

FREQUENTLY
ASKED
QUESTIONS
Frequently Asked Questions
Below is a list of our most asked questions.
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Please take the time to read through them.
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We will direct email inquires that can be answered here, back to this page.
How do I Join?
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If you're interested in joining RAD, the first step is to join our waitlist, which you can access through the link below. After joining the waitlist, we will send you an invitation to complete a pre-application form. This pre-application process occurs four times a year, specifically in February, May, August, and November.
Each application is carefully reviewed by the committee to ensure that we believe you would be a good fit for the RAD family and that RAD would also be a good fit for you.
After the pre-application stage, we will invite selected candidates to proceed to the final stage of the application process.
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How old does my dog have to be to join?
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We accept applications from people who have not yet found the right dog for their prospective assistance dog. This allows the opportunity for us to help guide you with breed options that will best suit your needs as well as provide recommendations on how to best assess which would be the right path to undertake assistance dog training.
We also have teams that join as their puppy comes home. You don’t need to wait until the dog is six months of age. We have great documents that help walk you through the desensitisation, socialisation and training of a young dog to give them the best foundations to help them tackle the big job of an assistance dog.
We also have teams joining us who have moved from other organisations or who have been owner training themselves.
Can you help me find a trainer?
This is something we help our members with yes.
The relationship that you develop with your trainer and your assistance dog is a very important one. Each team’s needs and training styles are as unique as them.
We will endeavour to find the best fit for you.
If you already have a trainer that you are working with, we would be more than happy to talk to you about continuing that relationship with them and how we can best support you and your trainer to uphold RAD‘s standards of training and behaviour.
Do I have to sit a PAT?
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Under federal law (the Disability Discrimination Act (1992), it is not required. It is required to hold proof of training.
A PAT is just one way that this can be done. We offer alternatives for our team with training logs that can either be printed off or we have digital ones that can be accessed on your phone computer or tablet.
We do have our own PAT that we are excited to be able to offer our members. Our hopes are that once Covid19 has become safer this will be released.
Does my Dog have to be desexed
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Here at RAD we follow the guidelines of the DDA.
The DDA does not state that a dog has to be desexed, and neither do we!
Is RAD the right fit for me?
We know that we won’t meet everybody’s needs.
We ourselves are disabled handlers and do our best to try to represent our RAD community as best we can.
We suggest having a very thorough read through our website, our terms of membership and having a chat with your medical team as to whether they feel this is a good fit for you.
We are always here if you have any other questions that you would like us to answer.
Do I get an ID Card?
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Once our teams meet the legal definition of an assistance dog and are upholding RAD‘s own standards we issue our teams with a membership ID card, DDA information cards, a membership shield patch, and a membership certificate. We encourage businesses to reach out to us to verify membership.
ID cards are our way that we have chosen to support our members in reducing access issues. In all material that we provide to businesses and the community, we outline that this is not a requirement under the DDA.
It is required under the DDA to provide proof of training.
Our members can only receive this ID card by completing significant training and documenting that training, creating significant proof of training.
Can I Purchase an Assistance Dog vest?
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For our RAD teams that are at blue level or purple level they can join the waitlist to have a custom vest made for their assistance dog.
We do not sell vests to non-RAD members.
It is important to understand that the vest does not make an assistance dog.
It takes dedication to train the dog to meet the standards of the disability discrimination act and to be able to alleviate the effects of the disabled handler’s disability.
Is there a maximum age my dog can join?
When our committee looks at applications we all look at the whole picture.
Training for an assistance dog can take upwards of two years before you are able to access public spaces. It is important that as handlers we are always putting our dog’s needs above our own.
The older the dog gets the more likely it is to run into health issues.
This teamed up with the length of time needed to properly train an assistance dog does come into consideration.
This could mean that we might suggest that looking into a new prospect might be the way to go rather than begin training with an older dog.
Does it matter what breed of dog I have?
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As long as the breed is not restricted within your local council or state or territory there is no restriction of breed.
It is important to take into account what tasks you wish to train your assistance dog to do as this will impact the breeds that are suitable for you.
The temperament of a dog is more important than the breed of a dog.
It is important to remember that not all dogs will have the right temperament to undertake assistance dog work.
Many dogs that begin training towards becoming an assistance dog don’t complete the training.
Some dogs might just be happier being our pets and staying home.
This doesn’t mean that they are any less special.
Can my business receive some further information about Assistance Dogs?
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Absolutely! We believe that we make all teams lives easier by helping do our part by educating the public and businesses.
We have beautiful business packs available to be sent out that also include a decal for your store window to make sure that assistance dog teams know that they are welcome.
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Can I get my dog registered as an Assistance Dog?
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The first step is that the handler must be a disabled person.
The dog must be trained to a high standard suitable for a dog in public areas and trained to alleviate the effects of the disabled handler’s disability.
Every dog has to start somewhere, if you are a disabled person wanting to know if your dog might be suitable, we’re more than happy to chat with you about it.
Can my RAD dog go on an aeroplane?
We have helped many of our RAD teams fly within Australia.
We do have a process that does need to be followed for us to be able to assist our teams.
If you’re a RAD team I would like to know more please send us an email to admin@raddogsinc.com.au