How to Crowdfund for an Assistance Dog

Assistance dogs are often the ones helping us - they protect some of the most vulnerable people in our community. These specially trained dogs are trained with their owner and learn how to support them within everyday situations.

The dog will assist their allocated child in a number of life-changing ways such as by providing emotional support and protection from dangerous situations.

Assistance dogs are trained to continuously bark and seek a family member when their owner is in trouble. The dogs are also taught to provide body contact to alleviate anxiety and stress when they sense these traits from their owners.

Each dog needs to go through a comprehensive 12-month training program to learn how to stay focused, obey commands and remain calm. The puppies need additional training to develop a high tolerance to touching, grabbing and pulling.

The ability to purchase and train these assistance dogs will make a world of difference to the families with affected children across Australia.

Crowdfunding for an assistance dog

Many families are now turning to mycause to help them raise funds for the assistance dog their child needs. Charities such as Assistance Dogs Australia, Dogs for Kids with Disabilities and MindDog all work hard to connect people with their required assistance dog.

4 year-old Aeryn was diagnosed with autism and is in need of an autism assistance dog. Aeryn’s mother, Leigh, says she decided to create a mycause campaign to help with the cost of obtaining this vital aid for her little girl.

“Aeryn can’t do the ordinary activities of daily living that others take for granted,” says Leigh.

“We have great hopes that Aeryn will be able to function independently with the help of an autism therapy dog.”

The assistance dogs can cost approximately $25,000 to train for each individual, with families asked to contribute to these costs via their own fundraising efforts.

“The impact each dog makes on the life of their recipient is priceless, giving recipients a greater level of independence, self esteem and an overall improvement in psychological well-being and quality of life,” says Leigh.

Thanks to the support shown by mycause donors, over $8000 has already been raised for Aeryn’s assistance dog.

Raising funds for an assistance dog charity

Past mycause campaigns have raised funds for autism assistance dogs, PTSD dogs and epilepsy assistance dogs.

Katie Hunter runs the charity Dogs for Kids with Disabilities (DKD), which trains companion and assistance dogs for children like Aeryn.

According to Katie, the assistance dog brings a range of benefits to their assigned child, such as building communication between the child and their family, lowering their anxiety and getting siblings to interact and have fun with one another and the dog.

That unconditional friendship provided by the dog often makes a big difference to kids who often struggle to make friends, due to their anxiety or communication issues.

“What they need is someone who is always happy to see them, someone who won’t judge them,” says Katie.

An autism assistance dog can even be trained to save their assigned child’s life.

“Dogs are trained to anchor on command and keep them safe”, explains Katie. “They brace against the child’s direction, moving them away from traffic.”

How to create a successful campaign for an assistance dog

There are a few simple steps that you can take to make your crowdfunding campaign more successful.

1. Clearly define your crowdfunding goal

2. Explain where the funds will be distributed and how they will be utilised

3. Include photographs and show people the child who will be receiving the dog - show them why they should support your cause.

4. Share your page with your friends and family via email and your social media accounts - remind them to share it around as well.

For more information on how to create a successful crowdfunding campaign please go to our blog article, which has tips that will help you prepare and promote your campaign. Raise funds for an animal charity to raise funds for an assistance dog, support the conservation of native wildlife and help abandoned animals find their forever home.

Start a crowdfunding page today and raise funds for an assistance dog.