You are eligible to request a Togo dog if you are struggling with:
- Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
- Generalized anxiety disorder
Our expertise is in psychological assistance and our team is comprised of both psycho-social interveners and canine educators. People with physical disabilities have different needs and all persons who exhibit significant mental limitations at the levels mentioned above cannot qualify for our program at this time.
We do not accept any puppies for our program. Our dogs are all of adult age. We do this because no one can determine if a puppy will still possess the necessary characteristics to make a good assistance dog when it becomes an adult.
Admissibility criteria to request a Togo dog
- Please take note that for the adoption of a Togo dog the minimum age for children in the home is six years of age. There are no possible exceptions to this rule.
- We will not certify any dog not trained by ourselves and we do not train any dog already present in the home.
If the request is for a child:
- The youngest child in the home must be at least 6 years of age.
- The children in the home must not exhibit any aggressive behaviour towards dogs. (An assessment of the interactions between the children and dogs is obligatory before becoming admissible for the adoption of a Togo dog. This assessment measures the parental framework, parental supervisory capacity, the respect of the given instructions by all members of the family and the quality of the children’s interactions with the dog.)
- It is obligatory to obtain a reference from a health care professional (psychologist, psychiatrist, medical doctor, psycho-educator and/or social worker) who approves of your project to adopt a Togo assistance/companion dog. You will be given a Togo application form and it is this form and only this form that must be completed by the professional.
If the request is for an adult:
- The youngest child in the home must be at least 6 years of age.
- It is obligatory to obtain a reference from a health care professional (psychologist, psychiatrist, medical doctor, psycho-educator and/or social worker) who approves of your project to adopt a Togo assistance/ companion dog. You will be given a Togo application form and it is this form and only this form that must be completed by the professional.
- The individual must have in place the means (psychotherapy, group therapy, medication, professional follow-up, etc.) to improve their quality of life and not expect that the presence of a dog will be sufficient to surmount all of their daily challenges.
- A psychological disablement diagnosis must have been previously issued (i.e.: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), agoraphobia, sleep disorder, etc.) To simply be stressed out or depressed is not enough to have access to our services.
Starting the process…
If you meet the above criteria and wish to confirm your admissibility for the program you can contact the admission team :
The admission team receives over 200 requests per week. For this reason we always begin communications by email. As a result it may take several days for us to reply. We assure you that we will respond as soon as possible and to the best of our abilities