“Combo” assistance dogs - combination assistance dogs are highly-skilled dogs, custom-trained to assist people, especially children, with multiple concurrent disabilities.

Combo dogs can “multitask”. A dog can be trained to assist people with, for example, physical disability affecting one or more limbs and deafness. In this case the dog will perform as a mobility assistance dog and combine these skills with the skills of a hearing dog.

Among other things, a dog can be trained to activate a life-alert system, notify someone in the home (“Get help”) or even track a lost disabled partner. Combo dogs can also be taught to respond to signs (hand signals) for people who are non-verbal.

The “combo” dogs can be vital in teaching the child life skills. They are non-judgmental and accept any affection and interaction the child may offer as well as can help increase a child’s interests in physical therapy or other rehabilitation activities.

Training of a “combo” dog takes from four to nine months though some dogs will take an entire year to be trained.