Assistance Dog Day – August 4, 2026

History of Assistance Dog Day

Assistance Dog Day is part of International Assistance Dog Week (I.A.D.W.) and was created to recognize all of the dedicated, hardworking assistance dogs helping individuals mitigate their disability-related limitations. These dogs amazingly transform the lives of their human partners with physical and mental disabilities by serving as their helper, companion, aide, best friend, and close member of their family.

Assistance dogs are not for personal defense, protection, or comfort. Different types of assistance dogs do different things. Guide dogs help the blind and those with vision loss to cross the street, walk through doorways, and move around obstacles. Hearing alert dogs help those with hearing loss as they recognize alarms and sirens, as well as the ringing of telephones and doorbells. Other assistance dogs do other things to help their human counterparts.

Assistance Dog Day is also done to raise awareness and educate the public about how these specially trained dogs are helping so many people in the community. Apart from that, the day also honors the puppy owners and trainers of assistance dogs, whose efforts better the lives of others. The heroic deeds of assistance dogs are also recognized on this day with lots of fun activities on the day.

The day might not be what it is today if not for the efforts of Marcie Davis, a woman who has been a paraplegic for over 35 years. She wrote the book “Working Like Dogs: The Service Dog Guidebook.” The book focuses on personal stories, checklists, and practical tips to provide readers with a guide about service dogs and she is the host of the internet radio program, “Working Like Dogs.” She founded Working Like Dogs to honor assistance dogs around the world and she’s part of the sponsors of International Assistance Dog Week.