A Better Life is Possible.
For a street dog. For a woman in rural India. For a person with a disability.
HeartDogs brings those three lives together.
India has millions of street dogs without homes, women in rural communities looking for meaningful work, and people with disabilities without the support they need.
What if, together, they could make a better life possible?
HeartDogs began with that simple question. Today, women in rural India raise and train rescued Indie dogs as assistance and therapy dogs - for people with disabilities and the institutions that support them.
Everything you need to know about HeartDogs.
How to get a HeartDog. How we work.
Apply for an assistance or therapy dog, learn how dogs are matched and trained, meet our foster-trainers, and understand how the programme works.
See the model →
Eight dogs. Eight women. Lives changing.
Meet the rescued dogs of Cohort 1, the women in rural India raising them, and the families, hospitals and communities already benefiting from their work.
Read the stories →
Cohort 1. The evidence. Our impact.
Explore Cohort 1 outcomes, the clinical evidence behind assistance and therapy dogs, and how HeartDogs contributes to six UN Sustainable Development Goals.
See the impact →
Indian street dogs. Matching. FAQs.
Learn about Indian street dogs (Indies), how each dog is matched to a person or institution, common questions answered, and FootNotes, our blog.
Start learning →To convey sensitive topics with care and respect, some images on this page are either AI-generated or AI-edited.