities originated in 2001 when the first service dog, a labrador called GAJA, was trained and donated to a disabled person thanks to group of 20 people from all over Poland.
At that time the basic problem arose, which was connected to gaining well-trained service dogs in Poland, and was the lack of specialized training staff. Therefore within the IDOL project a special training program for service dogs trainers will be developed. Thanks to this program highly specialized staff will be created in the near future, and under the staff's supervision four-legged companions of disabled people will be trained.
We assume that the dog, apart from a practical help, can provide invaluable support and become an (un)usual friend for every person. The research shows that dogs can contribute to the improvement of social communication between people with and without disabilities. Using the potential that dogs provide by helping in seemingly obvious activities such as answering the phone, switching the light on and off, bringing different items, opening wardrobes etc., has immense influence on disabled people by increasing their feeling of independence, self-confidence and improving their mobility.
The training program for trainers will be developed in collaboration and consultation with dog specialists, veterinarians and dog breeders which will ensure a high quality of training. Thanks to the contacts made during the participation in the IDOL project, the exchange of experience with assistance dogs training centres from Ireland, the UK, Belgium was possible. This will influence the shape and quality of program in a significant way. An experienced specialist in service dogs training has been appointed as an external partner in the project. It is an expert from Great Britain who will make the final content-related evaluation of the prepared program.
Within the IDOL project a http://www.dogiq.info website is being created which promotes the idea of service dogs and includes information about different types of assistance dogs. Its aim is to increase people's awareness concerning the role of service dogs in life of disabled people. The basic restraint which prevents people with disabilities using or developing their own abilities and desires is first and foremost their lack of knowledge about the possibilities that assistance dogs provide. The assistance dogs training centres from all over Europe that are cooperating with the IDOL project are making their knowledge available to us and sharing their long-term experiences. Thanks to which the website will inform others about the needs and possibilities connected with owning an assistance dog in a professional way. Many times social unawareness rather than people's aversion to disabled people constitutes a barrier for the possibility of using the abilities of professionally trained assistance dog. In addition, in Poland proper legislation ensuring assistance dog the right to enter a shop, office or any other public place with their owner does not exist. That is why the website about assistance dogs will promote proper social attitudes towards both people using the help of dog specialists and the animals themselves.