Helppes - Centre for Assistance Dogs

Helppes is a nonprofit organization - the civic association is a centre for special training of canine helpmates for the physically and health disabled. As the only organization in the Czech Republic, we focus on training of assistance dogs, including guide dogs and canistherapy dogs, and hold the Certificate of the international organization Delta Society. We are members of the European organization Assistance Dogs Europe, the Czech Union of Training of Assistance Dogs for the Health Impaired, and the Czech Kynologic Federation. Membership in those organizations makes us responsible to observe the internationally acknowledged standards for training of assistance dogs and to the provision of subsequent care to clients and their canine helpmates throughout the time of the dogs' service. Helppes participated in the process of creation of a new examinatorial system according to which trained examiners of the Czech Cynologic Association evaluate the abilities of individual dogs. In this way, an independent view of the dog's achievements is granted. Helppes and its trainers have already made and successfully handed over more than 100 guide dogs for the blind and assistance dogs for various types of disabilities. Helppes is the first and the only institution of its kind that trains and hands over signal dogs for deaf clients and for clients with seizure disorders - epileptics, cardiacs and others. All services for the disabled are provided for free.

HELPPES provides the following services:

Training of assistance dogs for disabled clients:

• Guide Dogs for the blind
• Assistance dogs for wheelchair bounds
• Signal dogs for the deaf
• Assistance dogs for clients with seizure disorders - epileptics, cardiacs and others
• Canistherapy - specially trained dogs for mentally disabled, autistics, both children and elder people living in health care institutions

Other services for owners of assistance dogs:

Other services within the scope of subsequent services for clients include assistance in return back to active lifestyle, educational or working process, integration into group or society, regular visiting, reconditioning stays, organizing meetings with other clients, practising special abilities of assistance dogs and free consulting services in veterinary care, nutrition and training, and granting assistance in difficult life situations, such as taking care of the assistance dog while its master is in hospital or sick, seeking work opportunities for clients , social usefulness, sports and other leisure time activities.

• Sports for the disabled with dogs - Paraagility
• Flyball
• Dancing with dogs

For the public:

• Courses on social training of dogs of all breeds and crossbreeds
• Sports courses - Agility, Flyball, Dancing with dogs
• Testing of canistherapeutic dogs

For everyone:

Helppes organizes entertaining social events and educational programmes, by means of which the public gets the opportunity to see and learn about the life of handicapped people, to make new contacts and friends with healthy and disabled people, and to break the long-lasting barriers between these two groups.