Meet Autism Dogs Charity

The Autism Dogs Charity story started in 2016 with the Preston family – who are still involved with the charity today. Starting with a small team and working out of the Preston’s family farm in Cheshire, the organisation has helped to transform the lives of autistic people and their families ever since. Therapy Dogs for autistic people In 2016, we started off as Therapy Dogs, training Therapy Dogs for autistic people. Our first dogs were a litter of springadors that one of our Founders, Andrew Preston, bred himself. We delivered our first dog At the beginning of the 2017 year, we delivered our first dog. Ryder (named after the Ryder cup – our Founder Andrew is a big golf fan) was delivered to his handler, Ruth. Training our dogs to be assistance dogs We realised the value that our dogs could add to the lives of autistic people through being Assistance Dogs. So, with some added expertise, we made the shift from training our dogs to being Assistance Dogs. In 2018 a Highly specialised and prestigious qualification was achieved. One of our Founders, Andrew Preston, became a Kennel Club Assured Instructor of Assistance Dogs. Andrew became only the second KCAi AD trainer in the UK to be awarded this highly specialised and prestigious qualification. In this year, we changed our name to Autism Dogs CIC (nearly the same as our current name, except now we’re a charity). In 2019 we worked very hard to improve our programme, grow our team, and help more autistic people and their families. In 2020 we were awarded Autism Accreditation by the National Autistic Society. To achieve the accreditation, we had to meet a standard of excellence and follow a framework of continuous self-examination and development. We also gained a commendation from the NAS for two separate categories – ‘Partnership with Families’ and ‘Furthering Knowledge of Autism’! KCAI Dog Training Instructor of the Year Award Andrew Preston was awarded the KCAI Dog Training Instructor of the Year Award for 2019/20. The accolade recognised the amazing work Andrew does to improve the lives and happiness of both dogs and humans, including working as a Kennel Club Assured Instructor of Assistance Dogs. We became accredited by Assistance Dogs International (ADI). ADI establishes and promotes standards of excellence in all areas of assistance dog acquisition, training, and partnership, and is the leading global authority in the Assistance Dog Industry. As well as becoming a full member of ADI, we also became a full member of Assistance Dogs UK (ADUK). ADUK is a voluntary coalition of Assistance Dog organisations, aiming to share knowledge, expertise, and skills between its members and candidates, while also promoting the highest standards in assistance dog training and welfare. From 2022 to date we took the step to become a charity and to facilitate the growth in expertise in the organisation and the amount of autistic people and families that we can help each year, this year we took the step to become a charity. We continue to strive to provide the best care and expertise to our clients and dogs, to enable us to change as many lives as possible. We continue to be the best we can be, aiding others with multiple hidden disabilities offering life changing services. Our daily Mantra has evolved to this......"if you want to make a Difference in Your Life, then Care for Someone else's" Dog Bless, The Autism Dogs Charity Team