At Infinity Dogs CIC, our primary goal is to provide safe and effective assistance to individuals with a wide range of disabilities and mental health needs. We prioritize those who are Autistic/neurodivergent, complex and multiple disabilities, or are medical zebras not currently supported by any other organization providing or training assistance dogs.

The majority of our partnerships will involve training multi-purpose assistance dogs. These dogs are trained to alert and respond to various medical conditions, neurodivergencies, and mental health issues. We believe that categorizing psychological or psychiatric assistance dog work under medical alert/response is more helpful, as it avoids separating conditions and acknowledges the role of the handler’s nervous system in these episodes.

Examples of medical alert/response tasks include seizure alert and response, blood sugar alert and response, shutdown/meltdown alert and response, PTSD alert/response, and heart rate alert/response. We also aim to train IgE change alert/response for conditions like MCAS in the near future.

We also train psycho-social assistance dogs, which help handlers participate in social environments. This can include teaching specialist behaviors related to an Autistic person’s interests, assisting with leadwork for those with severe social anxiety disorders, integrating a healthy routine for those with severe depression, and providing grounding and a reassuring presence for conditions like ARFID.

For physically disabled individuals who may not require mobility assistance, we train dogs to perform tasks such as fetching dropped items, removing clothing, handing over wallets at checkouts, providing deep pressure therapy for pain management, and opening/closing doors and cabinets.

For those who require mobility assistance, we train dogs in tasks like light guidework, active and static forward momentum, and light counterbalance. These tasks help individuals navigate overwhelming situations, maintain balance, and climb stairs with support.

While we are open to training other types of assistance dogs, we do not provide training where the main needs are for sight loss or hearing loss, and we do not train allergen detection for anaphylactic allergies due to the risk of accidental exposure during owner training. Additionally, we believe that tethering is not ethical for dogs or handlers.

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of tasks and behaviors we can train handlers and their assistance dogs in.

"Meeting Ruby from 'Infinity Dogs' was the key that unlocked the door to my independence. I had become a recluse and not left the house in over two years. Ruby knew how to put me at ease and helped me to train Wilma to become my assistance dog. Wilma even came to hospital with me when I gave birth -without her I wouldn't have had the confidence to have a baby or even to engage with medical appointments. I now live my life as a confident mother and feel safe and am forever grateful to Ruby for saving my life. "

- J